665 



STAINDROP. 



STAMFORD. 





the Confessor there was an Earl of Staffordshire. There are in the 

 county several camps which are doubtless of Saxon or Danish origin. 



In the reign of Henry I. Staffordshire was ravaged by Robert de 

 Belesme, who supported the claim of Robert of Normandy to the 

 crown. In the reign of Edward II. the earls of Lancaster and Here- 

 ford, then in insurrection, were defeated by the king at Burton-upon- 

 Trcut. In the War of the Roses, the Yorkist Earl of Salisbury 

 marching from the north towards London (1459) with 5000 men, was 

 intercepted at Blore Heath, on the western side of the county, between 

 Drayton (Salop) and Eccleshall, by 10,000 Lancastrians under Lord 

 Audley. The good generalship of Salisbury secured the victory. 

 Lord Audley was killed, with all his chief officers and a fourth part 

 of his army. A stone pedestal, surmounted by an ancient wooden 

 cross, marks the field of battle. Richard III. was with his army at 

 Tamworth just before the battle of Bosworth Field. 



The principal monuments of the middle ages are ecclesiastical. 

 Lichfield Cathedral is the most important. At Crozden, about 5 miles 

 S.E. from Cbeadle, are remains of an abbey, founded in 1176 for Cis- 

 tercian monks. The architecture is generally early English in style. 

 The principal entrance and the west-end of the abbey are in good 

 preservation. 



Mary, queen of Scots, was imprisoned for some time, under the care 

 of the Earl of Shrewsbury, at Tutbury Castle ; also at Chartley. 

 Holbeach House, where most of the Powder-Plot conspirators were 

 taken or killed, is in Staffordshire, between Wolverhampton and 

 Stourbridge. 



In the great civil war the county generally embraced the side of 

 the parliament, though several families sided with the Royalist party. 

 Some Royalists, under the Earl of Chesterfield, garrisoned Lichfield 

 Cathedral and close; but it was taken by the Parliamentarians, though 

 with the lo;s of their general, Lord Brook, in March 1643. This post 

 was retaken about a month after by Prince Rupert, who also took 

 Burton : in the interval the Parliamentarians, under Sir William 

 Brereton and Sir John Qell, had a severe but indecisive battle with 

 the Royalists at Hoptou Heath, near Stafford. The Parliamentarians 

 occupied the towns of Stafford and Wolverhampton, and subsequently 

 took Eccleshall Castle, and took and demolished Stafford Castle : they 

 also besieged Tutbury Castle, but without success. Their horse bad 

 the advantage in a skirmish near Leek, which was one of their poets ; 

 and in the latter part of 1643 they gained the victory in two skir- 

 mishes with Colonel Hastings, the Royalist commander, in this county. 

 In 1645 the king with his army marched through Staffordshire before 

 the battle of Naseby, and was in it again after the battle. After the 

 battle of Worcester (1651) Charles II. was at Boscobel House, in this 

 county. In the rebellion of 1745 the Pretender's army was at Leek, 

 while that of the Duke of Cumberland occupied Stone. 



Rdujiuut Worthip and Education. According to the Returns of the 

 Census in 1851 there were then in the county 863 places of worship, of 

 which 377 belonged to five sections of Methodists, 317 to the Church 

 of England, 63 to Independent*!, 35 to Baptists, 34 to Roman Catholics, 

 6 to Quakers, 6 to Unitarians, 5 to Plymouth Brethren, 5 to Mormons, 

 and 4 to Presbyterians. The total number of sittings provided was 

 298,988. The number of day schools in the county was 1318, of 

 which 440 were public schools, with 44,489 scholars, and 878 were 

 private schools, with 21,693 scholar.'. Of Sunday schools there were 

 043, with 93,572 scholars. There were 29 literary and scientific 

 institutions, with 3614 members, and upwards of 43,000 volumes in 

 the libraries belonging to them. 



fndtutry and Manufacture!. The southern part of Staffordshire is 

 distinguished for its manufacturing industry in the production of iron 

 and hardware (of which iron is the material) ; the north-west part of 

 the county produces earthenware from the potteries in such quantity 

 and excellence as to have gained the distinctive appellation of 'Staf- 

 fordshire ware.' Both these manufactures are of comparatively 

 modern date. 



Satingt Banki. In 1853 the county possessed 23 savings banks, at 

 Bilston, Brcwood, Burton-on-Trenf, Cheadlc, Eccleshall, Kingswiuford, 

 Leek, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Penkridge, Pirehill Meafonl, 

 Rugeley, Shelton, Shenston, Stafford, Tamworth, Trenthain, Tunstall, 

 Uttoxeter, Walsall, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, and Yoxall 

 and Barton. The amount owing to depositors, on November 20tb, 

 1853, in 21 of these banks, for which returns were received, was 

 575,962f. 16*. 2rf. 



STAINDROP. [DURHAM.] 



STAINES, Middlesex, a market-town, and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 Union, in the parish of Staines, is situated on the left bank of the 

 river Thames, in 51 20' N. Jat., 30' W. long., distant 17 miles 

 W.S.W. from London by road, and 19 miles by the Windsor branch 

 of the South-Western railway. The population of the town of Staiues 

 in 1851 was 2430. The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of 

 Middlesex and diocese of London. Staines Poor-Law Union contains 

 13 parishes and townships, with on area of 24,881 acres, and a popu- 

 lation in 1851 of 13,973. 



