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© Colton History Society 2008 A Short History of Colton lthough Colton now appears to in Saxon times the settlement was of Abe a fairly insignificant small vil- significance. lage in the Staffordshire landscape, it has a long and interesting history. olton lands were divided be- Ctween two of William I’s Nor- he earliest evidence of habitation man supporters who had fought Tin Colton dates from the Bronze beside him at the Conquest. Part of Age. Bronze Age ‘Burnt Mounds’ the village was given to Lord Robert have recently been found within the of Stafford and the other part to Earl Parish boundary and have been re- Roger of Montgomery. Colton would searched by Keele University. Burnt have been a very small proportion of mounds are piles of split stones each of their land holdings. The Col- thought to have been split by apply- ton manors were then sub-let to Nor- ing heat, possibly for use in cooking man knights who in turn owed their or in the process of curing animal allegiance to those two great Lords. skins to make garments. It is thought that they are evidence of occupation olton in the pre- and post- Con- by one of the early British tribes quest period must have been C n 1610 Colton Manor was sold to Sir known to be in this area of Stafford- one of the largest settlements in the Walter Aston who owned the near- shire in the Iron Age period and who area because it received a Market I by Tixall Manor. Sir Walter Aston built a huge fortification at Castle Charter in 1240, some years before was a man of importance in the court Ring on Cannock Chase about four Rugeley. Throughout the Middle of James I and he was appointed Am- miles away. How big the settlement Ages it boasted a church, a market, bassador to Spain by James. For these might have been at Colton we burgage plots, mills and glassworks. services to his King and country, he have no idea but it could have Evidence of all but the market can was created Baron Aston of Forfar. formed the basis of a village of the still be seen today. He probably bought Colton Manor future. The earliest written record we The remains of the glasswork kilns because it befitted his position at have of Colton is in the Domesday within the Parish have been found in court. He paid £16,000 (equates to Book of 1086. recent years and have been linked £1.5m in 2006) which in those days with the local glass working indus- was a phenomenal amount of money. olton is recorded as having try known to have been operating The Manor house was reputed to have been held by four Saxon Thanes around Rugeley and Bagots Park in C been a very large timber house with (Lords) prior to the Conquest by Wil- the middle ages. This local industry many lodging rooms. A grand house liam. It is one of only a small number is known to have provided glass for suitable for entertaining many peo- of Staffordshire villages recorded as prestigious buildings such as York ple. We have letters that show that having a Priest, which suggests that Minster. he was often in residence here when he was in the country. Unfortunately he main Manor of Colton was in there is no surface evidence of this the possession first of the De- T house left but the boundaries of the Wasteney then the Gresley families ancient deer park can still be seen. through the period to the reign of James I. Members of the Gresley fam- ily served in the royal courts of some he mid 17th Century saw a local- of the English monarchs. During this Theiress, Constance Boughey of period Colton was probably a bus- Boughey Hall Farm marry Sir Tho- tling little town. The main occupa- mas Whitgreave of Moseley Old tion for its residents being Hall. Sir Thomas was one of the small agriculture, with a busy weekly mar- group of Catholics who had risked ket. their lives by helping the future Charles II escape after his defeat by Cromwell’s forces at the Battle of Worcester. Charles rewarded Thomas pected plotters were imprisoned in he 18th Century also saw the for his act of bravery when he came to the Tower of London. Circa 1850 re- Tbuilding of the canal through the throne. With his marriage Tho- mains were found of a building Colton. The canal as it went towards mas then became a significant land- which had probably been a chapel. Rugeley was the scene of the brutal owner in Colton and the Whitgreave Nearby human bones were un- murder of Christina Collins, a family remained so until the 20th earthed, possibly a burial ground young woman travelling by boat in Century. Boughey Hall Farm is still from ancient times. Also a head the 19th Century. This murder be- there today although now it is a carved from stone was found and came the inspiration for a story in group of private barn conversions. some other carved stones. We have the popular crime series “Morse” no written record Viscount Stafford starring the late well known actor n 1678 Herbert Aston, second son of was beheaded for treason but the John Thaw. ILord Aston, achieved notoriety by hoax was exposed before any of the others lost their heads and they were being implicated along with Vis- he 19th Century saw the coming released. count Stafford and his elder brother Tof the railway encouraged, un- Walter Aston, in the “Popish Plot”. like some of his fellow local land- he 18th Century saw the develop- They were both Catholics at a time lords, by the owner of Bellamour ment of schooling for Colton chil- when Catholicism was banned in this T Hall, Mr. Oldham Oldham. He dren. Two small schools were started country and to practise the faith was agreed to it passing through his es- one around 1764 probably initially illegal. The Popish Plot was supposed tate and also encouraged the build- for the boys of the village and then in to be a Catholic plot to kill the King ing of a station. in order to restore a Catholic mon- 1818 another one for 20 ‘poor girls’ arch. The Plot was reputed to have of the parish. The schools were paid t the end of the 19th century a been partly planned at Herbert As- for by local benefactors and a Trust distinguished photographer, ton’s house at Bellamour Hall in Col- fund. In 1862 the owner of Bel- A Frederic Bonney, came to live at ton. The Plot was eventually proved lamour Hall, Mr. Horsfall who was Colton House. Born in Rugeley he to be a complete fabrication but not M.P. for Liverpool, paid for the build- then spent many years in Australia before it had caused a huge outrage ing of a new school combining the Whilst there he had taken many in England. Viscount Stafford and old schools and for all the children of photographs of Aborigines and Walter Aston along with other sus- Colton. The school is still there today. white settlers. These were recog- nised in the 20th Century as some of the first pictures ever taken of the life out there and the indigenous people. They now form a valuable collection in the Mitchell Library in Sydney. Colton and the De Wasteney Family by Rev. F. Parker. Private pub 1897. Records from the Staffordshire Record Office. Text by Gill Sykes. Research Colton History Society. Editors Gill Sykes/Gay Lawrence. © Copyright Colton History Society 2006. Reproduction of this publication in whole or part without History of Christianity in Colton he exact date of the coming of from this period. It should be noted thought to date back to the original TChristianity to Colton is not known, that the floor is now at a higher level. building of the church. but two important facts lead us to con- The doorway into the vestry appears clude that this occurred before the to be original and nearby is a ‘squint’ he Tower contains three lancet win- Norman Conquest. It is well known or ‘leper’ window. Possibly this is Tdows, one of which has three pieces that the early Chris- of medieval glass still in tians sited their plac- situ. Colton was one of es of worship near the last sites where glass flowing water. Here was produced in Staf- at Colton the fordshire in the 14th Church is quite Century and it is possi- close to the Moreton ble that this glass was Brook. Also when manufactured in the the Domesday Sur- parish. If you face the vey was compiled in church on the south side 1086 a priest is re- you can see the ancient corded amongst preaching cross be- those dwelling here. tween the tower and the porch. ome parts of the Spresent building, he church has under- the tower and the Tgone various altera- original chancel, now the vestry, are where the ‘unclean’ would have lis- tions throughout the centuries. built in local sandstone in the Early tened to the celebration of Mass and Buttresses were added to the tower English style of architecture. There- could have witnessed the elevation of and the south wall. The north aisle fore these parts date from the end of the Host. was taken down and a gallery for the 12th Century or the beginning of the 13th Century. ate 14th Century frescoes were Ldiscovered beneath plaster when n the vestry are three sedilia (seats restoration work was being undertak- Irecessed into the wall) and an an- en in the mid 19th Century.

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