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Yoxall in 1817

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

YOXALL.

This village is situated in a pleasant valley on the south-west border of Needwood Forest, at the distance of seven miles from Lichfield, and four from Burton-upon-Trent. It was formerly a market-town, and was a member of the honour of Tutbury from the time of the Conquest. Yoxall is supplied with water by the rapid stream of Swerbourn, and good turnpike-roads pass through it to Lichfield, Burton, Uttoxeter, and Ashbourn.

The church is dedicated to St. Peter, and is a rectory in the deanery of Tamworth and Tutbury, and Archdeaconry of Stafford. It is an ancient gothic fabric of stone, with a square tower, and contains many monuments.

The principal hamlets belonging to this parish are Woodhouses, about three-quarters of a mile eastward, near which is the mansion of High-wall Hill, where there is a small manufactory of tape established by Mr. Wright;

Bond-end, half a mile south; Hadley-end, about the same distance west; opposite to which stands Longcroft; beyond which is Sale; and about three miles north-west from Yoxall church, the hamlet of Horecross.

Longcroft is an ancient mansion and park, originally granted by charter to Roger de Yoxhall, clerk, in the first year of the reign of Henry III. The house has still an appearance of antiquity, and was formerly surrounded by a moat, over which was a stone bridge in front. In 1796 the moat was filled up, the bridge removed, and the mansion greatly improved. It is situated on an eminence which commands an extensive view of Needwood Forest, and the opposite country towards Lichfield. Several groups of full-grown firs and other trees, amongst which is a remarkable old oak, shelter the house from the north and east winds, and add greatly to the picturesque beauty of the scene. Longcroft was purchased, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, by Simon Arden, who, in the 18th year of her reign, found one light horse, and paid to her Majesty £1. 6s. 8d. for his lands in Yoxall, then valued at £10.

Horecross is an ancient residence, three miles from Yoxall, on the north-west. In the reign of Henry VIII. it was possessed by the Welles, and the estate then consisted of 200 acres of arable land, 200 of pasture, 40 of meadow, and 50 of wood. The site of the ancient mansion is now occupied by a hunting seat, erected by the present possessor, Lord Scarsdale.