Eccleshall in 1817

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

ECCLESHALL

Eccleshall Is an extensive parish in Pirehill North, containing nineteen townships, namely, Aspley, Bromley, Broughton, Charnes, Chatwell, Chorlton-hill, Coldmeece, Cotes, Croxton, Horseley, Millmeece, Pershall, Podmore, Slindon, Sugnall Magna, Sugnall Parva, Three Farms, Walton, and Wooton. 

The town of Eccleshall is a place of great antiquity, and is said to have been founded by the Romans in the first century. The following record of Eccleshall town and castle was communicated by a correspondent : 

" When Nero was Emperor of the Roman empire, Aurviragus was King of Britain. Vespasian, then general of the Roman army in Britain, built a town in a large marsh on the banks of the river Sow, adjacent to the forest of Bloor, and ordered one of the Roman standards to be kept there. The standard represented an eagle, and the town was called Eaglets-hall. It was built about the year 60. On the southern side, at the foot of the hill, a temple was erected to Jupiter, and a flameary or place for sacrifices. About the year of our Lord 209, Lucius, King of Britain, gave the town the name of Eccleshall, and the temple of Jove, Hasmere. This edifice was consecrated as a Christian church, and continued until the year 509, when Creda, a Saxon, the eleventh from Weber, the first king of Mercia, conquered the Britons, and destroyed all the Christian churches within the counties of Stafford, Gloucester, Hereford, Chester, Worcester, Oxford, Warwick, Derby, Leicester, Buckingham, Northampton, Nottingham, Lincoln, Bedford, Huntingdon, and part of Hertford. The Christians were obliged to seek an asylum in Worlsor, supposed to be Wales, till about the year 660, when Lawrence, Archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated Devine, Bishop of Lichfield, and afterwards Eccleshall, and the forest of Bloor was given to him by Penda, King of Mercia. 

" Eccleshall Church was re-built in the year 661, but was destroyed nine years afterwards by Wulfere, King of Mercia, who, in 670, while at his castle at Ulferoster, or Uttoxeter, was informed that his two sons Ulfred and Rufin, under pretence of hunting, were gone to Eccleshall to Bishop Chadd, to be baptized and instructed in the Christian religion. The King being instigated by his concubine Wcrebode, hastened to Eccleshall, and finding his sons in the church in divine contemplation, he slew them both with his own hand, and then destroyed the edifice. Queen Erminilda, the mother of the two royal martyrs, took their bodies and buried them in a certain place not far from Eccleshall, and built a monastery over them ; and, from the great quantity of stones collected for this building, the place was called Stones, now Stone, a market town in this county. King Wulfere afterwards repented, re-built Eccleshall Church, and all others which he had destroyed, and was very favourable to the Christians, but died without an heir. His brother Elhelred succeeded him in his kingdom ; then Eccleshall began to flourish, and became so famous and populous that it had five parish-churches and two chapels in it. This prosperity continued nearly three centuries and a half; but a sudden reverse took place in the year 1010, when the Danes laid Eccleshall town and castle, and all its churches, in ashes by fire. It lay in ruins till 1090, when Elias de Jantonice, prebend of Eccleshall, re-built the old church, and dedicated it to the Holy Trinity. In the year 1299, Walter Langton, Bishop of Lichfield, re-built Eccleshall Castle." 

Eccleshall is a small market-town, situated on the banks of a rivulet that flows into the river Sow. It is seven miles north-west of Stafford, and contains five streets and lanes. The houses are of brick, well-built, and regular. The market-day is Friday, and it is well supplied with provisions. There are four annual fairs : Midlent Thursday, Holy Thursday, August 5th, and the first Friday in November, principally for horses, cattle, and sheep. 

According to the parliamentary returns of the population in the year 1801, the parish of Eccleshall contained 594 houses ; 1,737 males, and 1,750 females : total, 3,487 persons. In 1811, the town of Eccleshall contained 217 houses, 225 families ; 466 males, 550 females : total, 1016 persons. At the same period, the whole parish of Eccleshall contained 693 houses, 711 families; 1805 males, 1813 females: total, 3,618 inhabitants. There are several good inns and large shops in Eccleshall, but no manufactures, except the common handicraft trades. The neighbourhood of the town is pleasant, and the land fertile. 

Eccleshall Church is a large and handsome fabric of stone, in the Gothic style of architecture, and consists of the nave, a north and south aisle, and the chancel. The nave is lighted on the south side by nine large Gothic windows, and the chancel by one large and three narrow windows, besides that at the eastern end, which is partly built up. There are also several windows on the north side. The interior is clean and commodious, the pews are of oak, and the chancel contains several monuments, particularly of the Bosvilles, who formerly possessed the estate at Biana, near Eccleshall Castle. 

This church and the church-yard are situated at the extremity of the town, on the road to Chester. The square tower of the church is large and high, built of stone, and adorned with eight pinnacles and a vane. It contains six bells and a clock. The rooks have taken possession of this airy citadel, and may be seen in numbers flying in and out of the apertures in the steeple. The general exterior appearance of the church is magnificent, the walls are ornamented with small pinnacles and battlements, and the southern entrance is through a very beautiful and high Gothic arch. This edifice bears strong marks of antiquity, and is evidently verging to decay, for the wall on the northern side is supported by five strong buttresses. This church is memorable for being the place where Queen Margaret was concealed after the disastrous battle of Blore-heath. 

Eccleshall Castle is the residence of the Bishop of the Diocese. It was built in 1299, by Walter de Langton, Bishop of Lichfield, and Lord High Treasurer of England, who established it as the principal residence of the Bishops. The manor belonging to this palace was of very considerable extent and value, for it appears that in 1650 it was sold for the sum of £14,224. In the year 1695, the south front of the castle was re-built by Bishop Lloyd, and it afterwards became the principal residence of successive Prelates, and continues so to the present day. 

During the Civil war between Charles the First and the Parliament, Eccleshall Castle was fortified, and defended by a Royal garrison. The garrison stood a severe siege, but was ultimately compelled to surrender, the place being no longer tenable, but reduced to a ruinous state by the fire of the enemy's artillery. It continued for several years uninhabitable, but was re-edified by Bishop Lloyd. The beautiful grove which surrounds this ancient fabric was planted by Bishop Hough, and the late Bishop Cornwallis further improved the surrounding grounds. 

The Church of Eccleshall is a vicarage in the patronage of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry : the Rev. John Henry Powell is the present vicar, and the Rev. Francis Jenkinson is curate. 

The Bishop's Woods are situated between four and five miles to the westward of Eccleshall, and contain about 1,500 acres of land, planted with trees, particularly oak. They abound with underwood, a part of which is cut down annually, and sold to the potters to make crates for their earthenware. The timber trees are left standing in the proportion of from forty to eighty per acre, according to the quality of the soil and nature of the surface. Hence a regular revenue is obtained from these woods, without decreasing their value. In the lower part of the wood, where the soil is best, the under-wood is worth 15s. per acre annually, if well stooled, and the vacant places planted between the stools. The best part of this underwood is made into rakes, scythe-poles, &c. and these extensive tracts are thus productive of several useful articles.