Page:The Grand junction railway companion to Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham; (IA grandjunctionrai00free).pdf/82

 from a castle, built by Edmund, earl of Lancaster, after Chesterton Castle had fallen into decay, and it received the addition of Lyme from its proximity to the forest of Lyme, which formerly extended nearly to the town. The principal trade of the town is the manufacture of hats, clothing, silk, and cotton-throwing, and in the neighbourhood stoneware is made in prodigious quantities, as much as £100,000 worth of it having been exported in one year. The coal trade is also carried on to a very considerable extent. The Grand Trunk Canal passing through the town greatly facilitates its trade. The town was incorporated by Henry the First, and afterwards by Elizabeth, which charter was confirmed by Charles the Second; it is governed by a mayor, two bailiffs, and twenty-four common-council men. It has sent two members to Parliament ever since the 27th of Edward the Third. The Reform Act confirms the privilege, but extends the suffrage to £10 householders; the constituency are about 360 in number. This town had formerly four churches, three of which were destroyed in the barons' wars. The present very ancient church has a lofty square tower; it is dedicated to St. Saviour. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Stafford, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry (not in charge); patrons, the Society for purchasing Livings. The town has meeting houses for various classes of Dissenters, a Catholic chapel, a free grammar school, a national, and several other endowed schools, and twenty almshouses for twenty poor widows; the latter were