Colton in 1817

Description from A Topographical History of Staffordshire by William Pitt (1817)

COLTON.

Colton is a parish of Pirehill South, and situated southward of Blithefield. This parish extends to the river Trent, adjoining to Rugeley. The soil is a mild fertile loam, with a good proportion of meadows on the verge of the Trent, and on a brook which falls into it. The Swedish turnip is cultivated in rows on the Northumberland system in this parish, and the lands in general are productive of abundant crops of grain, and in an improved and high state of cultivation. Colton parish contains 101 houses, 105 families ; 266 males, 218 females : total of inhabitants, 484. 

The village of Colton is small. It is a pleasant rural place, in a low situation. A private mansion of brick and stone, with a fishpond and pleasure-grounds, on the opposite side of the turnpike road, which passes through this village, are the most conspicuous objects. 

Colton Church, situated in an enclosure near the road, is small. The nave is modern, and built of brick, and the roof covered with lead ; but the chancel is ancient, of stone, and the roof covered with tiles, with a small stone cross at the end. The tower is square, and of stone : it is low, and from its small narrow Gothic windows, and time-worn pinnacles, it must have stood for some centuries. The interior of the Church is neat and clean, and the pews of oak. 

There are but few instances of longevity recorded on the frail memorials of the dead in the church-yard. An epitaph on a mason deserves to be mentioned. His tombstone is decorated with the compass and square in basso-relievo, under which is the following inscription: 

" Sacred to the memory of JAMES HAYWOOD, who died May 4th, 1804, in the 55th year of his age: 

The corner-stone I oftentimes have dress'd, 
In Christ, the corner-stone, I now find rest ; 
Though by the Builder he rejected were, 
He is my God, my Rock, I build on here." 

The church of Colton is dedicated to St. Mary, and is a rectory in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield : the Rev. Dr. Buckeridge is the present rector, and the Rev. William Robinson, curate. 

It is difficult to describe the fine country beween Colton and Colwich, especially the Vale of Trent, and the beautifully picturesque hills on the southern bank of that river. These hills, and the intermediate valleys, exhibit all the varieties of cultivation and the beauties of woodland, with here and there an airy peak rising above the rest, covered with fern and gorse. The whole scene reminds us of Thomson's descriptive lines: 

" O vale of bliss! O softly-swelling hills! 
On which the Power of Cultivation lies, 
And joys to see the wonders of his hand."