Historical Notes on and its Key Buildings

SAREDON HALL (FARM) AND THE HORDERN FAMILY

The grade II statutorily listed Hall was dated as circa 1700 with additions of circa 1800 onwards in the Victoria History of the County of , Volume 5. Saredon Hall Cottages were dated to the 16th century. The Historic Environment Record dates the farmhouse to the early 18th century, with mid- to late 19th century additions. The cow house (also listed) is dated to the mid- to late 19th century, but incorporating some 16th century work in the rebuilding.

Some of the Hordern family information below came from an article on the www.historywebsite.co.uk website, entitled “The Horderns of Saredon and Oxley Manor”.

1738 Caleb Martin of Saredon Hall allowed his house to be certified as a Presbyterian meeting house (Victoria History of the County of Stafford, Volume 5).

1751 Joseph Hordern, yeoman farmer of , aged 26, married Margaret Eggington of Featherstone; they lived first at and later at Saredon Hall. They had six sons and three daughters. Joseph died in March 1807 and Margaret in October 1812. Their third and fourth sons, James and Joseph, founded a banking business.

1763 “Mr. Perks” living in Great Saredon – Derby Mercury, 4-11-1763

1786 Alexander Hordern, son of James and Jane Hordern, born 30th September.

1791 The Horderns are mentioned in archived newspapers from this date onwards.

1792 Joseph Hordern built a new Regency style house at Edgbaston, Birmingham, which he called ‘Saredon House’. He married Mary Egginton on April 23rd, 1792. He is buried with his family at .

1796 Mr. Hordern assisted William Pitt with his published survey of ’s agriculture. Henry Hordern, second son of James and Jane Hordern, was born (exact date unknown).

1817 “Mr. Hordern”, a banker, was a principal landowner in Saredon parish – William Pitt’s Topographical History of Staffordshire, page 259.

1818 Anne Hordern, gentlewoman, appears in a directory.

1819 J. Perks at Saredon Hall. Mr Perks of Saredon is frequently mentioned as an attorney at law in old newspapers from around 1785 onwards; by 1791 it was “Messrs. Perks and Glover, attornies”, but this seems only to have listed until 1793. Thereafter, John Perks continued to practise on his own

1825 Joseph Hordern, “late of Saredon Hall”, conveyed all his estates to his son (also Joseph). These included the townships and liberties of Great and Little Saredon and , “otherwise Cheslyn Common”. – Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 29-8-1825

1827 Alexander Hordern married Jane Hickman Hill on 20th February. He was a barrister who later also became a magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of Staffordshire. He expanded the Wolverhampton banking business, along with his brother Henry. His only son, James, was born on 18th August 1828, but died in 1848, before reaching his 20th birthday.

1828 Henry Hordern married Frances Elizabeth Holyoake at Tettenhall on 16th October. They lived at Dunstall Hall and had no children.

1 1831 Joseph Hordern had been declared insolvent and sent to Stafford Gaol (Debtors’ Prison) a few years earlier; he had now been released and had moved to Dublin, Ireland by January 1831 – Staffordshire Advertiser [SA], 15-1-1831

1832 “J. Hordern of Saredon” – Birmingham Journal, 8-9-1832

1834 Henry Hordern is listed in White’s Staffordshire Directory as a principal landowner at Saredon. Joseph Hordern is one of the farmers there.

1838 Joseph Hordern of Saredon died, 29th January – Gentleman’s Magazine, Volume 163

1841 Alexander and Henry Hordern are the joint owners of many fields shown on the Shareshill Tithe Map.

1844 Death of Henry Hordern (exact date unknown)

1845 Young Henry C. Pratt of Saredon Hall received a prize for ‘sacred history’ at Rose Hill School near Birmingham. As this is the only reference I can find to the Pratt family in connection with Saredon Hall, I wonder if this was a misprint for Saredon Mill. – Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 22-12-1845

1847 ‘Farm’ is now added to the house name. The “late Mr. Crockett” had been the occupant prior to the farm being put up for sale (March) – SA 13-3-1847

1851 Census: farm not named, but John Wood was farming 360 acres at Great Saredon, probably either here or at nearby Great Saredon Farm. He was at Latherford House Farm in 1841 and was also mentioned as a Saredon farmer in William White’s 1834 Staffordshire Directory.

