Ranton in 1817

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

RANTON (RONTON).

Ronton is a small parish and village, situated between four and five miles west of Stafford, and three miles east of Eccleshall. It was the demesne of Goderick, a Saxon nobleman, at the time of the General Survey, and afterwards held by him of William de Noel. Camden says, the Harcourts, an aaeient and noble Norman family, received it by inheritance from the Noels. 

Ronton Abbey was founded by Robert Fitz-Noel, in the reign of Henry the Second, and was a Priory of canons regular of St. Augustine. It was afterwards made a cell to the Abbey of Haghman, in Shropshire, by the founder, who placed the canons in it, under the rule and obedience of the church of Haghman. This Priory paid to the Abbey of Haghman a yearly pension of 100 shillings. At the time of the Dissolution, it was valued at £90. 2s. lld. per annum. 

The principal remains of this Abbey, which are yet standing, consist of the high tower of the church, part of its walls, and a small part of the cloisters. The church is but small, and thatched. A tenement is erected on part of the site of the ancient abbey. The church is dedicated to All Saints, and is a vicarage, formerly belonging to the abbey. The King is patron. The Rev. Thomas Harding is vicar, and the Rev. William Hicken, jun. curate. 

The land in the parish of Ronton consists of a good strong loam soil, adapted to the cultivation of wheat, and pulse, with good meadow land on the banks of the rivulets. This parish contains 52 houses, 52 families ; 144 males, 148 females : total of inhabitants, 292.