[The Oxford Names Companion]
Hammerwich chapelry became part of Lichfield Union following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
"Hammerwich is a village, township, and chapelry (of Lichfield), on the south-eastern verge of Cannock Chase, three miles SW by W of Lichfield. It has a station on the South Staffordshire Railway, and contains 239 inhabitants, and 1000 acres of enclosed land, and upwards of 900 acres of open common in Cannock Chase. The Marquis of Anglesey is lord of the manor, but the enclosed lands belong to about a dozen freeholders, most of whom are residents. In 1850, the Marquis opened a colliery here, and extended to it a branch from the canal." - “Saint John the Baptist Church is a very ancient structure, standing on a verdant eminence”
[From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851]
Hammerwich (St. John), parish in the union of Lichfield, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and the county of Stafford, 2 miles (S.W. by S.) from Lichfield; containing 239 inhabitants. The parish which is on the south-eastern verge of Cannock Chase, comprises of about 2000 acres, of which about half is unenclosed common, and the remainder mostly arable, with some pasture and meadow. It stands elevated; the soil is very good, and the scenery extensive and beautiful, embracing views of several counties, with Lichfield Cathedral and fourteen churches. There is an excellent stone-quarry, the property of William Middleton, Esq., which supplied the material in the restoration of the cathedral just mentioned. The manufacture of nails is carried out to a small extent. The Wyrley and Essington canal passes through the parish. The living is a perpetual curacy, net income, £70; patrons, certain trustees; appropriators, the Dean and the Chapter of Lichfield. The church is a small structure, standing alone upon a verdant eminence: the rent of five houses and about nine acres of land, amounting to upwards of £30 per annum, is appropriated to keeping the edifice in repair. A Sunday school is in connexion with the church; and there are various benefactions for the poor of the parish.
[Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1859]
Hammerwich, a chapelry in Lichfield-St. Michael parish, Stafford; on the south-eastern verge of Cannock chase, on the Wyrley and Essington canal, and on the South Stafford railway, 3 miles WSW of Lichfield. It has a station on the railway; and its post town is Lichfield. Real property, £, 213. Pop. in 185, 270; in 186, 991. Houses, 198. The increase of pop. arose mainly from the opening of new coalmines. The manor belongs to the Marquis of Auglesey.—The chapelry was reconstituted within narrower limits in 1860. Pop. in 186, 530. Houses, 101. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £250. Patrons, Certain Trustees. The church is old, but tolerable; and there are charities £34. A mausoleum of the Ashmalls is near the church.
[John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales 1870 - 1872]
Saint John the Baptist Church was rebuilt in 1873, in stone, in the Early English style and consists of a chancel, nave of three bays, north aisle, west porch and an embattled western tower with spire, containing a clock and bell. A vestry was added in 1883
