HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 217 



present rector is the Rev. Sneyd, and his curate, the Rev. 



Thomas Astle, resides at Uttoxeter. This parish is fertile, and 

 productive of abundance of corn and grass. 



KINGSTON is a parish in the s.w. extremity of Totmanslow South, 

 and the village is situated about three miles and a half from Uttox- 

 eter. The parish contains 67 houses, 67 families ; 152 males, 183 

 females : total, 335 inhabitants. 



The Church is a small ancient structure of stone, with a low 

 square tower of brick. This fabric is in a neglected, if not in a 

 ruinous state, and supported on the southern side by three but- 

 tresses of brick. The interior is plain : the pews of oak. There 

 are no remarkable monuments in the church-yard, but such is the 

 mischievous, and it might be added, the devilish disposition of boys, 

 that they have recently defaced several of the inscriptions on the 

 tomb-stones. 



This church is a donative in the gift of the Chetwynd family : 

 the Rev. John Hilridge is the present curate. 



The land in this parish is in general fertile, particularly in the 

 vale through which the river Blithe flows in its course to Blithe- 

 ford, and thence to the Trent. The upland is sound gravelly loam. 



The country between Kingston and Gratwich is pleasant and well 

 enclosed. The valley through which the Blithe winds is beautiful, 

 and productive of abundance of corn and grass ; but the meadows 

 were much injured, and some of the hay spoiled, by the inundations 

 of the river during the wet summer of 1816. There is a corn-mill 

 about mid-way between the villages of Kingston and Gratwich. 



GRATWICH is a small parish and village, containing 18 houses, 

 19 families, and 110 inhabitants. It is situated south-west of Ut- 

 toxeter, and about four miles distant from that town. The village 

 is built on a plain ; and the soil of the parish, which is a gravelly 

 loam, is fertile. The Church is small, built of brick, with a wooden 

 belfry; and the interior is without a gallery, or monuments. It is 

 dedicated to St. Mary, and is a rectory in the patronage of Earl 

 Talbot, of Ingestre. The Rev. Edward Lewis, the present incum- 

 bent, lives at Cotton. 



There is one instance of longevity recorded on a tomb-stone in 

 Gratwich church-yard : to the memory of Hannah Woolfe, of Shaf- 

 ferlong, who died in 1793, aged 91 years. 



LEIGH is an extensive parish, containing five villages and ham- 

 lets. In the year 1811, this parish contained J81 houses, 184 

 families, 471 males, 466 females; total of inhabitants 937 : and 



2E 



