E N V I L L E HALL, 



STAFFORDSHIRE, 



THE SEAT OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF STAMFORD 



AND WARRINGTON.* 



JLHE remains of antiquity in the neighbourhood of Enville are both numerous and interesting, and 

 belong to the earliest periods of English history, as well as to those eventful times between the Norman 

 Conquest and the Restoration. One spot that has always taken the lead in the county histories is 

 Kinfare, derived from kin-vaur, i. e., the great edge or ridge, such being its natural formation, where 

 on the summit of the hill, are to be seen the outlines of an extensive encampment, attributed by some 

 to Wulphere, a Mercian King, by others to the Danes; and a little below it, surrounded by a narrow 

 ditch, is a tumulus, supposed to cover the remains of a Celtic Chief. Adjoining it, stands a large stone 

 pillar of curious shape, with deep notches cut in its surface, and held to be commemorative of an important 

 action fought here before the subjugation of the island by the Romans. There is also a singular cavern 

 worthy of notice. The place is scarcely an hour's walk from Enville, and over ground once covered 

 by the ancient forest of Kinfare and Lutley. A short distance from Kinfare is Stourton Castle, the 

 birth-place of the celebrated Cardinal Pole, and the scene of some of the numerous engagements between 

 Charles I, and the Commonwealth. In the opposite direction is Kingswynforcl, a place of ancient date 

 and the locality of a small Roman camp ; and, a short distance further inland, rises the lofty conical 

 hill of Dudley, crowned by the ruins of its once lordly castle, the foundations of which were either built 

 or repaired about the year 760, by the powerful Saxon, Earl Dudo. 



In the village of Enville the most ancient building is the Church, the origin of which, like many 



others in England, is involved in obscurity. It contains many interesting relics of by-gone ages one 



a beautiful alabaster monument to the memory of Thomas Grey and his wife, who died in the year 1559, 

 and whose recumbent effigies form the upper part. The figure of a Priest lies under an arch near it; 

 and a stone slab, evidently the lid of a coffin, with a crosier carved in outline, is inserted in the 

 pavement of the southern porch. One of the windows, the arch of which appears to be Saxon, is 

 illuminated with some beautiful antique specimens of stained glass, and adjoining the pulpit are several 

 stalls, with richly- carved subsellias, such as were anciently used in cathedrals and collegiate churches. 

 The arches and columns of the central aisle, or nave, present two distinct styles of architecture, those on the 

 north side being low and circular with massive columns, and those on the south of a Gothic character. 



* His Lordship succeeded to the title and estates on the death of his grandfather the 26th of April, 1845. Creations — Baron Grey, 1603 ; 



Earl of Stamford, 1628; Earl of Warrington and Baron Delamer, 1796. 



