Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/525

Rh STAliDLKTUUlU'E. 513 STAFFORD. STADDLETHOEPE, a hmlt. in the par. of Black- tuft, East Biding co. York, 6 miles S.E. of Howdon. It is a station on the Hull, Selby, and Milford junction railway. The hamlet is situated near the river H umber. 8TADDON, a vil. in the pur. of Holsworthy, co. Devon, near Holsworthy. ST AD HAMPTON, a par. in the hund. of Dorchester, co. Oxford, 6 miles N. of Wallingford, its post town, and 8 S.E. of Oxford. The village, which is small, is situated on the river Thames, and ia chiefly agri- cultural. The living is a perpet. cur., annexed to that of Chiselhampton, in the dioc. of Oxford. The church ia dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The paro- chial charities produce about 24 per annum, which go to a school. There is a day school for both sexes. The Particular Baptists have a chapel. C. Piers, Esq., is lord of the manor. STADMORESLOW, a tnshp. in the par. of Wol- stanton, N. div. of Pirehill hund., co. Stafford, 1 mile N.E. of Neweastle-under-Lyne, and 4 N. of Burslem. It includes the hmlt. of Harrisey Head. STAFFA, a small island, one of the Hebrides, on the W. side of Mull Isle, in the pars, of Kill-Ninian and TJlva, co. Argyle, Scotland, 7 miles N.E. of lona, and 3 8. of Gometra. It extends about I mile in length by half a mile in breadth. Its coasts are steep and craggy, consisting of a mass of lava overlying the famed basaltic pillars, and hollowed by various caverns. The most remarkable of these caverns are the Clam or Scallop- shell Cave, 50 feet in height, 16 to 18 in width, and 130 in length, consisting of bent columns resembling the Bides of a ship ; Buachaille, or Herdsman Eock, 30 feet in height ; Fingal's, or the Great Cave, 70 feet in height, 42 in breadth, and 227 in length, being the greatest natural curiosity in the island ; Boat Cave, only reached by the sea, 16 feet in height, 12 in breadth, and 150 in length ; and Mackinnon's, or Cormorant's Cave, 45 feet in height, 48 in breadth, and 224 in length. The steam- boats from Oban call at the island five or six times weekly, and generally land the passengers at Fingal's Cave. The most elevated part of the island is over this cave, where the cliffs of basalt rise in regular colonnades about 214 feot above the sea at ordinary tides. 8TAFFIELD, a tnshp. in the par. of Kirk-Oswald, Leath ward, co. Cumberland, IJmileN. of Kirk-Oswald. It is a small agricultural village, situated on Croglin Water. The tnshp. includes the limits, of Scaromanie, Little Croglan, and Haresceugh. The soil is gravelly. 8TAFFIN, a loch on the N.E. side of the Isle of Rkye, co. Inverness, Scotland, 6 miles S.E. of Aird Point. STAFFORD, a midland county in England, is bounded N. by Cheshire and Derbyshire ; E. by Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Warwickshire ; S. by Worcester- shire ; and W. by Shropshire and Cheshire. It lies between 62 23' and 53 14' N. lat, 1 36' and 2 27' W. long. The extreme length from N. to S. is 60 miles, and its greatest breadth is 38 miles. The area is 1,138 square miles, or 728,408 acres, of which 630,000 acres are arable and pasture. The population in 1801 amounted to 242,693. Since then it has rapidly in- creased, being 608,599 in 1861, and 746,943 in 1861, or 308 per cent, of the population in 1801. The number of inhabited houses in 1861 was 147,105, and of uninhabited 9,043. Previous to the Roman in- vasion the county seems to have been occupied by the Cornavii, whose territory was overrun by the Srigantes a Bhort time before the arrival of the Eomans, who found in the Brigantet a sturdy foe. It subsequently formed part of the Eoman province Flavin Cifiarientis, and was traversed by three great wayi, or streets, called Watling Street, Ryknield Street, and the Via Devana, on the iir<t of which were situated the town of JStocetum, now Wall, near Lichfield, and Pennocruci'im, near the village of 1'enkridgo. Miiny remains of camps are found in dill- rent parts of llir rotinty, but it is difficult to decide whether they are of Saxon, Hoinan, or Danish formation. an coins and other antiquities have been found in many places, especially at Eowley Eegia and about Wall, where large- quantities of