GORNALL, LOWER, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish of Sedgley, union of Dudley, N. division of the hundred of Seisdon, S. division of the county of 
Stafford, 2 miles (W.) from Dudley; containing 5000 inhabitants. The surface is much undulated; the district abounds with coal-works, and chains and nails are made to a great extent.

The church, dedicated to St. James, was built at a cost of £1500, raised by subscription, aided by Queen Anne's Bounty, on a site given by the late Lord Dudley and Ward, by whom, also, the living was endowed with £15 per annum; it was consecrated in 1823, and enlarged in 1837. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Lord Ward; total income, £150. There are places of worship for Baptists, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans; and attached to the church is a national school. 

 

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

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer (1868)]

"UPPER GORNALL, (and Lower Gornall) villages in the parish of Sedgley, hundred of North Seisdon, county Stafford, 2 miles N.W. of Dudley, their post town. The inhabitants are for the most part engaged in the iron trade, and in its various branches of chain, nail, and fire-iron manufacture. Firebricks are also extensively made from a peculiar kind of clay abounding in the neighbourhood.

There is a district church in each of the villages; the living of Upper Gornall being a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Lichfield, value £145, in the gift of the vicar of the parish; and that of Lower Gornall, also a perpetual curacy, value £129, in the patronage of the Earl of Dudley.

The Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive and New Connexion Methodists have chapels, and there are good National, British, and infant schools.

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

GORNALL (Lower and Upper), two villages and two chapelries in Sedgley parish, Stafford. The villages stand neat the Birmingham and Wolverhampton railway, 2 miles NW of Dudley railway station, and 4 S of Wolverhampton; and each has a post-office of its own name, that of Lower Gornall under Dudley. The tract around them abounds in fire-clay; and many of the inhabitants are employed in working this into bricks and other articles; while many are employed also in collieries, hardware works, bellows factories, and malt-houses. The property is much subdivided.

The chapelry of Lower Gornall was constituted in 1832; and that of Upper Gornall, in 1844. Pop. of Lower Gornall, 5,915. Houses, 1,128. Pop. of Upper Gornall, 4,044. Houses, 690. The livings of both are perpetual curacies in the diocese of Lichfield, value of Lower Gornal, £129. Patron, the Earl of Dudley. Value of Upper Gornall, £215. Patron, the Vicar of Sedgley. There are in Lower Gornall, chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists; in Gornal Wood, chapels for Wesleyans and New Connexion Methodists; in Upper Gornall, chapels for Independents and Wesleyans. There are also national, British, and infant schools.
 

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]

"CUTTLESTONE, a hundred in the middle division of the county of Stafford; it is separated into two divisions, E. and W. the E. contains the parishes of Brewood, Baswick, Castle-Church, Cannock, Shareshill, Rugeley, Teddesley-Hay, and parts of Penkridge, Bushbury, and Wolverhampton; the W. the parishes of Blymhill, Bradley, Church Eaton, Forton, Gnosall, Haughton, Lapley, Norbury, Weston-under-Lizard, and parts of Penkridge and Sheriff Hales, comprising together about 105,500 acres."

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

STAFFORDSHIRE, an inland county, bounded on the north and north-west by Cheshire, on the west by Salop, on the south by Worcestershire and a detached part of Salop, on the south-east by Warwickshire, and on the east and north-east by a small projecting portion of the county of Leicester, and by Derbyshire. It extends from 52 23' to 53 14' (N. Lat.), and from 133' to 2 22' (W. Lon.), and includes an area of 1148 square miles, or 734,720 statute acres: within its limits are 97,777 houses inhabited, 5458 uninhabited, and 904 in course of erection; and the population amounts to 510,504, of which number 258,864 are males, and 251,640 females. Its ancient British inhabitants were the Cornavii, whose territory, on its subjection by the Romans, was included in the division called Flavta Ccesariensis. On the completion of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy, it was comprised in the powerful kingdom of Mercia, several of the principal towns of which were situated within its limits.

The county is in the diocese of Lichfield, and province of Canterbury, and forms an archdeaconry containing the deaneries of Tamworth, Tutbury, Lapley, Treizull, Alveton, Leek, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Stone, with 146 parishes. For purposes of civil government it is divided into the hundreds of Cuttlestone East and West, Offlow North and South, Pirehill North and South, Seisdon North and South, and Totmonslow North and South; and contains the city of Lichfield; the borough and market towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stafford, Tamworth, Stoke-upon-Trent, Walsall, and Wolverhampton, the three last recently enfranchised; and the market-towns of Burslem, Burton-upon-Trent, Cheadle, Eccleshall, Hanley, Lane-End, Leek, Longnor, Penkridge, Rugeley, Stone, Uttoxeter, and Wednesbury. Under the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, the county has been formed into the Northern and Southern divisions, each sending two members to parliament; two representatives are returned for Lichfield, and two for each of the boroughs, except Walsall, which sends only one. The county is included in the Oxford circuit; and the assizes and quarter-sessions are held at Stafford. 

Its SURFACE is various. The Northern part rises into hills, called the Moorlands, constituting the southern extremity of the long mountainous range which stretches hence through the north of Derbyshire, and along the western confines of Yorkshire, towards the borders of Scotland. These moorlands are to the north of a supposed line drawn from Uttoxeter to Newcastle-under-Lyme, and comprise extensive tracts of waste and uncultivated land, appropriated almost entirely to the pasturage of sheep. A large portion of them has been inclosed with stone walls, almost the only fence to be seen in this part; but the inclosures have not been subdivided, and large breadths have never undergone the least improvement. The pleasant vale in which is situated the town of Cheadle, in this part of the county, is bounded, in the vicinity of that town, by high barren hills, composed of huge heaps of gravel: the wastes upon these hills, and others equally dreary and barren, extending both northward and westward of Cheadle, are extensive, and almost their only produce is heath, broom, whortleberries, and mountain cinquefoil. Eastward of this town also, approaching the borders of Derbyshire, are similar desolate wastes, one of which, near the banks of the Dove, is called Oak-moor, from its being nearly covered with dwarf oaks. A little to the north of this commences a large tract of limestone country, included between the rivers Dove and Churnet, extending westward as far as Ipstones, and northward as far as Longnor, and comprising an area of 50 or 60 square miles. This is the most valuable part of the moorlands, the soil naturally producing a fine herbage. Many of the hills here, which are composed of immense masses of limestone, rise to a great height, and in various places present huge perpendicular cliffs.

The Weaver hills, in the southern part of the district, of very considerable extent, rise, in common with some other of the highest peaks of the moorlands, to an elevation of 1000 feet and upwards above the tide in the Thames at Brentford, and command remarkably extensive views, in which are included the Peak hills of Derbyshire; these are almost covered with irregular excrescences, clothed with moss or lichens. Many other parts of the moorlands, notwithstanding their great superiority of elevation, are entirely wet peat moors, or moss; such are Morrage, Axedge, the Cloud heath, High Forest, Leek Frith, and Mole Cop. The Middle and Southern parts of the county are level, or diversified only by gently rising eminences. The following tracts, however, are exceptions to this observation, viz., the limestone hills of Dudley and Sedgley; the parish of Rowley-Regis, principally composed of an isolated mountain terminating in various peaks, the loftiest of them, called Turner's Hill, being the highest spot of ground in the south of Staffordshire, rising 900 feet above high water in the Thames at Brentford; the hills of Clent, in the detached portion of the county lying to the south of Stourbridge, in Worcestershire, and nearly equal in height to those of Rowley; Bar-beacon, rising 653 feet, and many others of less elevation.

