NESS (Great), a township and a parish in Ellesmere district, Salop. The township lies adjacent to the Potteries, Shrewsbury, and North Wales railway, between Kinnerley and Ness-Cliff r. stations, 8 miles, by road, N W by W of Shrewsbury. The parish contains also the townships of Alderton, Felton-Butler, Hopton, Kinton, Ness-Cliff, and Wilcott; and its post town is Baschurch, under Shrewsbury. Acres, 5, 279. Real property, £6, 267. Pop., 573. Houses, 116. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to the Earl of Bradford.-Ness Hall has belonged to the Edwards family since 1660. A remarkable cave is in the parish, divided into two sections by a massive rockpillar, and inscribed with the date 1564 and the initials of the outlaw Humphrey Kynaston. Fine red sandstoneis quarried. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £305.* Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is ancient, of different periods; has a tower; and is in good condition. There are a parochial school, and charities every fourth year £20.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))