1856 Alexander Hordern

1861 John Wood, 245 acres (census)

1862 John Wood – Birmingham Daily Post [BDP], 14-10-1862

1870 Alexander Hordern died on 9th December.

1903 Robert Henry Basbourne or Brisbourne – Derby and Sheffield Daily Telegraphs, 5-11- 1903; Nottingham Evening Post, 6-11-1903

1906 Ditto – Mercury [LM], 5-1-1906

1908 Labourer sought for Saredon Hall Farm, but applicants were to apply to Thomas Williams of Lodge Farm, Bridgtown, – LM, 17-4-1908

1911 G. H. Gallatley (census)

1920 T. A. Hawkins – Tamworth Herald [TH], 25-9-1920

2 SAREDON/GREAT SAREDON FARM

This grade II listed building is dated to the early to mid-18th century in the Historic Environment Record, with alterations during the early 19th century.

1834 Richard Jeffreys, farmer (White, 1834) – possible but uncertain location

1891 Matthew Haynes – Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 15-1-1891; Reynolds’ Newspaper, 18-1-1891

1911 Janet Grey – LM, 8-9-1911

1944 W. J. Wood retiring and selling his stock – LM, 15-12-1944

SAREDON MILL

The main mill buildings and mill house, which were close to the road, have now been demolished, although a derelict ‘L’ shaped range of outbuildings remain further back. A water mill on the Saredon Brook had been granted in 1388 by Sir William de Shareshill to William ate Mulnehous for the duration of his life.

1795 Miss H. Pratt, 2nd daughter of “Mr. Pratt”, died on 16th February – SA, 28-2-1795

1798 “Mrs. Pratt, mother of Mr. Pratt of Saredon Mill” died “at a very advanced age” – SA, 24-3-1798

1801 William Gripton at Saredon Mill – BDP, 15-10-1801

1802 “Mr. Pratt”, aged 57, died the previous week at Saredon Mill – SA, 4-12-1802

1804 Mrs. Dalton, daughter of the late Stephen Pratt of Saredon Mill, died in early April – Oxford Journal, 14-4-1804; also a reference to Mr. Pratt of “Saredon Mills” in Aris’s Birmingham Gazette [ABG], 6-8-1804

1817 “Mr. Pratt, of Saredon Mill” has an estate at Saredon – mentioned in both Pitt’s Topographical History of Staffordshire (1817) and Parson & Bradshaw’s Staffordshire General and Commercial Directory (1818).

1821 “Jno. [John] Pratt” wrote to praise the Flint buhr millstones he had been trialling at Saredon Mill; he refers to more than 30 years’ experience of milling – Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, Volume 4, 1820-21

1822 “Mr. Pratt of Saredon Mill” again wrote to praise a Halkin millstone that had been sent to him for trial; this buhr (burr) stone came from Halkin Mountain in Flintshire, so is clearly the same item referred to in 1821 – Philosophical Magazine and Journal, Volume LIX, January-June 1822

1824 Mr. Pratt had been feeding cows, sheep and pigs at Saredon Mill, which were now to be sold by auction; the advertisement stated that the fact that the young stock offered had been the property of Mr. Pratt was “sufficient to recommend it to the Public”. – Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 22-3-1824

1833 First specific reference in newspaper archives to John Pratt (25-1-1833)

3 1833 A description of an enormous pig weighing 1,197 pounds and fed by Mr. John Pratt of Saredon Mill was provided in the Kentish Gazette for 29th January. Aged 2½, the pig was 9’3” long and had a girth of 9’7”.