The quantity of land in the county devoted to AGRICULTURAL purposes is estimated at 600,000 acres, of which 500,000 are arable, the rest meadow or pasture. Of the arable lands, 200,000 acres are of the clayey, or of the more friable of the mixed loams; an equal quantity is of gravelly or sandy loam, or of the Calcareous soils, and the remaining 100,000 acres are, for the most part, of light sandy or gravelly loams, suitable for turnips. The courses of crops are various: it may be observed, however, that the Norfolk system, including the rotation of turnips, barley, clover, and wheat, is in common practice on the light soils. The crops of grain and pulse usually grown are wheat, barley, oats, beans, and peas. On the moorlands oats are almost the only grain ever cultivated, and are generally sown for three succeeding years, after which the ground is laid down for grass: a considerable quantity of oaten bread is eaten in the moorlands. Buck-wheat, here called French wheat, is sometimes cultivated, both as a crop and for ploughing under as manure. Hemp and flax are also grown, though upon a small scale; and many leases are subject to restrictions, to prevent the cultivation of these plants to any great extent. The common artificial grasses are red clover, white clover, trefoil, and rye-grass; burnet and rib-grass are also sown in considerable quantities. In the parish of Tettenhall, near Wolverhampton, great quantities of a peculiar kind of pear, called from the name of the place where it is produced, are grown. The Woods, wastes, and impracticable lands, are supposed to occupy upwards of 100,000 acres.

The county is well stocked with almost every species of thriving English timber, growing on the numerous estates of the nobility and gentry. Plantations to a great extent have been made on various parts of the steep moorland hills, particularly those of Dilhorne, Kingsley, and Oakmoor: from the underwood of these, many rods and staves, to make crates for the use of the potteries, are cut. Needwood Forest, in the eastern part of the county, situated between the rivers Trent and Dove, before the passing of an act of inclosure about the commencement of the present century, was an entirely wild tract of nearly 10,000 acres, presenting much romantic and beautiful scenery, and affording pasturage to numerous herds of deer: it was also subject to a common right for cattle and horses. Of the wastes at present remaining, Cannock Heath is by far the most extensive, containing upwards of 25,000 acres, near the centre of the county, and chiefly to the north and east of the small town of Cannock. Although now a bleak and dreary tract, entirely devoid of trees, it is asserted to have been covered in former times with a profusion of majestic oaks, and to have been a favourite chase of the Saxon monarchs of Mercia. 

The MINERAL PRODUCTIONS are numerous and valuable, consisting chiefly of coal, iron, lead, copper, marble, gypsum, and stone of various kinds. The coal strata occupy an area of more than 75,000 square acres; the most extensive deposit is in the southern part of the county, and extends in length from about one mile south of Rugeley to Stourbridge, in Worcestershire, a distance of 22 miles, while its breadth in some places is not much less than 9 miles. In its southern part, at various depths below the surface, is found the thick coal, or ten-yard stratum, beneath which are valuable beds of iron-stone, the clay iron-ore of mineralogists. The whole of the beds of coal, iron-stone, sandstone, and shale in this district have suffered much dislocation from the action of volcanic rocks, which are found to occupy large areas underneath the surface, and to protrude through and form hills of basaltic rock of greater or less elevation at Rowley-Regis, Barrow Hill, and Powk Hill. The base rock of this coal-field is a limestone, known by its peculiar fossils to belong to the Wenlock formation of geologists; it rises to the surface in a ridge of hills from Dudley, in Worcestershire, to Sedgley, again round the town of Walsall, and in isolated patches in other places. In the north of the county coal and iron-stone are also raised in abundance, in the neighbourhood of Newcastle and the Potteries, near Lane-End and Hollybush, and in the vicinity of Cheadle and Dilhorne. In the numerous mines of coal and iron, and in the foundries, blast-furnaces, slitting-mills, and other iron manufactories, an immense number of workmen are employed; and the works on the banks of the Birmingham canal are particularly numerous and extensive.

The other metallic ores obtained are those of copper and lead, of both which considerable quantities are raised at Ecton, near Warslow, approaching the north-eastern border of the county: a copper-mine is also worked at Mixon, within a few miles of Leek; and a lead-mine near Stanton Moor, in the same part of the county. Limestone forms the substratum of a very great part of the country already described: an immense quantity of it is raised for burning into lime; and the limeworks on Caldon Low, and in the neighbourhood of the Weaver hills, are particularly extensive. The limestone, in different places, has some of the qualities of marble, and is susceptible of a high polish; in others it is composed, in a great measure, of petrified animal remains. The kind of marble called ranee-marble, which is white, with red veins formed of shining gritty particles, and takes so good a polish as to be frequently used for chimney-pieces and monuments, is found in great abundance in Yelpersley Tor and the adjoining hills: there is a considerable quantity of grey marble at Stansop. In the great limestone district, particularly on the banks of the river Dove, are some veins of gypsum, which is also dug between Needwood Forest and Tutbury; and many of the moulds used in the potteries are composed of this material, after it has been burned and ground. Extensive quarries of excellent freestone are numerous; clays of almost every description are found, and potters-clay, of several sorts, abounds chiefly in the vicinity of Newcastle, in which district the pottery wares were formerly manufactured from it. At Amblecoat, in the southern part of the county, is a clay of a dark blueish colour, of which glasshouse pots of a superior quality are made. Yellow and red ochre are also found; and a blue clay, obtained at Darlaston, near Wednesbury, is used by glovers. A kind of black chalk exists in beds of grey marble, in Langley-close; and a fine reddish earth, little inferior to the red chalk of France, is obtained near Himley Hall. 

The MANUFACTURES are various and extensive: that of hardware, in the southern district, is very important, and affords employment to many thousand persons. At Wolverhampton, and in its vicinity, are made locks of every kind, edge-tools, files, augers, japanned goods, and a great variety of other articles of the same material. The town and neighbourhood of Walsall are famous for the manufacture of saddlers' ironmongery, such as bridle-bits, stirrup-irons, spurs, &c., sent thence to every part of the kingdom. The making of nails employs many thousand persons in some of the most populous parishes in this part of the county, particularly in those of Sedgley, Rowley, West Bromwich, Smethwick.Tipton, Wombourne, and Pelsall, and in the Foreign of Walsall; and many women and children are employed in making the lighter and finer sorts. The other kinds of hardware produced are chiefly plated, lackered, japanned, and some enamelled goods, toys, tobacco and snuff-boxes, of iron and steel; and machinery for steam-engines. Some places also partake of the manufacture of guns; and there are several works for making brass, and for preparing tin plates, chiefly in the northern part of the county. In those parts of Staffordshire situated in the vicinity of Stourbridge and Dudley, in Worcestershire, are a number of large glass-houses, where the manufacture is carried on to a great extent. 

