continued to morph into a village in the 1840s. John Thynne had become the fourth Marquess of Bath in 1837 aged only six, and his trustees of his estate decided to dispose of the “vote houses” by auction in 1844 and 1846. They also ordered the disposal of the Market Hall in 1848, which was the death-knell for the ancient market. The actual demolition of the Hall was in the 1860s. The old grammar school gave up, sold off its building and merged with the National School to create a co-educational school in new premises in Broad Street, later to move to an extant building in Portland Street in 1873. The population of the parish in 1841 was 907. By 1858, the fair had been moved back near to its ancient date, on 8 May for cattle and entertainment -it was becoming a funfair. The industries producing gloves and beer had both gone, the latter being replaced by cider, and the only industry left was some malting (there was no mill yet). On the other hand, there was a new brick-built police station and courtroom in Back Lane and petty sessions were held every other Monday. A “van” (covered wagon) made the round trip to Hereford twice a week. The population in 1851 was 972. The railways completely ignored Weobley. The nearest station, at Moorhampton, was opened on the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway in 1862 and was away. The only 19th century industrial development was a corn mill powered by steam, completed in 1862. The parish church was restored in 1865, at a cost of £3 200 (2021: £416 000). In 1868, the market was “nearly obsolete”, but the place still regarded itself as a town and there was a town crier employed in 1877. A nail manufacturer was operating in the same year The extinction of street trading meant a wave of houses being converted to shops, which are a feature of the village's architecture. Some merely had shop fronts inserted, while others suffered more radical remodelling. Weobley Rural District Council was created in 1894, and had its offices in the Union Workhouse on the Kington road. 20th century In 1909 the population was 703, down from 907 in 1841. The cattle fair on 8 May was defunct (the funfair continued), and the nail manufacturer had gone. At a time when motor buses were already running in Hereford