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. Giles 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: the church was restored in 1881 at a cost of £1,000, and affords 250 sittings. The register dates from the year 1575. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £295, including 20 acres of glebe with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Lichfield, and held since 1912 by the Rev. Dumaresq Cohu B.A. of Durham University: 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 £6 10s yearly. The Heath, consisting of 338 acres on the south-east side of the village, and formerly used as an open sheep-walk, is now the property of the War department. The Whittington Barracks and depots of the South and North Staffordshire Regiments, situated on the Heath, occupy a site of 40 acres in a fine position. The buildings comprise: officers’ quarters, armoury, recreation rooms and chapel (a brick building in Early English style). The Barracks are available for 1,400 men, exclusive of officers. The Staffordshire Infantry Brigade is permanently quartered here, and buildings have been erected as quarters for the married men and their families. A Roman Catholic Church has been erected at the Barracks. The Old Hall, the property and residence of Col. Bassett Thorne Seckham D.S.O., J.P. 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. The grounds are extensive and well laid out. Broom Leasoe, the property and residence of Charles William Giffard Inge, is pleasantly situated in its own grounds, 1½ miles north-east from the village. The Marquess of Anglesey is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are Col. B.T.Seckham D.S.O., J.P. Theophilus Basil Percy Levett esq. J.P. and Sir Robert Peel bart. The soil is gravelly; subsoil, sand, rock and clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley and turnips. Market gardening is extensively carried on. The area is 2,921 acres inclusive of 27 of water; rateable value, £15,307; and the population, including Huddlesford, in 1901 was 2,392, inclusive of 1,521 in the barracks; the population in 1911 was 3,409.
Huddlesford, a hamlet, one 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, is now a civil parish in the Lichfield union, and belongs to Sir Robert Peel bart. The area is 782 acres of land and 8 of water; rateable value, £2,380; the population in 1911 was 51.
Willowford is 2 miles north, on the west bank of the river Tame.
Post, M. O. T. & Telephonic Express Delivery Office, Whittington. – George Thomas Blewitt, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive by mail cart from Lichfield. Telephone Call Office, available for calls to places within a limited distance.
Post, M. O. T. & T. E. D. Office, Whittington Barracks, - James R. Morris, sub-postmaster. Letters through Lichfield.
Wall boxes.-Huddlesford; Hademore & Fisherwick
PUBLIC ELEMENTARY 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 present school was principally built by the late Col. Dyott in 1864; enlarged in 1910; the school will hold 105 children; Walter Bramley, master
Infants’, for 105; Miss Jane E. Martin, mistress
Police Station, Charles Thomas Harrington, sergeant, & 1 constable
WHITTINGTON
PRIVATE RESIDENTS
Armitage Mrs. Eileen, Ivy Cottage
Cohu Rev. Dumaresq B.A. (vicar)
De Falbe Col. Vigant W. C.M.G.,D.S.O. Whittington house
Gifford Major, Whittington court
Inge Charles William Giffard, Broom Leasowe
Mann Frederick
Pass Mrs. Isabella
Rattenbury Miss
Seckham Col. Bassett Thorne D.S.O., J.P. The Old hall
Sturgess Charles, Hollies
Tomes Major Clement, The Hawthorns
Yool Major George, Elfield house
COMMERCIAL
Early closing day, Thursday.
Allsopp William, farmer
Aston Frederick, baker
Bailey Wm Plough P.H. Huddlesford
Barker Charles, farmer
Baskerville Harry, farmer, Hurst frm
Baxter Sydney, farmer, Church farm
Boston Charles, smallholder
Bridgen A. & A. (Misses), dress mas
Brough Wm. Farmer, Thatchmoor fm
Burgess William George, Bell inn
Deakin Hy, market gardener, Rose cot
Donnellan Alice (Mrs.), shopkeeper
Drury Charles, haulier
Elson George, tailor
Farnsworth Harry, butcher
Foster Amelia (Miss), shopkeeper
Foster Frank, builder
Foster Frank, Dog inn
Mann Thomas, farmer
Merrison Henry, Swan P.H.
Moody Richard, builder
Neale Arthur, assistant overseer & rate collector
Pearce Edwd. Wm. frmr. Cross roads
Phillips James Arthur, farmer. Brook hay (postal address, nr. Lichfield)
Redington Fred, beer retailer, Barrack rd. (postal address, Lichfield)
Ricketts Martin Hy. market gardener
Rust William, farmer, Marsh farm
Simkins Abraham, farmer, Whittington Hurst
Simkins James, farmer, Willowford
Soldiers’ Home (James Key, supt.), The Heath
Stevens Alice, (Mrs.), Peel Arms
Topliss Charles, wheelwright, Barrack road (postal address, Lichfield)
Wheat George, farmer, Brookhay (postal address, Lichfield)
Wheelton Charles, farmer
Wheelton Leonard, farmer, Grange fm
Whittington Barracks Golf Club (Robt Summers Smith, hon. sec)
Wigham Cuthbert Thos. prov mer
Windridge Thomas, smith
© 2018 Whittington History Society