Areley Kings Worcestershire Family History Guide

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Areley Kings or Lower Areley is an Ancient Parish in the county of Worcestershire. Areley Kings was originally a chapelry in Martley Ancient Parish but had become a separate parish by 1535. It was a Civil Parish until 1933 when it was abolished with part going to Astley Ancient Parish and part to Stourport Urban District and Civil Parish.

Alternative names: Lower Areley

Other places in the parish include: Dunley.

Church: St. Bartholomew

The register commences with the year 1539.

Areley Kings Church
Areley Kings Church

History of Areley Kings

The manor of Areley Kings was from early times part of the manor of Martley and the rector of Martley still has the right to appoint the rector at Areley Kings. The manor of Areley originated in a fishery at “Ernel” which, with the land belonging to it, was granted by the Empress Matilda to Bordesley Abbey upon its foundation in 1136, and retained until the Dissolution. Prince Rupert of the Rhine is rumoured to have slept a night at Areley House during the English Civil War.

St Bartholomew’s Parish Church at Areley Kings was founded as a Norman Church, with a continuous history and a partial re-building by the Victorians. The church is probably first mentioned in the preface of the Brut of Layamon, who wrote sometime between 1189 and 1207. He describes himself as a priest at Erneleye, at a noble church upon Severn’s bank. He wrote a history of England, partly legendary, partly factual, translating earlier writings from Latin and French. The discovery, during rebuilding, of the base of a Norman font under the nave floor with an inscription containing the name of Layamon, establishes the connection with the writer and shows that a church existed here c. 1200.

The church complex includes a Queen Anne Rectory and medieval timber-framed church house.

Adjacent Parishes

Areley Kings Parish Registers

Search online registers of baptisms, marriages, banns and burials including digitised images of original records and registers and indexed transcriptions.

Areley Kings, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812

Areley Kings, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1812-1922

Areley Kings, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1947

Areley Kings, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1997

The following Worcestershire Monumental Inscriptions, hosted by Findmypast, are a collection of transcriptions created by the Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry.

Areley Kings St Bartholomew Monumental Inscriptions 1676-2008

Areley Kings Parish Records

An index of parish records of people from Areley Kings Worcestershire. The index includes information from Calendar of the Quarter Sessions papers Worcestershire v1.

Marriage Licences and Allegations

London Marriage Licences and Allegations 1521 to 1869

The following have been extracted from London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869.

Abbreviations. — B. Bishop of London’s Office; D. Dean and Chapter of Westminster; F. Faculty Office of Archbishop of Canterbury; V. Registry of the Vicar-General of Canterbury.

Wootton, Gildinge, of Lower Arley Regis, co. Worcester, gent., bachelor, about 20, his parents dead, and Elizabeth Bayley, of same, spinster, about 22, her father’s consent — at Lower Arley Regis aforesaid. 4 Feb. 1674/5. V.

Source: London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869; Edited by Joseph Foster; London 1887

Quarter Session Records

The records below have been extracted from the book Calendar of the Quarter Sessions papers Worcestershire v1.

(1608). Petition of Joan Stringer Widow to the Justices of the Peace. Your poor petitioner having a daughter who through her folly was betrayed by the inducement of one Thomas Ballard who got her with child of a son they both dwelling together in one Richard Hatches house in the Parish of the Rock and the said child was born in the Parish of Arele Kings and the said child hath been nursed and maintained by the said Joan Stringer grandmother to the said child for the space of three years last past and being a very poor woman and old and not able to shift for herself demanded and claimed maintenance for the child from the said Parish of Arele Kings who utterly refuse to give any help unless compelled by the Justices she prays for God’s love that the parishioners of Arele Kings may be ordered to contribute towards the support of her daughter’s child. XLIV. 25.

(1617), Petition of James Browne of Arley Kings linen Weaver. That he served in the wars in Ireland 11 years being pressed out of Worcester as sergeant of the bands of Sir Thomas Williams and Sir Henry Folliott and since he returned from the said wars has lived in the said Parish and though maimed in body has had no allowance or pension from this Shire. He is now to be put out of his dwelling by his landlord. Prays for a dwelling place to be provided for him. Order by the Justices of the Peace for a dwelling place to be provided accordingly. XXVII. 93.