The manufacture of china and earthenware, in the north-western part of the county, is the most extensive and important in the kingdom: the district called the Potteries consists of numerous scattered villages occupying an extent of about ten square miles, and containing about 20,000 inhabitants. This manufacture, though of very ancient establishment in this part of the country, was of inferior importance until the latter part of the eighteenth century, when, chiefly by the exertions of the late Josiah Wedgwood, Esq., it was raised to such a pitch of excellence, as confers great honour upon that gentleman's ingenuity and taste; and, in consequence, several of the villages of this district, particularly Burslem and Hanley, have grown rapidly into populous market-towns. The several species of ware invented by Mr. Wedgwood, varied by the industry and ingenuity of the manufacturers into an infinity of forms, and differently painted and embellished, constitute nearly the whole of the fine earthenwares at present manufactured in England, which are the object of a very extensive traffic. Notwithstanding that almost every part of the kingdom receives supplies of pottery from this district, yet by far the greater portion of its produce is exported to foreign countries; and the exports of earthenware and china to the United States alone amount to 60,000 packages annually. The quantity of wool manufactured is small, nearly the whole of the produce of the county being sold to the clothing and hosiery districts. The cotton manufacture is considerable; and the works at Rochester and other places near the Dove are on a large scale, as are also those at Fazeley and Tutbury. The town of Leek and its neighbourhood have a considerable manufacture of silk and mohair, the articles being chiefly sewing-silk, twist, buttons, ribbons, ferrets, shawls, and handkerchiefs. Tape is manufactured at Cheadle and Tean, affording employment to many of their inhabitants. Stafford has manufactures of shoes and boots, for exportation and home consumption; and tanning and hat-making are carried on to a great extent in several of the towns. This county is also celebrated for its ale, particularly that made at Burton.

The principal Rivers are the Trent, the Dove, the Tame, the Blythe, the Penk, and the Sow: the Severn also, though not considered a Staffordshire river, takes its navigable course by the parish of Upper Arely, at the south-western extremity of the county. The Trent, which ranks as the third largest river in England, becomes navigable at Burton, a little below which, being joined by the Dove, it enters Derbyshire, after a course, through this county and bordering upon it, of upwards of 50 miles. The Dove, which, throughout its course, forms the boundary between this county and that of Derby, not far from its source enters the beautiful and sequestered Dove-dale, flowing through it in a southerly direction, to the vicinity of Ashbourn, in Derbyshire, whence it proceeds south-westward towards Uttoxeter, near which town it assumes a south-easterly direction, by Tutbury, to its junction with the Trent to the north-east of Burton.. From the great inclination of the bed of this river, its water flows with great rapidity, in some places dashing over rugged masses of rock, in others forming gentle cascades. Near the village of Ham, in this county, the Dove is greatly augmented by the waters of the rivers Manifold and Hamps: the former, rising near the source of the Dove, takes a very circuitous route through a romantic vale situated in the north-eastern part of the county, and, sinking into the earth to the south of Ecton Hill, between the villages of Butterton and Wetton, emerges again at Ham, shortly before its junction with the Dove, and at the distance of about four miles from the spot where it sinks into the ground. The stream is joined during its subterraneous transit by the Hamps, which in like manner passes under ground for a considerable distance. 

The extent of ARTIFICIAL NAVIGATION for the ready transport of the produce of the mines, manufactures, &c., is remarkably great. The Grand Trunk canal, which was planned, and in a great measure executed, by the celebrated engineer Brindley, enters this county from Cheshire, near Lawton, and almost immediately passes through the Harecastle tunnel, which is 2880 yards long; the highest level of the canal is at Harecastle, from which, on the south-eastern side, there is a fall of 316 feet. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal branches from this at Haywood, near the confluence of the rivers Sow and Trent, and quits the county, in its course to the Severn, a short distance to the south of Kinver: this canal, with the Grand Trunk, completes the communication between the ports of Bristol, Liverpool, and Hull. The Coventry and Oxford canal branches from the Grand Trunk at Fradley Heath, and near Fazeley enters Warwickshire; from Fazeley a branch proceeds to Birmingham, and is called the Birmingham and Fazeley canal. The Wyrley and Essington canal, commencing at a place called Wyrley Bank, forms a junction with the Birmingham canal a little beyond the village of Wednesfield, near Wolverhampton; its branches are, one from the vicinity of Wolverhampton to Stow Heath, another from Pool-Hayes to Ashmore Park, and a third from Lapley-Hayes to Ashmore Park. At Huddlesford commences a branch from the Coventry canal, called the Wyrley and Essington Extension, which forms a junction with the Wyrley and Essington line near Bloxwich; on the western side of Cannock Heath a branch is carried southward, by Walsall Wood, to the limeworks at Hayhead. Its whole extent, including the branches, is 34 miles; and from Cannock Heath to the Coventry canal it has a fall of 264 feet. The Birmingham canal, from that town in Warwickshire, joins the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal a little to the north of Wolverhampton, after a course of 22 miles. Of the very numerous branches of this canal, one proceeds northward, over Ryder's Green, to the collieries of Wednesbury, and the vicinity of Walsall; and another, beginning about a mile from Dudley, passes south-westward by Brierly Hill, and to the left of Brockmore Green joins a canal which, commencing in a large reservoir at Pensett's Chase, and passing nearly in a straight line by Wordsley, crosses the river Stour, and joins the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal, a few miles to the west of Stourbridge, in Worcestershire, to which town there is a small branch. The cut which connects the Dudley canal with that of Birmingham, called the Dudley Extension canal, has part of its course in this county. Sir Nigel Gresley's canal extends from the Grand Trunk, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, past that town, to the coal-mines in Apedale.

The Grand Junction railway enters the county a little to the north-west of Birmingham, and passing by Wednesbury, Penkridge, and Stafford, quits it to the north-west of Madeley. The Birmingham and Derby Junction railway, also, crosses an angle of the county, on its eastern side. Several large single stones at Cannock are supposed to be Druidical, as also are the eight upright stones, called the Bridestones, near Biddulph, on the north-western boundary of the county; and on Drood, or Druid heath, where are several singular earthworks, Mr. Shaw, the historian of the county, considers the chief seat of the Arch-Druid of Britain to have been situated. Thyrsis, or Thor's house, a cavern in the side of a lofty precipice in the vale of the Manifold, near the village of Wetton, is also thought to have been the scene of Druidical rites. Some very ancient artificial caves have been discovered at Biddulph. The encampment of Billington, about three miles to the west of Stafford, and that on Castle hill, near Beaudesert park, in the vicinity of Rugeley, are of ancient British formation. Under the Roman dominion, the tract now constituting Staffordshire contained the stations of Etocetum, at Wall, near Lichfield; and Pennocrucium, now Penkridge. Sheriff-Hales, near the confines of Shropshire, is supposed by some antiquaries to have been the site of the station Uxacona, or Usacona. Two of the great praetorian ways also crossed Staffordshire: the Watling-street, entering it from Warwickshire, near Tamworth, proceeded westward across the southern part, and quitted it for Shropshire, to the west of the town of Brewood: the Ikeneld-street, which entered from Warwickshire, at the village of Handsworth, near Birmingham, proceeded thence, in a north-north-easterly direction, to a little beyond Shenstone, where it crossed the Watling-street, and afterwards pursued a north-easterly course, entering Derbyshire at Monks' Bridge, on the Dove. Roman domestic remains, and traces of their roads, are discoverable in different places; and

