Page:The Grand junction railway companion to Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham; (IA grandjunctionrai00free).pdf/104

 Railroad; a little further on it passes under a handsome iron bridge, with stone piers, and pursues a similar course on the right. To the left is Creswell Hall, a large white house with numerous offices; it is the residence of the Rev. T. Whitley.

On the right, about a mile and a half distant, the towers of Stafford Castle may be plainly seen emerging from the trees. The site of this castle has been occupied as a fortalice from the time of William, who appointed (the progenitor of the present house of Stafford) governor; it was afterwards rebuilt in the time of Edward the Third, by, and in the civil war was garrisoned by the Royalists under the , who perished in a sharp skirmish on Hopton Heath. After his death the castle was taken by the Parliamentarians, and eventually demolished. Sir under-built the walls of the ruin, to prevent their falling; since then Sir George restored the existing portion of it (one front flanked by two round towers), about half a century since; and it now has a very imposing appearance, as seen from the Railroad.

The road still continues through these marshy fields, and, though the