1835 Mr. Pratt of Saredon Mill died “suddenly” in June – SA, 27-6-1835

1842 Frederick Pratt of Saredon Mill declared insolvent – 26-2-1842

1847 Dispute between Frederick and Thomas Pratt over who has the right to occupy and operate Saredon Mill (see full account provided) – SA, 9-1-1847. Frederick Pratt was said to be illegally in possession of (and working) the mill. There was an alleged attack upon Frederick by Thomas. There are also references to the maltster Mr. Hobday’s Malthouse “at the corner of the road” near the mill and to “a footpath over a bridge and through a field [that] cuts off a bend in the road”. A witness, Thomas Crockett, was Frederick Pratt’s maternal uncle – the occupant of Saredon Hall Farm up until 1847 (see above).

1851 “Great Saredon Mill House” occupied by Robert John Dodsley, aged 29 (census)

1861 William Gripton at Saredon Mill – BDP, 15-10-1861

1881 Ann Pratt, daughter of the late John Pratt of Saredon Mill, died 30th April (aged 74) – Pall Mall Gazette 9-5-1881 & Leamington Spa Courier [LSC], 14-5-1881

1887 John Cowen Jnr. – miller, butcher and farmer (insolvency) – BDP, 5-2-1887

1890 “Wilkins” working at Saredon Mill – BDP, 26-8-1890

1892 E. H. Cowern at Saredon Mill – BDP, 3-10-1892

1910 William Brindley – Lichfield Mercury, 8-7-1910

LITTLE SAREDON MANOR (MANOR FARM)

The Victoria County History says this grade II listed house is of various dates – 16th and 17th centuries and later – but it was much restored in 1942 and subsequently. This house was also sold in 1940 to Mr. Hawkins of the Hawkins Tile Works, who restored and renamed it (known as Hall or Manor Farm before). It is thought that it could represent the capital messuage known as ‘Saredon Hall’ mentioned in a 1654 document. The Historic Environment Record says the house has an early 16th century core, but it underwent considerable alterations during the 18th and 19th centuries.

1913 For some years until 1913, Ralph Brookes Arblaster occupied one of Lord Hatherton’s farms at Saredon, probably this one. (He died on 17/6/1916, aged 71.)

1937 William Arblaster died at Manor Farm, Hints, aged 57; the mourners included Ralph G. Arblaster of Saredon House (also in 1924), W. G. R. Arblaster, and Jean and “all at Manor Farm, Saredon” – Tamworth Herald, 25/9/1937

1939 64 acres at the Manor Farm, Little Saredon were being sold for the executors of the late Mr. W. G. Arblaster – 17/2/1939

4 LITTLE SAREDON WINDMILL

This is said to date from before 1806 and remained in use until at least 1872. Its working life was thereafter slightly prolonged through the use of a portable steam engine to drive the millstones, which lasted until around 1930. The tower had a ‘boat cap’ roof. In 1942, the remains of the four sails were removed and the tower converted into a house for the proprietor of the Hawkins Tile Works at Cannock (Victoria History of the County of Stafford). Further restoration and modernization occurred between 1976 and 1979. It is not a listed building. There is a ‘YouTube’ video showing the interior and exterior when it was offered for sale a few years ago. A 1977 photograph is provided on the Staffordshire Past-track website.

1908 Charles Wood at Little Saredon Mill (?)

DEEPMOOR MILL

This had been constructed in the north-west corner of Saredon Parish by 1775 and was described (along with Saredon Mill) as a “very powerful corn mill” in 1817. It continued in use until about 1900. Parts of the mill house date from the 17th century. It does not appear on the list of statutory listed buildings for Saredon parish. The old mill pool to the west has now dried up.

