WHITTINGTON is a parish and compact and well built village, pleasantly seated 3 miles south-east from Lichfield Junction station on the London and North Western Railway, 4 north-west from Tamworth, in the Lichfield division of the county, North Offlow hundred, Lichfield and Brownhills petty sessional division, Lichfield union and county court district, archdeaconry of Stafford and in the rural deanery and diocese of Lichfield. The church of St Matthew is a plain building of brick in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave and an embattled western tower of stone with a lofty spire, containing a clock and 3 bells: there are 250 sittings. The register dates from the year 1575. The living is a vicarage, average tithe rent-charge £125, gross yearly value £264, including 46 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Bishop of Lichfield, and held since 1883 by the Rev. William Henry Kay M.A. of Worcester College, Oxford: a new vicarage was built in 1886 from funds supplied by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. There is a small Congregational chapel. The general charities amount to £7 yearly. The barracks and depot of 38th and 64th regimental districts (Lichfield), on the Heath, occupy a site of 40 acres, in a fine position: the buildings comprise armoury, officers’ quarters, recreation rooms and a chapel, a brick building in the Early English style: the barracks are available for 1,200 men, exclusive of officers. The Heath, consisting of 338 acres, on the south-east side of the village and used as an open sheep walk, is the property of the War Department; the Lichfield races are also held here. Whittington Hall (the property of Samuel Lipscomb Seckham esq. J.P., D.L. of Beacon Place, Lichfield) is a large and ancient brick mansion, with stone mullioned windows, added about the Elizabethan period: nearly all the rooms are wainscoted, and some of the walls are loopholed for small arms: the front of the house is covered with ivy. Broome Leasoe, the property and residence of Charles Henry Inge esq. J.P. is pleasantly standing in its own grounds, 1½ miles north-east from the village. The Marquess of Anglesey D.L. is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are Col. Theophilus John Levett M.P., D.L., J.P. of Wichnor Park; the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, bart. G.C.B., D.L., J.P. of Drayton Manor; S. L. Seckham esq. J.P., D.L. and General Richard Dyott of Freeford Hall. The soil is gravelly; subsoil, sand, rock and clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley and turnips. The area is 2,921 acres of land; rateable value £9,122; and the population, including Huddlesford, in 1891 was 2,033, which includes 989 in the barracks.
HUDDLESFORD, a hamlet, 1 mile north from the village, is in this parish.
HURST is a hamlet, 1½ miles north-north-east, situated close to the river Tame.
TAMHORN, 2 miles south-east, formerly extra-parochial, is now a parish in the Lichfield union and belongs to the Right Hon. Sir R. Peel G.C.B. The area is 770 acres; rateable value £1,997; the population in 1891 was 21.
WILLIFORD is 2 miles north, on the west bank of the river Tame.
POST, M.O.& T. O., S. B. & Annuity & Insurance Office--- John Elson, postmaster. Letters arrive by foot post from Lichfield at 7.15 a.m.; dispatched at 6.25 p.m.; on sunday at 9.25 a.m.
WALL BOX, Huddlesford, cleared at 4.55 p.m.
SCHOOLS:-
Mixed (endowed) founded in 1741 by Mrs Sarah Neal & endowed in 1800 with a legacy of £200 left by the late Rev. Richard Levett, & invested in £ 3 per Cent. Consols; the school will hold 106 children; average attendance, 95; George Biggs, master
Infants, built principally by Col. Dyott in 1864, to hold 85 infants; average attendance, 60 ; Miss Hannah Robinson, mistress
WHITTINGTON
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Beddow James, Thatchmore house
Heathcote Col. Chas. Graham
Inge Charles Henry J.P. Broom Leasoe
Kay Rev. William Henry B.A. (vicar)
Merrifield Edward, The Hill
Powell James
Smith Mrs Whittington house
COMMERCIAL.
Alsopp Thomas, farmer
Bates Thomas, farmer
Berks Henry, provision dealer
Bridgen William, bricklayer
Capon Selina (Mrs.) Peel Arms P.H.
Carter John, carpenter
Cotterill John Plough P.H. Huddlesford
Elson John, tailor & Post Office
Elson Joseph, tailor
Hodgkins Mary (Mrs.), brick maker, Huddlesford
Kelley Edward, Dog inn
Langton Thomas, wheelwright
Lees John, shoe maker & shopkeeper
Nevill Daniel, provision dealer
Neville Francis, farmer & draper, Huddlesford
Neville Mary (Mrs), beer retailer
Nourse William & Sons, engineers
Nourse Thomas, laundryman
Pass Edward, jun. bricklayer
Pass Hennis, Bell inn
Petty Catherine (Mrs.), farmer
Phillips Joseph, butcher
Powell James, farmer
Pratt Thos. W. frmr, Church House fm
Ricketts John, market gardener
Simkins Joseph, farmer, Hurst
Soldiers Home (Frederick J. Woodman, manager), The Heath
Smith Francis, farmer
Smith Thomas, farmer
Smith Thomas, Swan P.H.
Sturgess Charles, farmer
Sturgess Harry, farmer & miller (water), Bannins mill
Toplis Charles, wheelwright
Wallace John, farmer
Wheelton Thomas, farmer, The Grove
Wheelton Walter Thos. farmer, Williford
Wilcox George, bricklayer
Wilson Emma (Mrs.), farmer
Windridge Richard, smith
Wise George, farmer
Tamhorn
Booth Mary (Mrs.), farmer
© 2018 Whittington History Society