The town of Staines consists of a principal street, extending about 

 half a mile along the main road, and of some smaller streets branching 

 from it. The town is lighted with gas and paved, and contains many 

 well-built houses. A hand> ome granite bridge, of three arches, crosses 

 the Thames at Staines; it was erected in 1832, nt a cost of about 



40,OOOJ., from a design by Rennie. The parish church is a modern 

 building, with a square embattled tower. The Wesleyan Methodists, 

 Independents, Baptists, and Quakers have places of worship, and there 

 are National, British, and Infant schools ; a school of industry, a 

 literary and scientific institution, and a savings bank. The market is 

 on Friday, and fairs are held on May llth and September ]9th. 

 There are extensive mustard-mills, a brewery, and several flour-mills. 

 Races are held annually on the meadows. 



STALBRIDGE. [DORSETSHIRE.] 



STALEYBRIDGE, Lancashire, a market-town in the parish of 

 Ashton-under-Line, is situated chiefly on the right bank of the river 

 Tame, in 53 30' N. lat., 2 4' W. long., distant 8 miles E. by N. from 

 Manchester, 185 miles N.W. by N. from Ljndon by road, and 192 

 miles by the London and North-Western railway via Trent Valley. 

 The population of the town in 1851 was 20,760. The living is a 

 perpetual curacy in the archdeaconry and diocese of Manchester. 

 Staley bridge owes its importance chiefly to the cotton manufacture. 

 Woollen-cloth is manufactured to some extent; there are also brass 

 and iron foundries, machine-making factories, brickfields, collieries, 

 stone-quarries, and corn-mills. The parochial chapel is an octagonal 

 structure occupying an elevated site, and there are three district 

 churches, chapels for Wesleyan, Primitive, New Connexion and Asso- 

 ciation Methodists, and for Independents, Baptists, and Roman 

 Catholics ; National, British, and Roman Catholic schools ; a mechanics 

 institute, and a savings bank. Saturday is the market-day ; fairs are 

 held on Easter Monday and November 5th. The cotton manufactures 

 of the district are more particularly noticed in the article ASUTON- 



UNDER-LlNB. 



STALHAM. [NORFOLK.] 



STAMFORD, or STANFORD, Lincolnshire, a market-town, muni- 

 cipal and parliamentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, 

 is situated on both sides of the river Welland (which here divides the 

 counties of Lincoln and Northampton), in 52 40' N. lat., 28' W. 

 long., distant 47 miles S. by E. from Lincoln, 89 miles N. by W. from 

 London by road, and by the Great Northern and Leicester and Stam- 

 ford railways. The population of the borough of Stamford (a portion 

 of which, called Stamford Baron, is in Northampton-shire), was 8933 

 in 1851. The borough is governed by 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, 

 of whom one is mayor ; and returns two members to the Imperial 

 Parliament. The livings are in the archdeaconry and diocese of 

 Lincoln. Stamford Poor-Law Union contains 37 parishes and town- 

 ships, with an area of 52,858 acres, and a population in 1851 of 19,755. 



Stamford is an ancient town, but authentic history is silent respect- 

 ing it till the troubled period succeeding the Roman dominion, when 

 the Picta and Scots were defeated here by the Britons and their Saxon 

 allies, in 449. In the reign of Edward the Elder in 922, the part of 

 Stamford south of the Welland was fortified by the Saxons; and the 

 Danes, who occupied the northern part of the town, submitted. The 

 town was one of the five Danish burghs which connected their 

 Northumbrian and East Anglian possessions. In Domesday-book, 

 Stamford, there called Stanford, is styled a king's borough. In 1190 

 the Jews of Stamford were plundered, and many of them slain by 

 those who had enlisted for the crusade. One of the crosses which 

 marked the resting-place of Queen Eleanor's body, was erected at 

 Stamford : it was demolished in the civil troubles of Charles I. 

 Stamford returned members to parliament as early as the 23rd 

 Edward I. Several parliaments ami councils were held in the town 

 in the middle ages. There were 16 parish churches in the town and 

 suburbs, and there were priories for Carmelite, Franciscan, Dominican, 

 and Augustine friars (two in or near the town), and Benedictine monks 

 (at St. Leonard's, just out of the town to the east) ; also several ' halls ' 

 or monastic schools. On occasion of some discontent at Oxford, a 

 number of the students retired here in 1333, and were not induced 

 to return without great difficulty. The town was greatly benefited 

 in its trade by the settlement here, in 1572, of some Flemish 

 Protestant refugees, silk and serge weavers, who settled at Stamford 

 by advice of Lord Treasurer Burghley, lord of the manor. 



Over the river Welland are an ancient stone bridge of five arches, 

 and a handsome new bridge of three arches, built of granite in the 

 Norman style, by tho Marquis of Exeter. The town is well supplied 

 with water, and lighted with gas. Many new houses have been built 

 of late years. All Saints church consists of a navo and two aisles, 

 and a chancel with one aisle. It is chiefly of early English archi- 

 tecture ; tho tower, spire, and two porches are of perpendicular 

 character. The other churches are generally perpendicular in style. 

 Part of the nave of the conventual church of the Benedictine priory 

 of .St. Leonard's is still standing, and is used as a born. Tho west 

 gate of the Carmelite or White Friary is still entire, just outside the 

 town on the north-east side. Near it are part of a wall and a postern 

 or back gateway of the Gray or Franciscan Friary. The Wesleynn 

 and Reform Methodists, Independents, Roman Catholics, and Mormons 

 have places of worship. The Grammar school was founded about 

 1530 by William Radcliffe, an alderman of the borough. The school 

 possesses an endowment of about 600t a year, and had 37 scholars in 

 1854. The Blue-Coat school, established in 1704, has an incoinu 

 from endowment of about 2002. a year; it is conducted on the British 

 school system : the number of scholars in 1852 was 150, of whom CO 

 receive clothing as well as instruction. There arc several National, 



