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Shenstone in 1817

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Description from A Topographical History of Staffordshire by William Pitt (1817)

SHENSTONE.

Shenstone is a pleasant village situated on a gentle eminence, three miles south of Lichfield. Almost every house in this village has a small garden in front, which contributes at once to the beauty of the place and the accommodation of the inhabitants.

The parish is of considerable extent, well watered by several rivulets which abound with excellent trout. It contains much good sound up-land, suitable for turnips, and barley, and other grain. There are also fertile tracts of meadow and pasture-land on the banks of the rivulets, where sheep, cows, and oxen are fattened in abundance.

The air of Shenstone is wholesome, as is proved by the longevity of the inhabitants, of which several instances are recorded: Henry Lea died in Shenstone in the year 1660, aged 107; and Susannah Southwell, who married at the age of 112, could relate occurrences to which she had been an eye-witness 100 years before.

There are several gentlemen's seats in the parish. In 1769, Shenstone parish was surveyed and valued at £4240 per annum.

The Church, dedicated to St. John, stands near the centre of the village, and is a very ancient edifice.

Shenstone-Hall, which is in the village, was some time ago the property of Lord Berwick.

Shenstone-Park is a low tract about a mile east of the village. The mansion, which is called the New Hall, stands on a gentle eminence on the margin of Black-brook. It has also been the property of Lord Berwick, but was sold in 1797, to Edward Grove,Esq. of Stretton.

Wood-End and Park-Hall stand upon the turnpike-road leading to Birmingham, half-a-mile from Shenstone Church. The court in front of Park-Hall is surrounded with a high brick wall, and adorned with yews, laurels, and other evergreens.

Shenstone Moss, at the foot of St. John's Hill, is situated a quarter of a mile to the south of the Church, where there is a neat mansion called the Moss.

Footherley is a hamlet, beginning half-a-mile south-west of the church, and extending a mile and a half to Radley Moors. Footherley-Hall was the property of John Dolphin, Esq. of the Moss, but was afterwards sold to Charles Simpson, Esq. of Lichfield.