BETLEY, a parish (formerly a market-town) in the northern division of the hundred of PIREHILL, county of STAFFORD, 7 miles (W. by N.) from Newcastle under Line, containing 932 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Stafford, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, endowed with £600 private benefaction, and £600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of George Toilet, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Margaret, is an ancient structure, with a tower, supposed to have been erected in 1713, as that date appears on the vane: the nave is separated from the aisles by pillars and plain pointed arches of wood; several handsome monuments adorn the walls of the chancel, which is of modern construction. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. The village is remarkably cheerful and pleasant, and contains several respectable houses; in the neighbourhood are extensive gardens, from which the town of Newcastle is supplied with vegetables, for the cultivation of which the soil is particularly adapted. Courts leet and baron are held annually; and a fair for cattle takes place on the 31st of July. Here is a charity school with a small endowment.