Roman earthworks are visible at Arely wood, Ashton heath, Ashwood heath, near Kinver at Oldbury, near Shareshill, and in Tiddesley park. Near Maer are intrenchments supposed to have been thrown up by Cenred, in the progress of his hostilities against Osred, King of Northumbria; and on Sutton-Coldfield is a camp, considered to be of Danish formation. The number of Religious houses in the county, including free chapels, hospitals, and colleges, was about 40; and remains of the abbeys of Burton and Croxden, and of the priories of Rowton, Stafford, and Stone, are still visible. The remains of ancient castles are chiefly those of Alveton, Caverswall, Chartley, Dudley, Healy or Heyley Castle, Tamworth, and Tutbury; and among the most remarkable ancient mansions are Bentley Hall and Moseley Hall, in both which Charles II. remained concealed for same time after the battle of Worcester. Staffordshire contains numerous modern seats of the nobility and gentry, many of which are elegant, and several magnificent; and among the most distinguished are, Trentham, the property and residence of the Duke of Sutherland; and Beaudesert, that of the Marquess of Anglesey. Salt springs exist in different places, the principal in the parish of Western; and there are other mineral springs of various qualities, the most remarkable of which are, that near Codsall, formerly famous for the cure of leprosies; St. Erasmus' well, between Ingestrie and Stafford; and that at Willoughby. Numerous fossil remains occur in various parts of the strata of the county, more particularly in some of the limestone beds. At Bradley, to the east of Wolverhampton, a stratum of coal, about four feet thick, and eight or ten yards below the surface, having been set on fire, burned for about fifty years, and has reduced a considerable extent of land to a complete calx, used for the mending of roads: sulphur and alum are found in its vicinity. The county gives the inferior title of Marquess to the family of Leveson-Gower, dukes of Sutherland. 

 

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

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer (1868)]

"STAFFORDSHIRE, a midland county in England, is bounded N. by Cheshire and Derbyshire; E. by Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Warwickshire; S. by Worcestershire; and W. by Shropshire and Cheshire. It lies between 52° 23' and 53° 14' N. lat, 1° 36' and 2° 27' W. long. The extreme length from N. to S. is 60 miles, and its greatest breadth is 38 miles. The area is 1,138 square miles, or 728,468 acres, of which 630,000 acres are arable and pasture. The population in 1801 amounted to 242,693. Since then it has rapidly increased, being 608,599 in 1851, and 746,943 in 1861, or 308 per cent. of the population in 1801. The number of inhabited houses in 1861 was 147,105, and of uninhabited 9,043.

Previous to the Roman invasion the county seems to have been occupied by the Cornavii, whose territory was overrun by the Brigantes a short time before the arrival of the Romans, who found in the Brigantes a sturdy foe. It subsequently formed part of the Roman province Flavia Cæsariensis, and was traversed by three great ways, or streets, called Watling Street, Ryknield Street, and the Via Devana, on the first of which were situated the town of Etocetum, now Wall, near Lichfield, and Pennocrucium, near the village of Penkridge. Many remains of camps are found in different parts of the county, but it is difficult to decide whether they are of Saxon, Roman, or Danish formation. Roman coins and other antiquities have been found in many places, especially at Rowley Regis and about Wall, where large quantities of pavements of Roman bricks and foundation stones have been dug up.

This county next formed part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, and after the introduction of Christianity in the 7th century became a bishopric, the seat of which was subsequently fixed at Lichfield. The Danes overran the county in the 9th century, and in the division of territory made by Alfred the district N. of Watling Street was included in the Danelagh, but was afterwards recovered from their power. They were defeated in 910 at Tettenhall Regis, near Wolverhampton, and again in 911 at Wednesfield; and in 913 Ethelfleda, Countess of Mercia, built castles at Tamworth, Stafford, and Eadesbyrig, to keep them in check. Eadesbyrig is by some supposed to be the modern Wednesbury, so called from its having been the principal seat of worship to the god Woden.

William the Conqueror granted a portion of the lands to Richard de Todeni, or de Stafford, who built a castle, and established himself near the town of Stafford. Edward II. defeated at Burton-on-Trent the Earls of Lancaster and Hereford, who were in insurrection against him. During the civil wars between York and Lancaster a battle was fought at Blore Heath, on the western side of the county. The field of battle is marked by a stone pedestal, upon which stands an old wooden cross. Mary Queen of Scots was for some time confined in the castles at Tutbury and Chartley, the ruins of which yet remain. In the struggle between Charles I. and his parliament the county generally sided with the latter, though many took an active part in the royal cause, and seized and garrisoned Lichfield Cathedral, which was taken by the parliamentarians, but regained under Prince Rupert. An indecisive battle was fought at Hopton Heath, near Stafford, after which the parliamentarians occupied Stafford and Wolverhampton, together with Eccleshall Castle, and also took and destroyed Stafford Castle. Skirmishes took place in many places, in which the royalists were generally unsuccessful. After the battle of Worcester, in 1651, Charles II was sheltered for some time in Boscobel House in this county. In 1745 the army of Prince Charles Edward, the young Pretender, occupied Leek, while that of the Duke of Cumberland was at Stone.

The aspect of the county is various. The N.E. district, called the moorlands, and comprising one-sixth of the entire, is the commencement of the mountain range known as the Pennine Chain, which runs through the N.E. of Derbyshire, along the western border of Yorkshire, and on to the Cheviot Hills. This district is a strange variety of wild desolate scenery and rich fertile valleys. The moorlands, rising in many parts to elevations of 1,200 to 1,500 feet, consist in some places of heaps of gravel, and in others of cliffs with rock scattered about their bases, while in some districts in the extreme N. they are mere upland wastes expanding into peaty mosses and spongy moors, as at Axe Edge, the Cloud Heath, High Forest. The glen at the river Dove, at Ilam, is said to resemble the ravines of the Alps, while the valleys of the Manifold, Hamps, Blyth, and Dean, tributaries of the Dove, intersect the moorlands, and abound in spots of picturesque scenery. The Weaver hills, rising in some places to 1,500 feet, lie between the vales of the Dove and the Churnet, and rival the peaks of Derbyshire. The north-western district, in which the potteries are situated, and nearly identical with Pirehill hundred, presents a contrast to the part just described, being for the most part level and fertile.

The midland and southern portions partake also of this character, consisting for the most part of level country. Cannock Chase was an open heath of 25,000 acres, extending from the vicinity of Stafford southwards through the county, and is in one place 715 feet high. It was formerly covered with woods, but is now bleak and naked. Part of it has been reclaimed. Rowley Regis Mountain is an isolated eminence between Dudley and Halesowen, about 900 feet high, and terminating in summits, of which the chief are Oakham, Corney, and Turner's hills. Barr Beacon, about 700 feet high is 2 miles N.E. of Great Barr. Clent Hill, about 1000 feet high is the principal summit of the Clent hills in the detached district of the county.

The principal river is the Trent, which rises from Newpool, near Biddulph, on the borders of Cheshire, and flows in an irregular south-easterly course of 50 miles across the county to Burton, on the borders of Derbyshire. It is rapid throughout, but is not navigable above Burton. Its chief affluents are the Sow and the Tame from the right, and the Blyth and Dove from the left. The Sow rises on the Welsh border near Broughton, and flows past Eccleshall and Stafford to the Trent, being joined by the Penk, a tributary which comes from Wolverhampton. The Tame is formed by the confluence of several small streams S.W. of Walsall, and has a winding course of 42 miles, partly in Warwickshire, but chiefly in this county, before it falls into the Trent. It flows past Tamworth, and is joined by the Rea, which comes from Birmingham; the Cole from Colehill; the Blythe from Watley Moor, in the potteries; and the Anker. The Dove rises in the moorlands to the N.W. of Longnor, and soon enters the vale of Dovedale, where it receives from the right the waters of the Manifold, a subterranean stream, and the Churnet, and, forming the boundary between this county and Derbyshire for several miles, finally joins the Trent.

