The Bromsgrove Society - Pride, Preservation, Progress
Welcome to the Bromsgrove Society
The Bromsgrove Society exists to preserve the history and promote the sustainable development of the town of Bromsgrove in north Worcestershire.
Read more about Our Work and How to Join
Publications
-
land tax
Land Tax Returns give the owner and occupier of a property and the sum assessed. The later returns also give a brief description of the property.
The sums assessed did not change year to year, so where a sequence of Land Tax Returns survives, it is possible to trace the title to a property from 1780-1832. The assessments are usually in walking order of the parish, but this sequence was gradually disturbed as separate lists were kept of owners who had made a one-off payment to redeem their Land Tax.
The Bromsgrove Land Tax Returns are transcribed here as far as they relate to the Town Yield. (W.R.O. B.A. BA 823)
- wills
- fire insurance
-
Hearth Tax
Transcription of the Bromsgrove Hearth Tax, 1666, by Jenny Townshend.
About the Bromsgrove Guild
The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts was founded in 1898 by the sculptor Walter Gilbert. During the next 70 years the firm developed into a thriving commercial enterprise, acquiring an international reputation for the high quality of its craftmanship in metalwork, woodcarving, plasterwork, stained glass and other media.
Celebrated Guild contracts included Liverpool's famous Liver Birds, ornate metalwork on the great Cunarders Lusitania and Queen Mary, and the statue of Hygiea which stands in the garden of Chequers, the Prime Minister's country residence. However, the Bromsgrove Guild's most memorable commission was to create the wrought iron gates of Buckingham Palace. As a result of completing this particular task the Guild received a Royal Warrant in 1908.
When not working such high profile projects, the firm produced large quantities of lead rainwater goods, garden statuary, fountains, sundials, wrought ironwork and bronze light fittings.