Mucklestone in 1868

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer (1868)]

"MUCKLESTONE, (or Muxton), a parish partly in the Drayton division of North Bradford hundred, county Salop, and partly in the N. division of the hundred of Pirehill, county Stafford, 4½ miles N.E. of Market-Drayton, and 6 W. of the Whitmore railway station. The village, which is small, is situated near the river Tern, and is wholly agricultural. The parish is extensive, containing the townships of Woore, Aston, and seven others. The river Tern here divides the county of Stafford from that of Shropshire. There are several quarries of good building-stone. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £1,036.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Lichfield, value £1,072. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was rebuilt in 1790, with the exception of the tower, from which Queen Margaret of Anjou is said to have witnessed the defeat of the royalists by Neville on Bloreheath in 1459. The register dates from 1556. There is also a district church at Woore, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, value £96. The parochial charities produce about £172 per annum, of which £31 goes to Orsley's school and £15 to Elkin's. Oakley Hall is the principal residence, and is situated in an extensive park. Lord Crewe is lord of the manor."

"ASTON, a township in the parish of Mucklestone, and hundred of Pirehill, in the county of Stafford, 7 miles to the S.W. of Newcastle-under-Lyne. It lies not far from the North Western railway, on the borders of Shropshire."

"KNIGHTON, a township in the parish of Mucklestone, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill, county Stafford, 7 miles N.W. of Eccleshall, and 5 N.E. of Drayton."

"OAKLEY, a township in the parish of Mucklestone, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill, county Stafford, 1½ mile from Mucklestone, and 3 miles N. by E. of Drayton-in-Hales."

"WINNINGTON, a township in the parish of Mucklestone, N. division of Pirehill hundred, county Stafford, 4 miles N. of Market Drayton, on the river Tern."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]