14 A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



portions, to be held by others upon the same tenures as they held 

 them from the Crown. 



Staffordshire appears to have been little disturbed during the 

 Barons' Wars ; though Sir William Handsacre lost his life in a 

 skirmish with his neighbour Sir Robert Maveryn, who was slain, in 

 his turn, with the gallant Percy, in 1403, near Shrewsbury : the two 

 families afterwards settled the dispute by intermarriage. The 

 battle of Blore-heath, in 1459, has been alluded to. 



This county shared the evils of the Civil Wars of Charles the 

 First. The siege of Lichheld was followed by a battle on Hopton- 

 heath or Salt-heath, about four miles north-by-east of Stafford* 

 which, after four hours fighting, terminated in the death of the 

 Earl of Northampton and defeat of the Royalists : the Parliament 

 forces were commanded by Sir William Brereton and Sir John 

 Cell. The day after this battle, which was fought March 19, 

 1642, Wolverhampton was taken by the troops under Sir William 

 Brereton, and a great quantity of arms and some ammunition fell 

 into the hands of the victors. 



In September, 1643, Sir William Brereton besieged Eccleshall 

 Castle, and defeated Colonel Hastings, who attempted to relieve 

 it, killing and taking two hundred horse : the Colonel, who was 

 wounded, escaped to Tutbury CastJe. According to a Parliament 

 account, dated December 2, 1643, Hastings was again defeated, 

 by the Moorlanders, who fell upon him in his march from Ashby- 

 de-la-Zouch, and killed about one hundred men : one hundred and 

 fifty horse, a hundred arms, all their baggage, and most of his 

 captains and officers, were taken prisoners, himself escaping back 

 to Ashby. 



The castles of Tutbury, Dudley, and Stourton, were all at this 

 time held by the Royalists, and the King had a garrison at 

 Patshull. On the llth of June, 1644, Dudley Castle, which had 

 been gallantly defended by Lieutenant-colonel Beaumont, was re- 

 lieved by a party of his Majesty's forces sent from Worcester : the 

 rebels left one hundred men dead on the field, and two majors, two 

 captains, three lieutenants, and fifty privates, were taken prisoners: 

 the loss on the King's side was inconsiderable. 



After ordering the demolition of Stafford Castle, (December 

 22, 1643) the Parliament Committee dispatched Colonel Rudge- 

 ley to Newcastle to raise troops for the defence of the county, and 

 to employ them for the safety of that town and Leek, or for the 

 assistance of Sir William Brereton, in Cheshire: the dilapidation 