1829 Owned by the Monckton family and operating as a corn and blade mill

1841 Joseph Grant, aged 31; Henry Pratt, 20; Edwin Allcock, 25 – millers

1851 William Gripton, 43, farmer and miller John Gripton, son, 17, miller

1861 John Gripton, 55, journeyman and miller (with William Gripton at Saredon Mill)

1871 Frederick Grepton [Gripton], miller, aged 27

LATHERFORD FARM (probably Lower Latherford Farm)

1839 John Wood, farmer, Latherford

1841 John Wood, aged 35, farmer at “Latherford House”

1851 Henry Richards, aged 38, farming 50 acres

1861 As ‘Latchford’ Farm – John Mason, aged 27, farming 61 acres

1869 John Wood left the deeds of the farm to John Joshua Wood (bankrupt by 1913)

1871 John Wood, aged 43, farming 93 acres

1895/6 John Wood, farmer, Latherford

1906 Frederick Warrell (at Deepmoor Mill by 1911)

1909 Reginald George Wood – LM, 13-8-1909

5 THE HILL HOUSE (SAREDON HILL)

1834 Shown on an early Ordnance Survey map (at Saredon Hill) (EPNS Volume 55, The Place-Names of Staffordshire, page 114)

1841 George Andrews, aged 45, farmer (census)

1911 George Gray, farmer, “Hill House Farm” (census)

SMITHY, SAREDON

This was at ‘Windy Arbour’, on the south-east side of Saredon Hill, although the Historic Environment Record postulates that another may once have existed within Little Saredon village. By 1967, it seemed to be represented by the house called ‘Windy Harbour’ in the same position. 1834 John Jarvis, blacksmith (William White’s Directory)

1841 John Jarvis, aged 55; John Plant (?), aged 30, at Great Saredon (census)

1851 James Jarvise [sic], aged 38 (census); James Jarvis, blacksmith (White’s Directory)

1861 James (40) and Eli (12) Jarvis, blacksmiths (census)

1871 James Jarvis

SAREDON MALTHOUSE

1834 William Hobday, Great Saredon, maltster (White’s Directory)

1841 William Hobday, aged 50, maltster (census)

1851 William Hobday, aged 61, maltster and farmer of 55 acres (Great Saredon) (census)

1861 William ‘Hobeley’ [Hobday], maltster and farmer of 97 acres

OTHER HISTORIC BUILDINGS

Black Lees Farm – homestead moat (VHCS v. 5)

Holly Bush Hall – mid-17th century (ditto)

High View Cottage, farm cottage and barn – grade II listed building, late 16th century with 20th century alterations (HER)

Hill Top Farmhouse – grade II listed building, early 19th century, but with a re-used late 17th century staircase internally and possibly a late 18th century external doorway (HER/Staffordshire Past Track)

Hill Top Cottages – grade II listed buildings, late 17th century, remodelled in the mid-19th century; 20th century alterations (HER)

6 Little Saredon Dairy Farmhouse – grade II listed building, early 18th century (possibly re-used 16th century ceiling beams in the kitchen) (HER)

GENERAL CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF SAREDON

Great Saredon manor was ‘Sardone’ in the Domesday Book, being one of the fees of Robert de Stafford, but formerly held by four thanes. Griffin de la Pole granted the manor to Sir William de Shareshill in 1352 and thereafter Saredon Manor descended with Shareshill until at least 1851, after which the first Lord Hatherton held the manor. What became Little Saredon was ‘Seresdon’ in Domesday, held by Udi. held it from 1182, but Sir William de Shareshill acquired the manor in 1358 from Sir John de Whiston. The Congreve family connection with the manor began in the 1440s or 1450s. Edward Littleton acquired it in 1641, but the estate was sold to R. G. Arblaster in 1913.

