HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 341 



The parish of Keel contains 176 houses, 178 families ; 461 males, 

 483 females : total, 944 persons. 



Keel Hall, the seat of Walter Sneyd, Esq. stands about half-a- 

 mile south-east of Keel, and has been the residence of the principal 

 part of the Sneyd s for upwards of two centuries. It is huilt prin- 

 cipally of red stone, and, according to Plot, was erected in 1581, 

 The south front underwent some alterations by the late Ralph 

 Sneyd, Esq. but the upper part of the wings of that front still re- 

 tain much of the same figure and plan as that engraved in Plot's 

 History of Staffordshire. Over the entrance-door, on the same 

 side of the house, are two shields, the one containing the arms of 

 Sneyd, the other Sneyd impaling Bagot ; and there is affixed a 

 lion passant guardant between them, the crest of the Sneyds. The 

 present occupier has erected a handsome new west front, of the 

 same kind of stone, which is embattled, and adorned with four oc- 

 tagon embattled turrets. The grounds of this demesne are embel- 

 lished with flourishing groves and plantations, and a building or 

 summer-house, noticed in most maps, called the Pavilion, erected 

 on an eminence, which commands extensive views of the surround- 

 ing country. There is a dingle of excellent oak to the south-west 

 on the road to Madeley. 



Walter Sneyd, Esq. the present possessor of Keel Hall, was 

 many years Lieutenant-colonel of the King's Own or Staffordshire 

 Militia, a distinction which the regiment acquired from the high 

 state of discipline it attained under his command. He received 

 many tokens of Royal regard from the King during the time the 

 regiment was stationed at Windsor ; where it was employed as a 

 kind of body guard for upwards of fourteen years, at that splendid 

 Palace of our Kings. His Majesty stood sponsor to one of his 

 children. Colonel Sneyd afterwards commanded the Local Militia 

 for the division of Pirehill North. 



The poor in the neighbourhood of Keel Hall, are supplied with 

 bread, meat, and soup, every Christmas, and in seasons of distress, 

 by the liberality of the benevolent owner. 



BETLEY is a parish of Pirehill North, situated upon the borders 

 of Cheshire, about seven miles west by north of Newcastle, on the 

 road to Chester. It contains the ancient town of Betley, in the 

 vicinity of which the handsome mansion of Lady Fletcher, called 

 Betley Court, and the seat of George Toilet, Esq., called Betley 

 Hall, with their pleasure-grounds and plantations, contribute to the 



