256 A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



" SIR EDWARD LITTLETON, BART, to the REV. R. SLANEY, Penkridge. 



" Teddesley, Nov. 3, 1807. 



" Sir, By 1st Edward VI. 1547, colleges and chantrys are by Act of Parlia- 

 ment vested in the Crown, which puts an end to the claim of the Archbishop of 

 Dublin's jurisdiction over Penkridge ; and it remained in the hands of the 

 Crown till granted out to others. 



" The grant of King John to the Archbishop of Dublin, bears date 13th Sept. 

 1206, and is done away by the above 1st Edward VI. 1547, by an Act of Parlia- 

 ment. " Emv. LITTLETON." 



"King Edward II. in the eleventh year of his reign, declared that 

 the chapel at Pencriz, and others, were his free chapels, and as 

 such, exempt from all ordinary jurisdiction, impositions, exactions, 

 and contributions, and accordingly ordained, that none should pre- 

 sume to incroach upon their immunities.*" 



The Church is a fine Gothic building of stone, with a square 

 tower, and five bells. It is dedicated to St. Michael, being now 

 only a curacy. It is a royal peculiar, having four chapels within its 

 jurisdiction, namely, Dunston, dedicated to St. Leonard ; Coppen- 

 hall, to St. Lawrence ; Shareshill, to the Assumption of the Virgin 

 Mary ; and Stretton, to St. John. The official of the peculiar holds 

 visitations, probate courts, and licenses the incumbents to the 

 chapels. In the chancel of the church of Penkridge, there are 

 several monuments of the Littleton family, who are patrons of 

 the church. 



There is a charity-school in Penkridge for twelve boys and eight 

 girls. 



The principal manufacture of Penkridge is iron, which is, how- 

 ever, inconsiderable. From the situation of the town on the low 

 and flat northern bank of the river Penk, it is subject to inunda- 

 tions when that river is swelled by floods. The market is held on 

 Tuesday. Two annual fairs are held in this town ; one on the 

 30th of April, and the other on the 10th of October. These fairs 

 are allowed to be among the first in England for saddle and 

 draught horses. 



A very considerable part of the extensive parish of Penkridge is 

 the property of the Littleton family, who have resided for centuries 

 at Pilaton-hali. The present possessor, E. J. Littleton, Esq. ha* 

 been twice chosen a representative in Parliament for the county of 

 Stafford. 



On the accession of the late Sir Edward Littleton to the estate, 



* Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, p. 370. 