1646 The Manor of Little Saredon, with its water mill and lands, was granted by ordinance to the Revd. Robert Fogge. All this had previously been owned by Francis Congreve, Esquire and had lately been purchased by Sir Edward Littleton, “a Delinquent”. Journals of the House of Commons, 25/12/1644 to 4/12/1646, page 586

1786 References were made to the observation of two square entrenchments in 1784, the largest of these being about one rood in area. They were possibly Roman encampments, although the author suspected they were traces of two formerly moated “principal mansions”. At Great Saredon, there had been a chapel, “long since decayed”, and a Roman tumulus or barrow which stood on very high ground about a quarter of a mile from (and facing) the main street. These features are also mentioned in 1813 (Nightingale), 1818 (Parson & Bradshaw), 1820 (Cooke) and 1844 (Harwood) – see the extracts in the lever-arch file. Little Saredon was chiefly notable for “a great number of very old and large yew-trees”. The Great Staffordshire Canal passed through Saredon Parish and over Calf Heath, near “Sardon Magna” [= Great Saredon]. The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle, Volume 56, for the Year 1786 (Part 1), pages 408-10

1789 A curious ‘double’ yew tree was described and illustrated in The Gentleman’s Magazine, Volume 59 (part 2), page 1187 and plate II (see also the extracts from the 1844 book by J. C. Loudon entitled Arboretum et Frutcetum Britannicum, Volume 4 (Second Edition), page 2091).

1794 Act to enclose the open and common fields, meadows and waste lands in Great and Little Saredon and , known collectively as Cheslyn Common [Cheslyn Hay] – The Statutes at Large, from the 30th to 34th Year of the Reign of King George the Third (1794)

1799 Henry Vernon of Hilton Park (Wolverhampton) owned several valuable coal and ironstone mines in Essington (Bushbury parish), 3.5 miles from the Staffordshire and Canal. He wanted to create railways or roads between these mines and the canal, which would pass through Shareshill, Great and Little Saredon, Calf Hearth and Latherford. (See also the reproduced article from The Staffordshire Advertiser, dated 1-9-1798.) Journals of the House of Commons, 20/11/1798 to 27/8/1799, pages 57-58

1808 Saredon was in Shareshill Parish and Cuttlestone Hundred. It had 46 houses and 241 inhabitants.

1817/18 The manors and tithes of both Great and Little Saredon belonged to the Littleton family (the Rt. Hon. E. J. Littleton in 1834). Other landowners included the Revd. J. H. Petit, Mr.

7 Hordern the banker and Mr. Pratt of Saredon Mill (also in 1834). The population in 1811 was 493 and the land in the vicinity was “a good sound loam, well adapted to grain and turnips, as well as pasturage”. A Topographical History of Staffordshire, William Pitt, 1817, pages 258-9; Staffordshire General and Commercial Directory, W. Parson and T. Bradshaw, 1818

1821-22 See the references under Saredon Mill above. The sources are The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, Volume 4 (1/10/1820 to 1/4/1821), page 256 and The Philosophical Magazine and Journal, Volume 59, January-June 1822, page 409.

1834 The hamlets of Great and Little Saredon were near the Cannock branch of the , which (together with the Saredon Brook) abounded in trout and other fish. The large corn mills of Saredon and Deepmoor were situated upon the banks of the Saredon Brook. William Bickford, Joseph Hordern, Thomas Pratt and John Wood were among the farmers, as well as Joseph Jackson at Holly Bush Hall and Messrs. Stokes and Foster at Black Lees Farm. Mary Perry was running a day school and Thomas Starkey a corn mill at Little Saredon, whilst maltster William Hobday operated from Great Saredon. There were eight farms in Saredon township at this time. William White’s History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, 1834, pages 515-6

1836 The township of Great and Little Saredon consisted of 41 inhabited houses and 49 families, of which 44 were employed in agriculture. There were 246 inhabitants, of whom 137 were male and 109 female. There had been a recent decline in population by 51 persons “in consequence of the removal of a Ladies’ School”. Selection of Reports and Papers of the House of Commons, Volume 58: Population (1836), page 584

1838 A book referred to Thomas Fletcher of Shareshill (“Shareshall”), who was buried there on 24/10/1610, followed by his widow on 16/4/1616. His son, Thomas Fletcher of Fetherstone, born 2/10/1590, enlarged the estate by purchasing lands at Saredon, Cheslyn Hay and elsewhere in “4 Charles I” (1604 or 1605). Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, John Burke, 1838, page 51

