HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 63 



might be delivered to any man or woman who should come and de- 

 mand it, and at the same time swear that he or she had been married 

 a year and a day without repenting ; and that, if they were single, 

 and to be married again, the demandant would take the same party 

 again, before any other in the universe ; as appears by the following 

 extract from an ancient roll of parchment, translated from the 

 original copy of the grant which was written in French : 



" Here ye, Sir Philippe de Somervile, Lord of Whichnoore, mayn- 

 tener and gyver of this baconne, that 1 A. sithe I wedded B. my 

 wyfe, and sythe I hadd hyr in my kepyng, and at my wylle, by a 

 yere and a day after our marryage, I wod not have chaunged for 

 none other, farer ne fowler, rycher ne pourer, ne for none other 

 descended of greater lynage, slepyng ne wakyng, at noo tyme. 

 And yf the said B. were sole, and I sole, I wolde take hyr to be my 

 wyfe, before ail the wymen in the worlde, of what condicions soever, 

 they be, good or evylle, so help me God and hys seyntis, and thys 

 fleshe, and all fleshes." 



Two neighbours were required to testify the truth of this depo- 

 sition ; and if the claimant was a freeman, there was to be given to 

 him half a quarter of wheat and a cheese ; and if a villan, half a 

 quarter of rye, without cheese. These things, with the bacon, 

 were to be carried before him, with trumpets, tabernets, and min- 

 strels, &c. past the lordship of Whichnor, and then without music 

 to his abode. 



In the year 1661, the manor of Whichnor was sold to the Offley 

 family. William Offley, an ancestor of this family, mercer, and 

 twice bailiff of Stafford, was uncommonly fortunate in his children, 

 having seven sons, all prosperous, and five daughters, all well 

 married. His eldest son, Thomas, was Lord Mayor of London in 

 1556, and afterwards knighted. His great grandson, John Offley, 

 Esq. was High Sheriff of the county of Stafford in 1680. John 

 Offley, Esq. who resided at Whichnor, sold the manor in 1765 

 to John Levett, Esq. from whom it has descended to his nephew, 

 the present possessor. Leland, who wrote in the time of Henry VIII. 

 says that Whichnor was the site of a very ancient mansion, which 

 was then in ruins, and that the spot on which it stood was subject 

 to inundations from the Trent. Traces of this mansion are still 

 visible in the meadows at a small distance south-west of the church. 

 The moat is square, encompassing about an acre of ground. 



The present house, called the Lodge, was built by Mr. Offley. It is 

 a neat brick building, faced with stone, and commands a beautifully 



