Ellastone in 1859

ELLASTONE (ST PETER), a parish, in the union of Ashbourn, S. division of the hundred of Totmonslow, N. division of the county of Stafford, 5 mile (W.S.W.) from Ashbourn; containing, with the townships of Calwick, Prestwood, Ramshorn, Stanton, and Wootton, 1308 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated in a fertile district abounding with romantic scenery, is bounded by the Dove, a stream affording fine trout, and is also skirted by the river Churnet.

It comprises about 8000 acres, whereof the greater part is pasture or meadow, a small portion arable, 410 acres woodland, and nearly 500 sheep, walk or common, with much gorse, heather, and stone ground, some of which is every year brought into cultivation. The surface is varied, rising from the vale of the Dove to Weaver Hill, and commanding extensive and richly diversified prospects, embracing, in clear weather, the Malvern, Wrekin, and Welsh hills. There are some lead mines near Stanton, but not in operation: facility of conveyance is afforded by the Uttoxeter canal, which passes through the parish. 

The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4.9.2.; net income, £154; patron and impropriator, D. Davenport, Esq., who is proprietor of a great part of the village. The church is a neat structure, situated on an eminence; the body was rebuilt in 1838, partly by subscription and partly by a rate, the stone being given by Mr. Davenport and the Rev. Geo. Hake: it contains memorials of the Fleetwoods, the ancient owners of a part of the parish. On the top of Weaver Hill are several barrows from which have been dug some ancient coins, and there are also vestiges of a Roman encampment. Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1677, was born in the parish. 

 

An 1859 Gazetteer description of the following places in Ellastone is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Calwich
• Prestwood
• Stanton
• Wootton

 

[Description(s) from The Topographical Dictionary of England (1859) by Samuel Lewis - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]