88 A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



review, was increased ^SOO. more, besides decimation ; the reason 

 whereof was, that he did in effect garrison and furnish with provi- 

 sions the close of Lichfield, (at the request of the church) upon the 

 first besieging thereof; by which, and this being plundered before the 

 relating, and oft marching with the King at his own charge, a 

 personal estate of ,2000. was consumed, he having no profits of 

 his real estate of <500. per annum for four years, though betwixt 

 1637 and 1654, he had by one wife fourteen children. And farther, 

 in revenge of his steady loyalty, was barbarously taken out of his 

 bed, when sick of a palsie, and imprisoned at Stafford, so long as to 

 bring him to distraction."* 



The Parkhursts afterwards possessed Hanch-hall, and Dormer 

 Parkhurst, Esq. voted at the contested election for the county, in 

 1747. It was afterwards repaired and inhabited for a short time by 

 Thomas Fowler, Esq. of Pendford. 



Longdon Church is a large ancient gothic edifice of stone, with a 

 handsome tower. On the south side is Bishop Stoniwell's chapel. 

 It contains some mural monuments, particularly one with a long 

 inscription, recording the loyalty and military services of the above- 

 mentioned William Orme. 



Dr. Plot mentions three remarkable instances of longevity in this 

 parish, William May, aged 108, and his wife Joyce 98, who were 

 buried on the same day ; and good wife Nip, who lived to the age 

 of 109. 



FAIRWELL. This small village is situated on the side of a woody 

 vale, on the north-east border of Cannock Forest. In 1140, the 

 church dedicated to St. Mary was given to a Priory of Benedictine 

 nuns by Roger Clinton, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, who en- 

 dowed it with the mill, and all the lands lying between the brooks 

 called Chistals and Blackesiche ; likewise six husbandmen, with 

 their tenures, horses, and services. King Henry II. confirmed this 

 grant, to which he superadded forty acres of land cleared from wood 

 in the forest of Cannock. Upon the suppression of the lesser re- 

 ligious houses, in 1527, this priory-church was given to Lichfield 

 cathedral to maintain the choristers.f 



This manor now belongs to the Marquis of Anglesea : the soil is 

 principally gravel, clay, and sand. 



In 1747, the old nunnery chapel was taken down, when three 



* Scarce and Valuable Tracts, printed in 1752. 

 1* Monnsticnn, Vol. I. p. 441. 



