Eccleshall History

ECCLESHALL, a parish and market town in the N. division of the hundred of Pirehill, county Stafford, 7 miles N.W. of Stafford, 6 S.W. of Stone, and 136 N. W. of London. The Norton Bridge station on the North Staffordshire line is about 2½ miles to the E. of the town.

The parish, which is very extensive, is situated near the river Sow, and contains upwards of twenty townships, the principal of which are Cotes, Chorlton, Broughton, and Croxton. The town, which is ancient, is a polling-place for the N. division of the county, and is a petty sessions town.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield, value £254, in the patronage of the bishop. The parish church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is in the early English style of architecture. In it Queen Margaret took sanctuary after her defeat by Neville, on Blore Heath.

There are also the following district churches:- Croxton, perpetual curacy, value £56, in the patronage of the bishop; Cotes Heath, perpetual curacy, value £100, in the patronage of the vicar; Chapel Chorlton, perpetual curacy, value £105, in the patronage of the bishop; Broughton, curacy, value £129. The parochial charities produce about £100 per annum, in addition to the endowment of the grammar school.

The Independents have a chapel, and there is a National school for boys and girls. The Bishop of Lichfield is lord of the manor, whose seat is Eccleshall Castle, an ancient edifice, but now much modernised by various alterations and improvements. This and nearly the whole of the landed property of the parish have been in the possession of the bishops for several centuries. Friday is the market day, and four fairs are held during the year on Thursday before Mid-Lent, Holy Thursday, the 16th August, and the first Friday in November, for cattle, &c.

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]