The county has a large railway development. The London and North-Western traverses it in a N.N.W. direction, entering near Bilston, and leaving it near Crewe; while the Trent Valley, the Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and other branches, bring all parts into easy communication with the midland and south-western lines. The roads are numerous and well arranged, the principal being the old mail-coach road from London to Holyhead, the Chester and Holyhead road, the London and Liverpool, the London and Manchester by Derby, and the road from Birmingham to Derby, connecting the south-western with the northern counties.

The canals are extensive and ramified, making up an aggregate length of 250 miles, and cost about £500,000. The Trent and Mersey or Grand Trunk canal enters from Cheshire, near Sandon, on the N.W. and follows the course of the Trent, passing into Derbyshire near Buxton. The Stafford and Worcester canal branches from it at Haywood, near the mouth of the Sow, and runs past Wolverhampton, connecting Bristol with Liverpool and Hull. The Coventry and Oxford canal connects the Thames navigation interiorly with the Mersey and Humber, joining the Trunk canal at Fradley Heath. The Birmingham canal passes through the coal and iron districts by Dudley and Wolverhampton, and runs into the Stafford and Worcestershire canal near the latter town. A junction line branches from near Wolverhampton to Nantwich, in Cheshire. The Wyrley and Essington canal, with thirty locks in a distance of 23 miles, leaves the Birmingham canal at Wolverhampton, and runs eastward to Wyrley Bank, communicating also with the Coventry canal between Fradley Heath and Fazeley; it has three short branches. The Fazeley and Birmingham canal, only a small part of which is in this county, leaves the Coventry and Oxford canal at Fazeley. In the N. the Newcastle-under-Lyne canal connects that town with the Trent and Mersey canal, from which, in the neighbourhood of Stone, the Caldon canal branches to Hanley in the potteries, and past Leek and Uttoxeter to the valley of the Dove. There are other canals, some of which are private property.

A substratum of New Red sandstone generally prevails in the central and southern districts, and of limestone in the upland region in the N. Limestone also appears in the Sedgley Hills, at Rushall, and Hayfield, and underlies most of the South Staffordshire coalfields, particularly in the neighbourhood of Dudley. Quarries of sulphate of lime, or alabaster, are worked on the banks of the Dove, and ragstone of a rusty blue colour at Rowley. Sandstone suitable for mouldings is quarried at Bilston. Clays of great variety are found at the surface, and at mineable depths in abundance. At Darlstown a blue clay, used by glovers, is met with. Potter's earth is extensively procured in the neighbourhood of Newcastle-under-Lyne, and at Amblecoat a kind of clay is raised from 45 feet below the coal strata, in quantities exceeding 4,000 tons a year, which is suitable for making crucibles, fire-bricks, and glass-house pots. Copper is found at Ecton and Butterton, and lead at Ecton and on Stanton Moor. There are extensive works for smelting and refining brass and copper at Brookhouses, Oakamoor, and Whiston, near Cheadle, but the calamine and ore are principally procured from other counties.

The great mineral wealth of Staffordshire, however, consists in its supplies of iron and coal. The North Staffordshire or Potteries coal-field embraces an area of 80 square miles. It is of triangular form, and extends from Lane End in the Potteries to Congleton in Cheshire, a distance of 13 miles. The base of the triangle, which is in the southern part, is 8 to 10 miles in length. The Cheadle coal district, which is to the E. of this, may be considered a portion of the same field. The strata are generally from 3 to 10 feet thick. The coals raised in the southern part, near Cheadle, are for the most part of better quality and thicker than are got in the N. The number of collieries under inspection is 127. From beneath this coalfield the coarse sandstone called millstone grit crops out, and covers a considerable district.

The South Staffordshire or Dudley field is celebrated for the thickness of its strata and the excellence of its coal, which is specially suited for the smelting of iron. It contains an area of upwards of 100 square miles, and extends from Walsall to Wolverhampton, and from a line in Crannock Chase to a line near Stourbridge, in Worcestershire. Its length is 20 miles from N. to S., and its breadth is 10 miles, but this includes Rowley hills. The number of collieries under inspection in this district is 422.

Coal is found in strata in some places of the aggregate thickness of 24 to 36 feet, but iron is the most valuable mineral of the county, which has been called the Chalybia of England. Strata of iron ore are everywhere underlying and alternating with the coal seams, the most abundant mines being at Wednesbury, Wolverhampton, Tipton, Bilston, and Sedgley. The amount annually produced exceeds 600,000 tons, and is only equalled by the South Wales district, which yields upwards of 700,000 tons.

The climate, particularly in the high grounds and moorlands of the N.E., is characterised by coldness and humidity, and harvests are in consequence later and more precarious than in other parts of the county. The rainfall averages 36 inches, while the amount in London seldom exceeds 21 to 22 inches, and though drainage is carefully attended to in the S., a retentive subsoil in the N. prevents the wet from sinking through, and this moisture affects the temperature of the entire county. The soils vary from light soils managed on the four-course system to the stiffest clay farmed on the six-course principle. About three-fourths of the entire is arable, but much of the land is cold and best suited for moorland oats, which is often grown for three years in succession, and the land then laid down with grass while full of weeds. In the S., however, a better system is observed, and friable loam of a sandy, calcareous nature admits of improved husbandry being adopted.

Rich pastures and meadows are found generally on the banks of the rivers, producing excellent cheese. About 10,000 to 12,000 acres of Cannock Chase are still unenclosed. Lord Hatherton's estate at Teddesley was formerly a waste part of it, but is now thoroughly drained, and produces good crops. Farm buildings are generally good; farms are mostly held from year to year, and fields are small and surrounded by hedgerows. Long-horned cattle are most esteemed, but the shorthorns have many admirers, and crosses between them are not unfrequent. Dairy husbandry is not much practised; cheese is made rivalling that of Derbyshire and Cheshire, and quantities of cattle are stall-fed on turnips, hay, and oil-cake. Southdown and Leicester sheep are successfully reared, and many other breeds may be found.

It is, however, chiefly a manufacturing county. The Potteries in the N. are the principal seat of the earthenware and china business, and to the iron and coal district of the S. England owes much of her wealth and greatness. Both of these branches of industry are of comparatively recent date. The manufacture of earthenware was little attended to at the commencement of the last century, and owes much of its prosperity to the enterprise and ingenuity of Josiah Wedgwood, who commenced working on his own account in 1760, and before his death in 1795 quite changed the character of the pottery business. The population of the Potteries exceeds 80,000. The chief towns in the district are Stoke-upon-Trent, Longton, Shelton, Burslem, Hanley, and Lane End, but these, though formerly distinct places, have so considerably increased as to present the appearance of one town; they form together the borough of Stoke-upon-Trent. The finest clays used are principally brought from Dorsetshire, soapstone from Cornwall, and flints from chalk-pits near Gravesend, and from Wales and Ireland. A considerable business in boots and shoes is done in Stafford, where tanning is also much attended to. Glass is made on the confines of Worcestershire. Cotton mills have been erected at Rocester and other places, and there are extensive breweries at Burton-on-Trent and Wolverhampton.

