HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 297 



experience, and abound with matter which has served as a fund to 

 several authors, who have since written against Machiavel.* 



TIXALL. The manor and parish of Tixall is situated in Pirehill 

 South, about four miles distant from Stafford. This manor was 

 held by Roger de Montgomery of the King, in the 20th year of 

 the reign of William the Conqueror. Peganus de Gastenois was 

 lord of the manor of Tixall in the reign of Henry II. and his poste- 

 rity held it for many generations, and in latter times took the 

 name of Wartney. Roger Wartney left only one daughter and 

 heir> who was married to Sir John Mavestone, but having no issue, 

 the estate passed to the Littletons, from whom it came to the 

 Astons. Sir Edward Aston built Tixall-hall, and Sir Walter As- 

 ton, about the.middle of the 16th century, built before the Hall a 

 stately gate-house of stone. 



This old manor-house at length became decayed, was taken 

 down, and the present mansion built in 1780, in a plain style. 

 The ancient gate-way remains, and is a curious pile of Grecian 

 and Gothic architecture. 



The manor of Tixall is at present the property of Sir Thomas 

 Clifford, a Roman Catholic, and was let by him to the Right Hon. 

 Lord Viscount Granville. 



The hamlet of Tixall consists of a few farm-houses and smaller 

 tenements. The Church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It 

 is a small fabric of stone, with a low tower, and a rectory. The 



Rev. William Corns is the present incumbent, and the Rev. 



Clarke, curate. 



The parish of Tixall contains 29 houses, 31 families ; 113 males, 

 93 females : total of inhabitants, 206. 



The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal passes Tixall manor 

 to the, south, and forms a beautiful lake to improve the view of the 

 landscape from Tixall-hall. The upland is a rich loam, and the 

 meadows on the banks of the Trent and the Sow are luxuriantly 

 fertile, A large quarry of excellent freestone on this estate sup- 

 plies great quantities of durable stone for building locks and 

 bridges, for which it is peculiarly well adapted, having the property 

 of resisting the action of water. 



INGESTRE is a parish and manor about two miles north-west of 

 Tixall, and four mile^s from Stafford. About the reign of Henry II. 

 this manor was held by the Mittons, but in the reign of Edward III. 



Biog. Diet. Vol. XIV. p. 3*. 

 2 P 



