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Sandon History

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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

SANDON
Description and History from 1868 Gazetteer

 

"SANDON, a parish in the S. division of Pirehill hundred, county Stafford, 4 miles S.E. of Stone, its post town, and 5 N.E. of Stafford. It is a station on the North Staffordshire line of railway. The village, which is situated near the Grand Trunk canal and the river Trent, is chiefly agricultural. The parish includes the hamlets of Day-Hills and Smallrice, and was formerly held by the Saxon Earl Alfgar, Hugh Lupus, the De Malbancs, Verdons, Erdeswicks, and Hamiltons, who rebuilt the seat. During the civil war in 1642 a battle was fought at Hopton Heath between the parliamentary forces, under Sir William Brereton, and the royal army, under the Earl of Northampton.

The surface rises gradually from the N. bank of the river Trent. There are quarries of good building-stone. Sandon Hall, the seat of the Earl of Harrowby, is situated in the midst of an extensive park. On an eminence in the park stands an obelisk or Doric pillar 75 feet high, erected by the late Earl of Harrowby in 1806, in commemoration of William Pitt, and in the midst of a cluster of trees on the E. side of the park is a Gothic shrine with a roof, containing two tablets to the Right Hon. Spencer Percival.

The impropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £366, and the vicarial for £356, besides a glebe comprising 8 acres. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield, value £355. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient stone structure with a tower containing four bells. The interior of the church is decorated with several stained windows, the E. one bearing the arms of the Staffords, Ferrers, and other families, also a brass of the late Earl of Harrowby, and a marble monument to his countess. The register dates from 1635.

The parochial charities produce about £2 per annum. There are parochial schools for both sexes, entirely supported by the Earl of Harrowby, who is lord of the manor and principal landowner. Sandon confers the inferior title of viscount on the family of Ryder, Earls of Harrowby."

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