The county constitutes the archdeaconry of Stafford, in the diocese of Lichfield and province of Canterbury, and comprises 138 whole parishes, besides parts of 12 others, and 15 extra parochial places. It is divided for civil purposes into 5 hundreds, in 2 divisions: Offlow North, Pirehill, North and South, and Totmonslow, North and South, forming the northern division; and Cuttlestone, East and West, Offlow South, and Seisdon, North and South, constituting the southern. The government is entrusted to a lord lieutenant and custos rotulorum, high sheriff, and about 327 deputy lieutenants and magistrates. The county returns 17 members to parliament, 2 for the northern division, population 289,663, constituency, 10,703 in 1865; 2 for the southern division, population 457,280, constituency 10,841; 2 each for Stoke-upon-Trent (2,858), Tamworth (451), Wolverhampton (4,533), Stafford (1,495), Lichfield (704), and Newcastle-under-Lyne (976); and 1 for Walsall (1,219). Prior to the passing of the Reform Bill the number was only 10. Stafford is the place of election for the northern division, and Lichfield for the southern.

The county is in the midland military district and the Oxford circuit. Assizes and quarter sessions are held at Stafford, where the county gaol is situated. County courts are held at 13 places. The county lunatic asylum is at Stafford. Owing to the large manufacturing population, education is not attended to among the lower orders. Staffordshire has 21 market towns, and upwards of 400 smaller towns and villages. It is in the West Midland division for registration purposes, and comprises 16 superintendent registrars' districts, or Poor-Law unions, and 60 sub-districts.

It abounds in seats of the nobility and resident gentry, of which the following are the principal: Trentham, Duke of Sutherland; Ingestre, Earl Talbot; Alton Towers, Earl of Shrewsbury; Beaudesert, Marquis of Anglesea; Stone Park, Earl Granville; Sandon, Earl of Harrowby; Sandwell, Earl of Dartmouth; Shugborough, Earl of Lichfield; Aston, Viscount St. Vincent; Teddesley, Lord Hatherton; Blithfield, Lord Bagot; Enville, Earl of Stamford; Weston, Earl of Bradford; Chartley, Earl Ferrars.

Some of the antiquities have already been noticed in connection with the early history of the county. In addition to these there are some Druid remains at Biddulph; Danish pillars at Wolverhampton, Draycott, and Checkley; ecclesiastical ruins at Farewell, Tamworth, and Over Arley; an old cathedral at Lichfield; abbeys at Burton, Croxton, and Dieulacres; and castle ruins at Dudley, Stourton, Tamworth, and Tutbury."

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

STAFFORDSHIRE, or Stafford, an inland county; bounded, on the NW, by Cheshire; on the NE, by Derbyshire; on the E, by Derbyshire and Leicestershire; on the SE, by Warwickshire; on the S, by Worcestershire; on the W, by Salop. Its outline is somewhat ellipsoidal, with the longer axis extending N and S. Its boundary line, along part of the NW, is the river Dane; along the NE, is the river Dove; along most of the E, is the rivers Dove, Trent, and Tame; along small part of the W, is the river Tern; and along most other parts, is entirely artificial. Its greatest length is 54 miles; its greatest breadth is 35 miles; its circuit is about 210 miles; and its area is 728,468 acres.

The NE section, to the extent of about one-sixth of the entire area, is upland, variously moorish, pastoral, and picturesque; rises to an average altitude of from 300 to 600 feet above the general level of the rest of the county; and has summits 1,200 and 1,500 feet high. The NW section, nearly identical with Pirehill hundred, is prevailingly champaign. The central sections include the large and elevated tract of Cannock chase; and all, excepting that tract, are either undulated or level ground. The S section includes the hills and cliffs of Dudley and Sedgeley, and the isolated mountain of Rowley-Regis; but elsewhere is all prevailingly champaign.

The chief streams are the Trent, the Sow, the Tame, the Blythe, the Dove, the Manyfold, the Hamps, the Churnet, the Penk, the Stour, and the Tern. Silurian rocks form two small tracts in the S; lower carboniferous rocks form considerable tracts in the NE; upper carboniferous rocks, mainly of the coal measures, form large tracts in the S and in the N; permian rocks form a tract around most of the S coal measures, and another tract to the S of the N coal measures; and triassic rocks form nearly all the rest of the county, chiefly across its central parts, and amounting to about one-half of the entire area. Ochre, fullers' earth, black chalk, fire-clay, brick clay, porcelain clay, Rowley ragstone, fine-grained sandstone, alabaster, marbles, limestone, lead ore, copper ore, ironstone, and coal are worked.

North Staffordshire, in 1859, produced 143,500 tons of iron ore, and had 7 iron-works, 29 furnaces, and 127 collieries; South Staffordshire and Worcestershire, in the same year, produced 475,300 tons of iron ore, and had 71 iron-works, 184 furnaces, and 422 collieries; and all Staffordshire, in that year, produced 6,125,000 tons of coal. A new industry, in the manufacture of oil from cannal coal, was initiated shortly before 1867; and, in the neighbourhood of Burslem and Tunstall, produces nearly 100 tuns of crude oil per week.

The soils, in a general view, are either argillaceous, arenaceous, calcareous, mixed, or peaty, according to the rock formations on which they lie. About 500,000 acres are in tillage. The Norfolk rotation is usually practised on the light soils; but very various courses of cropping are followed on other soils. The chief crops are wheat, rye, barley, oats, beans, turnips, and potatoes. Grass lands of great extent are in the vicinity of all the large towns; and meadows lie along the banks of most of the streams. The cattle are chiefly of the long-horn breed, and partly of several varieties. The sheep are variously grey-faced natives, black-faced natives, white-faced natives, Leicestershires, Southdowns, and mixed breeds; and they amount to about 87,000, and yield about 3,500 packs of wool. Estates are of all sizes; and farms range from 20 to 1,000 acres, and are held either at will or from 14 to 21 years.

Chief manufactures are earthen-ware and porcelain in the N, and hardware, silver-plated ware, glass, and kindred articles in the S; and other manufactures are cotton, silk, mohair, woollen, worsted, hats, tape, boots and shoes, malt liquors, and chemicals at one or more of the principal towns. Railways are abundantly ramified in most parts of the county, particularly in the S, the SE, the centre, and the NW; canals are more extensive and better ramified, in proportion to the area, than in almost any other part of the world; and the paved streets, turnpike roads, and other highways have an aggregate of more than 2,800 miles. The county contains 138 parishes, parts of 12 other parishes, and 15 extra-parochial tracts; and is divided into 5 boroughs, part of another borough, and 10 hundreds.

The act of 1844, for consolidating detached parts of counties, severed from Staffordshire the parishes of Broom and Clent, and annexed to it part of Scropton township. The registration county excludes 93,083 acres of the electoral county; includes 116,551 acres of adjoining electoral counties; comprises altogether 755,017 acres; and is divided into 16 districts. The market-towns are 21; the towns with each upwards of 200 inhabitants, 17; and the smaller towns, villages, and hamlets, upwards of 400. The chief seats include Trentham, Beandesert, Ingestrie, Alton-Towers, Sandon, Sandwell, Shugborough, Enville, Stone Park, Weston, Chartley, Eccleshall, Tiddesley, Himley, and Wrottesley; and amount to about 200.

The county is governed by a lord lieutenant, a vice-lieutenant, a high sheriff, and about 140 magistrates; is in the Midland military district, and the Oxford judicial circuit; and, excepting part of Stottesden deanery, is all in Lichfield diocese. The assizes and the quarter sessions are held at Stafford; the county jail also is there; and a city jail is in Lichfield. The police force in 1864, exclusive of separate forces in Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyne, Walsall, and Wolverhampton, comprised 438 men, at an annual cost of £36,187. The crimes committed, in the same year, exclusive of the four boroughs mentioned, were 943; the persons apprehended, 743; the known depredators and suspected persons at large, 3,613; the houses of bad character, 655.

