Hanbury

"Hanbury is a small but pleasant village, upon a lofty eminence, overlooking the vale of the Dove, seven miles NW by W of Burton-upon-Trent, and the same distance SE by E of Uttoxeter, to the north of which are seen the moorlands and picturesque hills of Derbyshire. The parish of Hanbury is a very extensive district, being upwards of five miles square, and including the north end of Needwood Forest, and ten villages and hamlets, divided into five townships, viz, Hanbury, Newborough, Marchington, Marchington-Woodlands, and Draycott-in-the-Clay. The whole parish comprises 2483 inhabitants, and about 13,600 acres of land. HCM Ingram, Esq, is lord of Agardsley and Marchington manors, and has a paramount juristiction over the whole parish, but there are several mense lords, and among the principal land owners are Richard Greene, Esq, Mrs Adderley, Thomas Webb, John Bott, and Thomas K Hall, Esqs, and Lord Vernon.
Hanbury, the capital of the parish, has only about 1600 acres, and 114 souls. It is a place of great antiquity. In the year 680, the Saxon princess, St Werburgh, became abbess of a nunnery founded here by her brother Ethelred, King of Mercia. The Manor House, sometimes called the Rectory, is the seat of Richard Greene, Esq. It commands an extensive prospect, and was anciently the seat of the Hanbury family.
Hanbury-Woodend is a hamlet of scattered houses, near the eastern side of Hanbury, and contains 311 souls and 410 acres of land, mostly belonging to Captain Tennant.
Coton, one mile NW of Hanbury, is a small village generally called Coton-under-Needwood, to distinguish it from other places of the same name. It has 72 souls, and 770 acres. Mrs Adderley is lady of the manor, but the Hall, a neat rural mansion erected in 1790, is occupied by John Bott, Esq.
Faulde, or Felde, is a hamlet of 56 souls, and 860 acres, partly on a romantic terrace in Dovedale, one mile NE of Hanbury, where great quantities of white and variegated alabaster, or gypsum, are got at a considerable depth below the surface, for the use of china, earthenware, and Derbyshire spar manufacturers, who use it for making moulds, etc. Some of the farmers have cheese presses made of this heavy and beautiful stone. Mr Thomas Browne is lord of the manor. The ancient hall is now a farm house.
Draycott, or Draycott-under-Needwood, is a scattered village on the Lichfield and Sudbury road, one mile W by N of Hanbury. Its township includes the hamlets of Moreton and Stubby Lane, about a mile to the NW, and contains altogether 431 souls and 1780 acres. The manor was included in the Conqueror's gift to Henry de Ferrers, and has for many ages been possessed by the noble family of Vernon. In a meadow beyond Draycott Mill are the ruins of an ancient mansion surrounded by a moat.
The township of Marchington formed a chapelry to Hanbury parish and details can be found on the Marchington parish page.
The township of Newborough formed a chapelry to Hanbury parish and details can be found on the Newborough parish page."
[From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851]