1841 The Tithe Map and Apportionment for Saredon shows that the western portion and part of the eastern side of the land occupied by Saredon Hill Quarry in modern times was then owned jointly by brothers Alexander and Henry Hordern. The remainder of the land was made up of smaller numbered fields owned by Bolton Matthew Robinson (113), Thomas Perks (114 and 116-118) and the Revd. John Lewis (115). This land is shown on an extract from the tithe map reproduced by Wardell Armstrong to support its Environmental Statement, drawing ST12173- 006, dated 09/11/2012. Plot 115 was known as ‘Doctor’s Piece’ and plot 117 as ‘The Middle Hill’. All the numbered fields were used as arable land.

The census showed that Great and Little Saredon had a combined total of 289 inhabitants.

1844 The Gentleman’s Magazine, Volume 175 (New Series, Volume 21) refers (pages 493-4) to the discovery of a site where local red/white tiles were made, a kiln near Great Saredon, adjoining Watling Street. Tile fragments were found there “in profusion”. It was suspected that there was a tile manufactory there during the 16th century. See also Art Journal (1864), page 339 and Eliza Meteyard’s book on The Life of Josiah Wedgewood (1865), page 46.

Robert Garner’s book refers to the remains of a vallum with a wooden barricade” found at nearby Wall and Roman (?) encampments at Shareshill, Teddesley and Essington Wood. The Natural History of the County of Stafford, 1844, page 69

8 1851 Lord Hatherton was Lord of both Shareshill and Saredon Manors; the biggest landowners were the Rev. J. L. Petit, General Vernon and Alexander Hordern. A small Independent chapel had been built within the Saredon township in 1840. (Nothing more was known of this, including its location, by 1959 – VHCS, Vol. 5.) The corn millers were William Gripton (Deepmore), Joseph and James Norton and Charles Stokes. Mary Perry was the schoolmistress. – White’s History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, 1851.

1861 The Archaeological Journal, Volume 18 describes (pages 359-362) a document found at Hilton Hall (Henry Vernon’s house) regarding a grant of two messuages and a virgate of land in Shareshill by Sir William de Shareshulle, knight, in 1355. It refers (in Latin) to ‘Shareshulle’ and also ‘parva Saredone’ (Little Saredon).

1867 The book extract provided (Lyra Britannica, Rev. Charles Rogers, page 278) refers to two hymn-writers who lived at Shareshill Rectory from 1860: the Revd. William Henry Havergal and (more famously) his daughter Frances Ridley Havergal, who was responsible for such enduring favourites as ‘Like a River Glorious’, ‘Take My Life and Let it Be…’ and ‘Who is on the Lord’s Side?’ Lord Hatherton had provided a piece of land and £100 towards the cost of erecting a parsonage house for Shareshill Church in 1841 (The Christian Remembrancer, Volume 2 – 1841, page 148).

1869 In Edward Hull’s book on The Triassic and Permian Rocks of the Midland Counties of he described (page 51) the geology of the landscape around Saredon Brook, Little Saredon and Cheslyn Hay. There were “several parallel ridges, ranging north and south”, consisting of “quartzose conglomerate”. There was a “quantity of quartzose gravel” spread over the surfaces of the ridges at Cheslyn Hay and Little Saredon.

Each ridge sloped gently to the west and was more rounded and abrupt on the east side – “Features which are usually found to characterize respectively the upper surfaces and terminal edges of New Red Sandstone beds.” “Permian marl…situated below gravel ridges, occurs at Shareshill and Great Saredon.” It was thought that there might be several “north and south faults, which bring up Permian strata in a succession of narrow bands…”

1871 The Congreve family of Congreve, Staffordshire were descendants of the married daughters and heiresses of a certain William le Schampion of Saredon. The manors of Saredon and Stretton thus ultimately came into the hands of the Congreve family. They also had alliances with the Erdswick family of Saredon. The same book also again mentions the Fletchers of Lawneswood, who were linked to Thomas Fletcher of Shareshill, etc, as described above. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 1 (5th Edition), Sir John Bernard Burke, 1871, pages 270, 445

1873 The Journal of the British Archaeological Association referred (pages 173-4) to oak sleigh-skips which used to be used to raise coal from the mines. Two of these, believed to be about 300 years old, were dug up “a few years since” at Shareshill and were exhibited at the Geological Society’s museum in Dudley.