The county was divided, under the reform act of 1832, into two sections, N and S, for parliamentary representation; and the S section was divided, by the reform act of 1867, into two parts, E and W. Each section or part sends two members to parliament. Electors of the N div., in 1833, 8,756; in 1865, 10,703. Electors of the S div., in 1833, 3,107; in 1865, 10,841. The Poor rates for the registration county, in 1863, were £233,858. Marriages in 1863, 7,219,  of which 827 were not according to the rites of the Established Church; births, 32,733; of which 1,998 were illegitimate; deaths, 19,117, of which 9,918 were at ages under 5 years, and 276 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 65,731; births, 285,423; deaths, 172,046.

The places of worship within the electoral county, in 1851, were 317 of the Church of England, with 161,217 sittings; 4 of English Presbyterians, with 1,150 sittings; 63 of Independents, with 20,676 sittings; 35 of Baptists, with 10,057 sittings; 6 of Quakers, with 798 sittings; 6 of Unitarians, with 571 sittings; 191 of Wesleyans, with 50,443 sittings; 54 of New Connexion Methodists, with 17,585 sittings; 128 of Primitive Methodists, with 22,542 sittings; 3 of the Wesleyan Association, with 1,631 sittings; 1 of Wesleyan Reformers, with 200 sittings: 1 of Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, with 180 sittings; 1 of the New Church, with 35 sittings; 5 of Brethren, with 302 sittings; 8 of isolated congregarions, with 1,544 sittings; 5 of Latter Day Saints, with 585 sittings; 34 of Roman Catholics, with 9,442 sittings; and 1 of Jews, with 30 sittings.

The schools were 440 public day schools, with 44,489 scholars; 878 private day schools, with 21,698 scholars; 643 Sunday schools, with 93,572 scholars; and 39 evening schools for adults, with 773 scholars. Real property, in 1815, £1,200,325: in 1843, £2,441,553; in 1860, £3,601,479, of which £4,279 were in quarries, £432,691 in mines, £409,173 in iron-works, £210 in fisheries, £95,479 in canals, £177,844 in railways, and £16,042 in gasworks. Pop. in 1801, 242,693; in 1821, 345,972; in 1841, 509,472; in 1861, 746,943. Inhabited houses, 147,105; uninhabited, 9,043; building, 1,082. Pop. of the registration county in 1851, 630,545; in 1861, 769,541. Inhabited houses, 151,656; uninhabited, 9,246; building, 1,117.

The territory now forming Staffordshire belonged to the ancient British Cornavii; was included, by the Romans, in their Flavia Cæsariensis; and formed part of the Saxon kingdom of Mercia. Battles were fought, in 705, between the Mercians and the Northumbrians, near Mere; in 713, between the Mercians and the West Saxons, at Wednesbury; in 907, between the Saxons and the Danes, at Tettenhall; in 911, between the same parties, at Wednesfield; in 1459, between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians, at Blore-Heath; and in 1643, between the royalists and the parliamentarians, at Hopton. Other public events are noticed in our articles on Burton-upon-Trent, Lichfield, Tamworth, and Tutbury. Druidical stones are at Biddulph.

Ancient British remains are at Beaudesert, Apeswood, Stonall, Billington, Elford, and Okeover. The Roman Watling-street, the Roman Icknield-street, and the Via Devana traverse the county. Roman stations were at Wall, Knightley, Uttoxeter, and near Penkridge. Roman camps are at seven places; Saxon camps, at five; and Danish remains, at three. Old castles, of note, were at Cannock, Darlaston, Chartley, Alveton, Healy, Stafford, Stourton, Bonebury, Burton, Eccleshall, and Tutbury. Old abbey remains are at Burton, Croxden, and Dieulacres; a priory, at Wroxton; and interesting old churches, at Lichfield, Stafford, Clifton-Campville, Over Arley, Tamworth, Tutbury, Pipe-Ridware, and Wolverhampton.

 

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]

"NORTH TOTMONSLOW, a hundred, county Stafford, contains the parishes of Alstonfield, Blore, Cauldon, Caverswall, Cheddleton, Dilhorne, Grindon, Horton, Ilam, Ipstones, Oakover, and parts of Kingsley and Leek, comprising an area of 99,680 acres.

"SOUTH TOTMONSLOW, a hundred, county Stafford, contains the parishes of Alton, Bradley-in-the-Moors, Bramshall, Cheadle, Checkley, Croxden, Draycott-in-the-Moors, Ellastone, Gratwich, Kingston, Leigh, Mayfield, Rocester, Sheen, Uttoxeter, Waterfall, Wetton, and parts of Kingsley and Leek, comprising an area of about 69,930 acres.

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

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The GENUKI Gazetteer covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland and can be searched by place-name (or part of a place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg NZ183848). If there are multiple place-names matching the name you enter, you will initially be presented with a drop-down list of the matching place-names with their distances and bearings from London, England.

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GENUKI Gazetteer maintenance - Ireland

Basic information

All the Irish Civil Parishes and Townlands appear in the gazetteer, but for many we do not have an actual location. So as a starting point it uses the centre of the county when we have no location. Where we have a parish location we use that as a starting location for the townland. All very approximate but it helps guide reasearchers to the appropriate area and as we add locations it gets nearer and nearer to the real value. So most of this work is to achieve that. There is also other documentation describing how it is achieved.

• The status of each county section can be seen on the statistics page which helps identiy the amount of work required for each county.
• Details of the format of the source files and basic techniques are described in the Gazetteer maintenance page.
• Work already mostly done on developing the Irish counties is a useful adjunct.

Work required

The starting point for each county is to take a look at the Parishes column on the statistics page. If you hold the mouse over the numbers it explains what they represent. We want to get to the stage where there is just single number here where we've created a web page for each parish. If there is a name other than Phil Stringer in the Maintainers column then somebody is already working on this county.

In the end we want to get to the stage where there is nothing in the Approx column, and nothing in the No links column but it is easiest to do some of the tasks in a particular order.

Exact location for parish

In the Approx column, if there is a number marked Parishes with an approximate location this is the simplest one to resolve first. It is those parishes that had a location in our original data and location should be nearly right. Click the number for the names of the parishes, and click each name to see a page with links to online maps. Select This place shown on a Google map. Zoom the map appropriately and drag the icon to where you think the centre of that place is. You then have the correct value to go the csv file and can change the Approx field (column C)from Y to N. If you find the Google map does not take you to a place and ther is none nearby on the map, then perhaps then perhaps an error was made in the past. So use the instructions in the next step for finding the centre location of the parish.

Parishes where we need a location

These can be identified in the Parishes column, and are labelled Civil parishes for we don't yet have a location. Click the number and see the list of names. Click a name to take you to links to online maps, the ones in the south are much easier to do.

• North - the Irish Times site is your friend as it shows where they all are on a map. It is not always easy to relate this to the modern Google map as it does not show place names. But you need to open a Google map in another browser tab and pan it and move the marker to then centre of the area shown on the Irish Times. You then have the centre location of the parish.
• South - follow the link to the Irish Ordnance survey site. Use the search menu on the right, and select the county and then Historic parishes. That shows you a historic map of the parish along with its boundaries. Pan the map until the red cross is in the centre of the parish. Don't pan it again on subsequent clicks as it changes the location that you've just found!. I find it best then to go to the 'Preview map series' menu on the right and select 'Wind report' it changes to a modern map which is much easier to relate to the Google map. Zoom, without, panning so that you can see place names that you can relate to a Google map that you've open in another tab. So look at that the OS map with one eye and move the marker on the Google map to the same location. You then have the centre location of the parish.

