132 A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



is situated on the northern bank of the Tame, about five miles from 

 Lichfield, and four from Tamworth, and is supposed to have de- 

 rived its name from the great number of eels with which the river 

 formerly abounded. At the time of the Conquest, this manor be- 

 longed to Earl Algar, In the reign of Henry III. it was in the 

 possession of Wakelin de Ardern, and by the marriage of Maud, 

 sole heiress of Sir John Arderne, with Thomas, second son of Sir 

 John Stanley, of Latham, it was carried into that family. It 

 afterwards passed through successive families to that of Bowes, 

 and remained in their possession for many generations ; when it 

 devolved on the Hon. Craven Howard, by marriage with Mary, 

 daughter of George Bowes, Esq. June 12, 1683. His eldest son, 

 Henry Bowes Howard, began to build the present mansion, but 

 dying March 21, 1757, it was finished by his son William, Lord 

 Viscount Andover. On the death of Lord Andover, Elford be- 

 came the jointure of his widow, whose daughter, Frances, was 

 married, March 20, 1783, to Richard, fifth son of Sir Walter 

 Wagstaff Bagot, Bart, of Blithfield, who has taken the name of 

 Howard. 



The village of Elford, its church, and the mansion of the pos- 

 sessor, form a pleasing group of objects on the bank of the beauti- 

 ful river Tame. 



Elford-low is situated on the top of a hill, a little beyond the 

 paper-mill, in the corner of a field, close to the Tamworth road, 

 and is distinguished by an oak tree on its summit. Dr. Plott, 

 from examination, proved it to be sepulchral. Mr. Pennant, from 

 its elevation, conjectures that it might have had on it a specula or 

 watch-tower; and Mr. Bourne, an intelligent farmer, who has 

 a good house on the other side of the hill on his own estate, told 

 Mr. Shaw that he saw the bones of three human skeletons dug out 

 of a gravel-pit, a few years since, near this Low, which seems a con- 

 clusive proof that it is the site of some ancient cemetery. 



On the first payment of a subsidy, in the 32d of Elizabeth (1590,) 

 Elford paid XLIXS. 



At the general election for the county, in 1747, fourteen free- 

 holders in Elford voted. 



The following account of Elford enclosure was written by the 

 above-mentioned Mr. Bourne : 



" The great part of the parish of Elford was common-field, 

 meadow, &c. till the year 1765, when an act was obtained for an 

 enclosure ; previous to that time the land was let at very low 





