John Dicken writes to the Hon. Richard Hill.

He gives an account of Mr. Berkeley's estate at Hadnall. The land has been damaged by hard tillage without manure, and the rents could not be advanced as yet. The hall is a small old house, with an addition of 2 rooms on a floor built some years since, but not tiled, plastered or glazed. The outbuildings are small and out of repair. There is good timber in the yard, ornamental, and the "mote garden" and walks could be made very pretty. The land lies convenient and might be laid into 2 farms. Mr. Sutton asks £5,250 for the estate, the timber being valued at £700 - this means the estate is fetching £4,550 - more than 30 years purchase.

Mr. Blakeway hopes Hill has agreed for the Hardwick estate, which joins Hadnall, for he has heard of some-one who would give £2,300 for it.

D. has arranged with Mr. Henshaw for the tenement in Longford for £600, 5 guineas to his wife, 5 to his son, one in earnest & 4 more to come.

D. hopes to set it at £28 p.a. Hill will lose a chief rent of 8/9d." but I hope your honour will be pleased wth the bargain for I take it to be worth at least £50 more than Mr. Whittingham's tenement in Longford."

There is a mortgage on Henshaw's tenement for £300 and the overplus of the money he intends to discharge out of his bond etc.

Mr. Henshaw is indebted to Mr. Walford of Wem in £1,000 upon mortgage of a tenement in Longford worth £40 p.a., and a messuage in Moreton Sea worth £30. Mr. Walford having made a purchase at Wem, needs the money, so Henshaw would like Hill to take an assignment of the mortgage. "I think if your honour is pleased to comply you will be sure to have the whole estate in case it comes to be sold as I doe presume it will."

Mr. Clayton's tenants should attourn to Hill if the interest due to Hill cannot be discharged. The paver continues to work at Hawkestone. The trees in the New Plantation come on very well.

D. will send leases to Richard Griffiths, John Eaton and Adam Downes to one of his brothers in London so that Hill may examine them & then the tenants may execute counterparts.