Areley Kings Directory Transcriptions

Areley Kings (with the Hamlet of Dunley) Littleburys Directory 1879

Areley Kings Lewis Worcestershire Directory 1820

Areley Kings Parish History

Areley Kings The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

Areley (King’s), a parish in Martley district, Worcester; on the river Severn, ½ a mile SW of Stourport r. station. It contains the hamlet of Dunley; and its post town is Stourport. Acres, 1,449. Real property, £3,659. Pop., 564. Houses, 138. The property is much subdivided. An eminence on which the church is situated commands an extensive prospect. Areley House and Areley Hall are chief residences.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £346. Patron, the Rev. H. J. Hastings. The church is early English, with a Norman doorway. A rude sepulchral monument, inscribed with a quaint rhyming distich, said to be to the memory of Sir Henry Coningsby of Herefordshire, is in the churchyard. Layamon, author of an ancient British history, was a native. Charities, £19.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Areley Kings A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

ARELEY, KING’S, or Lower Areley (St. Bartholomew), a parish, in the union of Martley, Upper division of the hundred of Doddingtree, the Hundred House and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, ½ a mile (S. W. by W.) from Stourport; containing 423 inhabitants.

The parish comprises 1449 acres, whereof two-thirds are arable and the remainder pasture, with the exception of sixty acres of common or waste. It is separated from Stourport by the river Severn, and fully partakes of the beauty of the surrounding district; the general surface is irregular, and the higher grounds are clothed with wood. Across the western boundary of the parish, nearly from north to south, a range of hills or high grounds extends from Stagberry, in the parish of Ribbesford, towards the Abberley hills: from the base of these hills the land generally slopes to the Severn.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £9, and in the patronage of the Rector of Martley: the tithes have been commuted for £358, and there is a glebe of 41 acres, with a house. The church is situated on a considerable eminence commanding a fine prospect and nearly overhanging the river, which flows through a rich valley at the base. In the burial ground is a singular sepulchral monument, of the date of about 1690, supposed to commemorate Sir Harry Coningsby, of Hampton Court, who lived in seclusion in this parish, in consequence of the loss of his only child.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Areley Kings The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1840

Areley (King’s), a parish in the upper division of the hund. of Doddingtree, union of Martley, county of Worcester; 3½ miles south by east of Bewdley; on the Severn opposite Stourport. Living, a rectory in the archd. and dio. of Worcester; rated at £9; gross income £406. Patron, in 1835, the rector of Martley. The church is a fine Gothic building, and stands on an eminence, from which there is an extensive prospect. In the burial ground there is a rude sepulchral monument bearing a quaint rhyming distich, importing that a person named Sir Harry was buried there.

It is not certainly known who Sir Harry was; but tradition relates that he was a Sir Henry Coningsby of Herefordshire, who was driven into seclusion here by the loss of his only child, who was drowned by falling from his arms, as he held her at a window, into a moat. Charities connected with this parish produce £19 yearly. Layamon, author of a history of the British from Brute to Cadwallader, who states himself to have been a priest residing at Erenlege on the Severn, is said to have been born in this parish. Pop., in 1801, 377; in 1831, 372. Houses 83. Acres 1,390. A. P. £2,554. Poor rates, in 1837, £233.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1840.

Areley Kings Worcestershire Delineated C. J. Greenwood 1822

Areley-Kings – a parish in Doddingtree hundred, upper division, 4½ miles S. from Bewdley, and 122 from London; containing 76 inhabited houses. The church, which stands upon a hill, is a neat gothic structure, and has lately been tastefully repaired in that style: on the north side is a curious Saxon doorway, now built up: under the shade of 4 elms planted in the church-yard, is a curious tomb, supposed to be that of Sir Henry Coningsby; a walnut-tree was planted over the grave, which has lately been cut down.

The living is a rectory; Rev. George Hulme, incumbent; instituted 1793; patron, the Rector of Martley. Population, 1801, 377 – 1811, 392 – 1821, 358. Areley Hall, the residence of the Rev. Reginald Pyndar, a handsome modern mansion, built on the site of a very ancient building, formerly the seat of the Mucklows.

Source: Worcestershire Delineated: Being a Topographical Description of Each Parish, Chapelry, Hamlet, &c. In the County; with the distances and bearings from their respective market towns, &c. By C. and J. Greenwood. Printed by T. Bensley, Crane Court, Fleet Street, London, 1822.

Maps

Vision of Britain Historical Maps – includes topographic maps, boundary maps and land use maps

Administration

  • County: Worcestershire
  • Civil Registration District: Martley
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Worcester
  • Rural Deanery: Worcester until 1861, Worcester West 1861-1921, Mitton 1921-
  • Poor Law Union: Martley
  • Rural Sanitary District: Martley
  • Rural District: Martley
  • Hundred: Doddingtree
  • Province: Canterbury
  • Petty Sessional Division: Stourport
  • Polling District: Stourport
  • Highway District: Kidderminster
  • County Court District: Kidderminster