1902 In a newspaper article from the Lichfield Mercury of 31-10-1902, it was recounted that a certain Udi held the manor of Little Saredon at the time of the Domesday Survey (1086), being a tenant-in-chief paying rent to the Sheriff of the county. In Saxon times the place had been held by a thane called Gamel. Little Saredon was then within the Soke (jurisdiction) of . In William the Conqueror’s time the land continued to be held by thanes or ‘thegns’, which Wikipedia says was a term “commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king

9 or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or, as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves.”

1910 Three small freehold farms at Shareshill were up for sale, including the Manor House (61 acres), Moat House (37.25 acres) and Latherford (68 acres) Farms.

1911 The census returns included the following:

Deepmoor Mill - Fred Warrell Latherford Farm – R. G. Wood Top Latherford Farm – Thomas Green Saredon Malt House – John Bickford Manor Farm – Elizabeth Hill Hill House – George Gray Block of 3 model dwellings on Saredon Hill – William Harvey, Richard Peake and Arthur Brookes Block of 2 more model dwellings on Saredon Hill – Frank Rowe, George Smith Saredon Hall – G. H. Gallatley, Henry Walker Black Lees Farm – Alfred Heminsley Holly Bush House (Farm) – Edwin Noden

1940 There were 22 farms across Shareshill and Saredon parish by this date, the main crops grown being turnips and barley – Kelly’s Post Office Directory of Staffordshire, 1940

THE BICKFORDS OF LITTLE SAREDON

1841 John Bickford, Holly Bush Hall, aged 35, farmer William Bickford, aged 70, farmer at Little Saredon (census)

1851 Thomas S. Bickford, aged 45 [sic], farmer of 100 acres

1861 Ditto, aged 61, farmer of 125 acres at Little Saredon

1871 Ditto, aged 72 (unmarried)

1876 Thomas Slater Bickford, farmer, Little Saredon – 23-2-1876

1900 John Richard Bickford, farmer at Saredon (October)

1916 One of the “old friends” who was a coffin bearer at R. B. Arblaster’s funeral was “Mr. H. Bickford” (June).

CHESLYN HAY/COMMON

1839 The executors of Joseph Stokes (deceased) were selling closes of freehold land (Lots 2 to 4) in Cheslyn Hay, which were then occupied by William Stokes. The land was “supposed to contain valuable mines, being near collieries in full work”. Applicants to view the land were directed to Charles Stokes, farmer at Saredon. – SA, 2-3-1839

10 Cheslyn Hay was originally a division of the Royal Forest of Cannock, with the earliest known documentary reference going back to 1236. Newspapers only seem to have used the alternative name of ‘Cheslyn Common’ up until about 1838. The district that evolved on this common land eventually became a parish in its own right, lying just to the east of Saredon parish.

The Victoria County History of Staffordshire, Volume 5 (1959), page 100 tells us that:

“Before the inclosure of 1797 Cheslyn Common had attracted numerous squatters who lived in mud huts there, but the opening of the mines in the district 'brought some respectable inhabitants to the place who established a plan for relieving the poor and . . . erected a Methodist chapel and Sunday school'. Thus by 1834 the liberty of Cheslyn Hay was 'nearly as civilized as its neighbours'. The village, formerly known as Wyrley Bank, was in 1834 inhabited mainly by colliers and ling-besom makers, and then consisted of many cottages 'from the clay- built shed to the most convenient dwelling'. The population was 443 in 1801, 2,560 in 1901, and 3,130 in 1951. The area is 823 acres.”

Mark Singlehurst 29th October 2014

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