Tixall in 1817

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

TIXALL.

Tixall. The manor and parish of Tixall is situated in Pirehill South, about four miles distant from Stafford. This manor was held by Roger de Montgomery of the King, in the 20th year of the reign of William the Conqueror. Peganus de Gastenois was lord of the manor of Tixall in the reign of Henry II. and his posterity held it for many generations, and in latter times took the name of Wartney. Roger Wartney left only one daughter and heir> who was married to Sir John Mavestone, but having no issue, the estate passed to the Littletons, from whom it came to the Astons. Sir Edward Aston built Tixall-hall, and Sir Walter Aston, about the.middle of the 16th century, built before the Hall a stately gate-house of stone. 

This old manor-house at length became decayed, was taken down, and the present mansion built in 1780, in a plain style. The ancient gate-way remains, and is a curious pile of Grecian and Gothic architecture. 

The manor of Tixall is at present the property of Sir Thomas Clifford, a Roman Catholic, and was let by him to the Right Hon. Lord Viscount Granville. 

The hamlet of Tixall consists of a few farm-houses and smaller tenements. The Church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It is a small fabric of stone, with a low tower, and a rectory. The Rev. William Corns is the present incumbent, and the Rev. Clarke, curate. 

The parish of Tixall contains 29 houses, 31 families ; 113 males, 93 females : total of inhabitants, 206. 

The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal passes Tixall manor to the south, and forms a beautiful lake to improve the view of the landscape from Tixall-hall. The upland is a rich loam, and the meadows on the banks of the Trent and the Sow are luxuriantly fertile, A large quarry of excellent freestone on this estate supplies great quantities of durable stone for building locks and bridges, for which it is peculiarly well adapted, having the property of resisting the action of water.