Sandon in 1859

SANDON (ALL SAINTS), a parish, in the union of STONE, S. division of the hundred of PIREHILL, N. division of the county of STAFFORD, 4 miles (N.N.E.) 
from Stafford; containing 586 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 3376 acres, of which the surface rises gradually from the north bank of the river Trent, and the scenery is beautifully diversified: stone of good quality for building is found, and in Sandon Park is an excellent quarry.

The Hall, the seat of the Earl of Harrowby, who bears the inferior title of Viscount Sandon, of this place, is a handsome mansion, on the south side of which is a fine Doric pillar, 75 feet high, erected by the earl in 1806, to the memory of William Pitt; and in the grounds is an elegant structure in the later English style, with a richly-groined roof, on which are two tablets inscribed to Spencer Perceval. The Trent and Mersey canal passes through the parish; and fairs, chiefly for cattle, are held on the Thursday in Easter-week, and the 14th of November.

The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £7.10.; patron, and owner of the remainder of the rectorial tithes, Earl of Harrowby. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £366, and the vicarial for £356; the glebe comprises 8 acres. The church, situated in the middle of the park, is an ancient and venerable structure, restored in strict harmony with its original character, and contains an elegant monument to the memory of the well-known genealogist and antiquary, Sampson Erdeswicke, the last of the Erdeswickes, formerly proprietors of the manor, who was born here, and died in 1603.

There is a place of worship for Methodists. An elegant national school, erected in the park by its noble owner, is supported at the sole expense of the earl and countess; and there is a society for clothing the poor, among whom garments of the value of £100 are annually distributed. In a meadow near the boundary of the Sandon estate, is a petrifying spring. 

 

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