Colwich in 1859

COLWICH (ST. MICHAEL), a parish, in the S. division of the hundred of PIREHILL, union, and N. division of the county, of STAFFORD, 3 miles (N.W. by N.) from Rugeley; containing, with Fradswell chapelry, and the townships of Bishton, Colwich, Moreton, Shugborough, and Wolseley, and part of those of Drointon, Great and Little Haywood, and Hixon, 2015 inhabitants, of whom 205 are in the township of Colwich.

This parish, which is situated on the banks of the Trent, and intersected by the road from London to Liverpool, comprises by measurement 6492 acres: there are two quarries from which a durable stone is obtained for building. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal forms a junction with the Grand Trunk canal near Great Haywood, in the parish. A fair for cattle is held at Wolseley, on the Wednesday before Mid-Lent Sunday.

The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6.0.5.; patron, Bishop of Lichfield; appropriator, Prebendary of Colwich, in Lichfield Cathedral: the great tithes have been commuted for £700, and the vicarial for £500; the glebe consists of about 6 acres, 4 of which are in the parish of Stowe. The church is of some antiquity, and contains a monument to the memory of the celebrated navigator, George, Lord Anson, who was interred in the family cemetery at this place, June 14th, 1762.

At Fradswell is an endowed chapel; also a place of worship for Independents, and a Roman Catholic chapel attached to a nunnery. A parochial school was built and endowed by Miss Sparrow. The remains of Haywood Abbey, situated in the parish, have been converted into a farm-house. 

An 1859 Gazetteer description of the following places in Colwich is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Bishton
• Drointon
• Great and Little Haywood
• Hixon
• Moreton
• Shughborough
• Wolseley

 

[Description(s) from The Topographical Dictionary of England (1859) by Samuel Lewis - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]