pavements of Eoman bricks and foundation stones have been dug up. This county next formed part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, and after the introduction of Christianity in the 7th century became a bishopric, the seat of which was sub- sequently fixed at Lichfield. The Danes overran the county in the 9th century, and in the division of terri- tory made by Alfred the district N. of Watling Street was included in the Danelagh, but was afterwards re- covered from their power. They were defeated in 910 at Tettenhall Regis, near Wolverhampton, and again in 911 at Wednesfield; and in 913 Ethelfleda, Countess of Mercia, built castles at Tamworth, Stafford, and Eades- byrig, to keep them in check. Eadesbyrig is by some supposed to be the modern Wednesbury, so called from its having been the principal seat of worship to the god Woden. William the Conqueror granted a portion of the lands to Richard de Todeni, orde Stafford, who built a castle, and established himself near the town of Staf- ford. Edward II. defeated at Burton-on-Trent the Earls of Lancaster and Hereford, who were in insurrection against him. During the civil wars between York and Lancaster a battle was fought at Blore Heath, on the western side of the county. The field of battle is marked by a stone pedestal, upon which stands an old wooden cross. Mary Queen of Scots was for some time confined in the castles at Tutbury and Chartley, the ruins of which yet remain. In the struggle between Charles I. and his parliament the county generally sided with the latter, though many took an active part in the royal cause, and seized and garrisoned Lichfield Cathedral. which was taken by the parliamentarians, but regained under Prince Rupert. An indecisive battle was fought at Hopton Heath, near Stafford, after which the par- liamentarians occupied Stafford and Wolverhampton, together with Eccleshall Castle, and also took and destroyed Stafford Castle. Skirmishes took place in many places, in which the royalists were generally un- successful. After the battle of Worcester, in 1651, Charles II. was sheltered for some time in Boscobel House in this county. In 1745 the army of Prince Charles Edward, the young Pretender, occupied Leek, while that of the Duke of Cumberland was at Stone. The aspect of the county is various. The N.E. district, called the moorlands, and comprising one-sixth of the entire, is the commencement of the mountain range known as the Pennine Chain, which runs through tho N.E. of Derbyshire, along the western border of York- shire, and on to the Cheviot Hills. This district is a strange variety of wild desolate scepery and rich fertile valleys. The moorlands, rising in many parts to eleva- tions of 1,200 to 1,500 feet, consist in some places of heaps of gravel, and in others of cliffs with rock scattered about their bases, while in some districts in the extreme N. they are mere upland wastes expanding into peaty mosses and spongy moors, as at Axe Edge, the Cloud Heath, High Forest. The glen at the river Dove, at Hum, is said to resemble the ravines of the Alps, while the valleys of the Manifold, Hamps, Blyth, and Dean, tributaries of the Dove, intersect the moorlands, and abound in spots of picturesque scenery. The Weaver hills, rising in some places to 1,500 feet, lie between the vales of the Dove and the Churnet, and rival the peaks of Derby- shire. The north-western district, in which the pot- teries are situated, and nearly identical with Pirehill hundred, presents a contrast to the part just described, being for the most part level and fertile. The midland and southern portions partake also of this character, consisting for the most part of level country. Cannock Chase was an open heath of 25,000 acres, extending from the vicinity of Stafford southwards through tho county, and is in one place 715 feot high. It was for- merly covered with woods, but is now bleak and naked. Part of it has been reclaimed. Rowley Regis Mountain is an isolated eminence between Dudley and Halesowen, about 900 feet high, and terminating in summits, of which tho chief are Oakhain, Corney, and Turner's hills. Barbeacon, about 700 feot high, is the principal summit of the Clent hills in the detached district of the county.