ments he has made in steam engines, and various other useful
works. A few years back, the adjacent ground was a wild and dreary
waste, but it now exhibits all the beauty and luxuriance that art
assisted by taste can give it. Woods and groves appear to have started
up at command, and it may now vie with any seat in the neighbourhood,
for rural elegance and picturesque beauty. Descending the hill, the
parish church of Handsworth presents itself to view, and a short
distance before you arrive at it, is the parsonage-house, where the
Rev. Lane Freer resides.--It is a very excellent house, and possesses
more conveniences and luxuries than are usually to be met with in the
habitations of the clergy. About a mile farther on the right is the
elegant residence of N. G. Clarke, Esq. one of the king's counsel; a
gentleman highly distinguished for acuteness and perspicuity in his
profession, and thorough hospitality in his house. Still farther on
the left, as you descend a steep hill, there is a fine view, at a
considerable distance, of the domains of Hamstead hall. It is a very
elegant and modern-built mansion, the old one having been taken down
some years since, which was for many generations the seat of the
ancient and respectable family of the Wyrleys, who possessed the manor
and very large property in this parish. On the demise of the late
John Wyrley, Esq. the whole of this estate was left by will to George
Birch, Esq. at whose decease it devolved upon his only son, the
present Wyrley Birch, Esq. It is difficult to conceive a more
beautiful residence than this, as it contains all that hill and dale,
wood and water, aided by extensive views, can do, to make a place
delightful and desirable: these seem here to have been combined in
the most beautiful manner; for the river Tame meanders through this
enchanting and extensive domain; on whose banks are numerous groves
of trees, and from a solid rock there arises a lime tree, of unusual
magnitude, whose branches spreading in an horizontal direction became
so heavy, and injured the trunk to such a degree, that in order
to preserve the body, it not only became necessary to lop off the
principal branches, but to bind it together with iron in different
ways, by hooping of it, and passing a bar of iron through it, in the
same manner as buildings are frequently done, to preserve them. At the
height of three feet, it girths twenty-three feet and rises to the
height of seventy feet. The roc