Cut and paste the location (Lat/Lon) into column B in the csv file for that parish entry. Change the Approx field (column C) from Y to N. Now for all the townlands without a location in this parish, change the Approx field (column C) to P, and add the parish centre location to column B. This makes the most significant improvement to the gazetteer.

Places with no location at all

As updated versions of the csv file are updated the entries that need attention in the statistics file thankfully drop. At this point the Places with no location at all in the Approx column should now have disappeared. If not it is worth fixing these now as there will be very few left for this county. Sometimes you may see Market Town in column K with the name of a description in column L. Search the gazetteer for this place to read the description. It may tell you this is also a parish. If so copy column L into column L for the parish where it is missing and then you can probably just delete the duplicate Market Town entry. For others a Google search can help identify it and lead to a location.

Townlands with a parish centre location

We are now getting to the more tedious work, but once done it makes it much more useful for researchers. In the Approx column there is probably a significant number entitled Places with a parish location. This gives list of all the names which can be clicked to link to maps, such as Google centred on the parish centre, the value in that entry in the csv file. However going through this alphabetically can be slow and it isn't as easy to spot mistakes.

The easiest method I've found is to look in the csv file at all the entries in a parish, the smaller parishes being easier. Use the gazetteer to search for the entry for the parish and ask it to display all the places in the parish on a Google map. There will be townland names on the Google map which should match the ones you need to find. If none match then the parish location may be wrong! There do seem to townlands in other parishes with the same name as actual parishes. In the rare event that this has happened, then fix the parish centre location as described above. Drag and drop the marker on the map to find the location of the townlands and change the location field in the csv file and also change the Approx to N.

Start with the ones where we already have an approximate location as they show up reasonably easily to start with. Then compare the unknown townland names nearby on the Google map with the csv file. Where they match, drag and drop and you have another answer. Google does at times have two identical names close by. I tend to use the one in the larger font as that seems to be the older one. If both are the same size I drag to point mid-way between.

So what about the townlands that don't seem to be on the Google map? Well we can go to the Irish OS site and search for the townland and see where it is on the map. Be careful that the one you get is the one you want as there can be multiple townlands with the same name. Again a useful check is to look at adjacent ones on the map and see if they are in that parish in the cav file. The Irish OS technique can only be used for counties in the South as it doesn't have the countties and townlands in the search menu for the north. If it is a county in the North try the map provided by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. We haven't found a way to link into a location so you will need to zoom and pan to the parish location and then search for townland names. There does seem to be better coverage than Google, and it appears to have more accurate locations.

There will be some very small townlands that the Irish OS site doesn't have in the menu. If it is an island, then browse the Irish OS 6" historic map for the parish and pan and zoom across the wet areas. It is easy to find island names there. For tiny townlands that aren't islands, try a Google search as somebody may have described the location. Otherwise you are left with panning the historic 6".

There is also a technique that will find the townlands plotted on a Google map. Go to https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@?dg=dbrw&newdg=1 and put the place and county in the search bar. It normally finds it and shows a marker on a map with a rough outline of the townland. What you want is the location of the marker. So right click next to the marker and a menu will appear. Select What's here? and the lat/lon is placed in the search bar. I tend to compare that with other places in the parish to make sure it is nearby and so the right one.

In the larger parishes I find it useful to put in a framework of townlands, upload the csv file, and wait for the nightly update. Things are then clearer on the map the next day. There is less clutter and it is easier to finds ones that still need doing. You need to zoom in for Google to make some visible.

The remaining places with approximate locations

That ones that are left with approximate locations come from the CIA World Fact Book. Some will be duplicates of existing places, some geographic features and some places smaller than townlands. So take each one in the list, and select nearby places on a Google map.

• Look at nearby places marked on the map, and if a duplicate, remove it from the csv file.
• I look at all Cross Roads and tend to remove any that match the name of a nearby townland. If it is a new name check on the Irish OS map and zoom in when it usually becomes visible. You then know the exact location and can drag/drop the Google marker. It is also useful loohing at the historic 6" to see which parish it was in, and put that name in the Parish field. The CIA didn't always get the spelling right, so make any adjustments that are needed.
• If it is a named bridge, then I keep these setting the exact location, and filling in the Parish name.
• Then any small places I treat in a similar way.

It is during this phase that the towlands with parish boundaries running through them become visible as we have two or more markers at the same spot. Zoom in to make it clearer and perhaps drag one to the side to check the names and the parishes.

We only want the user to be presented with a single place at that location. We don't multiple gazetteer entries for any of these as we are trying to specify where they are, not to document an administrative hierarchy. But we can do our best to tell the user that it is in multiple parishes. So for the first entry for the townland put the names of the parishes it lies in, in the parish field separating the names with a colon ':' character (without quotes). Then delete the entries from the other parishes. We then have a single place listing all the parishes it is in.

Gotchas

There do seem to be some parishes split across counties. If you find one, get in touch with Phil as he has devised a technique to handle it but has not yet implemented it.

The Post Office's Postcode Finder

The Post Office no longer supports their postcode finder tool. Instead they advise: for the most up-to-date address and postcode details, please use your preferred mapping service such as Google Maps or Apple Maps, or use a search engine.

• The GENUKI Gazetteer covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland and can be searched by place-name (or part of a place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg NZ183848). If there are multiple place-names matching the name you enter, you will initially be presented with a drop-down list of the matching place-names with their distances and bearings from London, England.
• A Gazetteer of British Place Names provided by the Association of British Counties. This comprehensive place-name index for Britain lists more than 50,000 places and gives the Ordnance Survey grid reference, the ancient or geographical County, and current local government information for each place name. There is comprehensive coverage of alternative spellings (including Welsh and Gaelic versions) and detailed notes specifically aimed at historians and genealogists. Appendices relate present day registration districts to local government areas and list those places which lay in a different "registration county" to their ancient County in the 19th century.
• The GB1900  Project - a crowd-sourced historical gazetteer based on the 1:10560 Ordnance Survey mapping of Great Britain
• GENUKI Church Database provides an online Parish Locator covering the whole of the UK. This includes facilities for listing other churches and parishes within any specified distance of the parish church.
• UK Placename Finder from Popular Archaeology includes details of 160,000 UK places.
• The archived copy of the BBC Domesday Project Reloaded website provides a method of searching the contents of the original BBC Domesday Gazetteer disk - a huge crowd-sourced description of the UK, dating from 1986 - by using the TNA Discovery Catalogue's results filtering facility.

Some historical gazetteers:

Lewis, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of England. 4 vols. London: S. Lewis and Co., 1831

Southall, Humphrey; Aucott, Paula; Fleet, Christopher; Pert, Tom; Stoner, Michael. GB1900: engaging the public in very large scale gazetteer construction from the Ordnance Survey “County Series” 1:10,560 mapping of Great Britain. Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, Vol. 13, No. 1, (2017), p. 7-28. [PDF]

Wilson, John M. The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. Six Volumes. Edinburgh, Scotland: A. Fullerton, 1870

The National Gazetteer: A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands. Virtue and Co., London (1868) 3 vols. [Full text - vol 1 (A-E), vol. 2 (F-M), vol. 3 (N-Z)]

Gazetteer of the British Isles. Edinburgh, Scotland: John Bartholomew and Sons, Ltd., 1966.