Dunsley is a hamlet in

Kinver Kinver is a large village in the District of South Staffordshire in Staffordshire, England. It is in the far south-west of the county, at the end of the narrow finger of land surrounded by the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and the ...

, Staffordshire, England. The settled part of the hamlet is the part of the village of Kinver, lying east of the River Stour.

Dunsley manor

The majority of the land in the hamlet was within the manor of Kinver and Stourton, but there was also a submanor of Dunsley. This existed as a freehold virgate in the 13th century, owned by a family who took their name from the place. In the 15th century, it belonged to members of the Everdon family, lords of the manor of Orton in

Wombourne Wombourne is a large village and civil parish located in the district of South Staffordshire, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Wolverhampton and just outside the county and conurbation of the W ...

, but in 15321 passed to

William Whorwood Sir William Whorwood (c.1500 – 28 May 1545) was a landowner in Staffordshire and the neighbouring counties, a distinguished lawyer, and a politician in the reign of Henry VIII. He achieved the positions of Solicitor General and Attorney G ...

, who subsequently bought the manor of Kinver. Under a mortgage of 1635, the manor was granted to William Carter, whose daughter Catherine and her son John Hamerton sold the manor to

Philip Foley Philip Foley (12 May 1648 – December 1716) was the youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley. His father transferred all his ironworks in the Midlands to him in 1668 and 1669 for £60,000. He also settled an ...

in 1709. Dunsley Hall remained part of the Foleys'

Prestwood Prestwood is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about two miles west of Great Missenden and six miles north of High Wycombe. History Early history and creation of parish The village name is Anglo Sax ...

estate until sold by a descendant in 1918. It was purchased by Alfred Marsh of Marsh & Baxter Limited. This was converted to a hotel about the beginning of the 21st century.

Gibbet Wood

In December 1812 Benjamin Robins of Dunsley Hall was murdered while walking home from

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

. His killer William Howe, alias John Wood, was arrested in London and executed at Stafford the following year. His corpse was hung on a

gibbet A gibbet is any instrument of public execution (including guillotine, executioner's block, impalement stake, hanging gallows, or related scaffold). Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of cri ...

at the scene of the crime for twelve months, giving rise to the names of nearby Gibbet Wood and Gibbet Lane that runs through it.''Victoria County History, Staffordshire'', XX, 124.

References

{{coord, 52.452, -2.222, type:city_region:GB, display=title Hamlets in Staffordshire