HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 11 



It seems pretty certain that the town or Castle of Chesterton- 

 under- Ly me (as Camden calls it), given by King John to Randall 

 last Earl of Chester, must have been a place of note before the 

 Conquest, as, so long ago as the reign of Henry the Third, it was 

 going to decay, when the Earl of Lancaster built another, surround- 

 ed by a great pool, which he called the new castle. This castle 

 was built at the north-west of the present town of Newcastle, but 

 of the castle itself there is little or none now remaining.* 



The next considerable antiquity of this kind, is Heyley Castle, 

 near Betley, built upon a lofty rock, w ith the same stone that was 

 dug from the ditches. It was given (says Camden) by Harvey 

 Lord Stafford to Henry de Adithley, in the reign of King John, 

 which Henry seems to have built this castle. Other records say, 

 that the heirs of William de Betley gave the land of Heyley to the 

 said Henry, who was possessed of Aldithlege, now Audlejv in this 

 neighbourhood ; where also have been traces of a castle, built by 

 some of this family, or of the Verduns, before them. 



The origin of Terley* Castle, near Drayton, and of Stourton 

 Castle, in the south of the county, is unknown ; but they are both 

 believed to be of great antiquity. Stourton Castle was the birth- 

 place of Cardinal Pole. 



The Castle of Chartley is said to have been built in 1218, 

 (2 Hen. in.) by Randall Blunderville, third Earl of Chester ; and 

 in the reign of Edward the First. Walter de Longton, Bishop of 

 LiehfieldjSome authors say built, others repaired, Eccleshall Castle. 

 In the beginning of the reign of Edward the Second, Alveton Castle, 

 east of Cheadle, was built by Theobald de Verdun; and not long- 

 after, in the same reign, "the goodly castle of Caverswall, west of 

 Cheadle, was built by Sir William de Caverswall, of masonry:'* a 

 house surrounded by a deep moat stands upon the site of this 

 castle. 



Entrenchments are to be found in several parts of this county : 

 the small one at Essingtoa-wood, and those called the Moats, near 



* Newcastle doubtless had its origin, and was named, after this decayed 

 Cattle, tlit-re being no account of such town in Domesday-book, or any other 

 records of this county, before the building of that new castle. 



t The Lords of TeHey enjoy the odd custom of taking: nn amercement for 

 bastards born within the lordship. The cognizance of the Bishop and eccle- 

 siastical court, and the discos ery of the fattier, is avoided, on oath being made 

 that the bastard was begotten within the manor, and pajing ten shillings to 

 the lord : a bastard brought here, on paying ll. 19s. lid. to the lord, entitled 

 the parents to the same privileges. 



