Some Village Notes VIII
The village of Bridge in 1891 consisted of 139
houses and 817 inhabitants; in 1801 at the height
of the Napoleonic Wars, 325 inhabitants and in 1850
the principal landowners were Lord Sondes, Mathew
Bell, Lieut. Daniel Austen and the Reverend Edward
lregory. There was a Free School supported by
$ubSCTiptiOnS and an infant school supported by
Mrs. Gregory the wife of the vicar who had inherited
a considerable sum of money from her father who
owned one of the first silk mills in England at
Congleton in Lancashire; she subsequently left a
large part of her will to the Church at Bridge and
it is to her that we owe the first restoration; in
1835 the Bridge Poor Law Union was formed from 22
parishes and what we know as the Close was built
for £e,§OG. There were 22 guardians and the sur-
geons were Amelius Sicard, Milliam Sankey, Roberts
Iersey and Edward Long and the relieving officers
~:e Charles Holman and Charles William Forth;
nany of their names are recorded in the nave of
Bridge Church. Ihe weekly cost in 18%? in old

currency was 3/he per week an: Zed. for clothing.
The Herchionese of Zonynghan was a great benefactress
to the village and she founded a small girls school
by the lower lodge gate and had a special uniform
made to look like Bed Riding Hood. In addition she
formed a small gas works to supply the mansion and
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