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Barton-Under-Needwood

BARTON-UNDER-NEEDWOOD, a parochial chapelry, in the parish of Tatenhill, union of Burton-upon-Trent, N. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 6 miles (S. W. by W.) from Burton; containing 1459 inhabitants. This place, in Domesday book called Bertune, gave name to one of the five wards into which the ancient royal forest of Needwood was divided. Edward the Confessor granted it to Henry de Ferrers, from whom it passed to the Somervilles, and afterwards to the earls of Derby, one of whom forfeited the property by rebellion in 1263, when Henry III. gave it to his youngest son, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. It subsequently reverted to the crown as a part of the duchy of Lancaster, and was sold by Charles I. in 1629 to the citizens of London, of whom it was purchased by Sir Edward Bromfield. The township comprises 3798a. 24p., in about equal portions of arable and pasture; the surface is elevated and undulating, and the scenery picturesque. About a mile east of the village, is the hamlet of Barton-Turning; and further eastward is a handsome bridge, of stone and iron, lately erected across the Trent to Walton, at a cost of £7000. The Grand Trunk canal passes through the chapelry; and there is a station on the Birmingham and Derby railway. Courts leet and baron are held annually in October; and fairs on May 3rd and November 28th. Among the seats are, Barton Hall, Yewtree House, Newbold Manor, and Silverhill; the last, which is the seat of C. W. Lyon, Esq., is built in the Elizabethan style, and the views from it are extensive and beautiful. The living is a perpetual curacy, with a net income of £135; patron, the Dean of Lichfield. The chapel, dedicated to St. James, is a handsome building in the later style, with a square tower and pinnacles; it was erected in the reign of Henry VIII. by the Rev. John Taylor, D.D., a native of the place. The free grammar school was founded in 1593 by Thomas Russell, who, by will, left money for its erection, and endowed it with an annuity of £21. 10., to be paid out of property in the parish of Shoreditch, London, held in trust by the Drapers' Company, who have increased the annuity; besides which, the master has a house and three acres of land: the boys are instructed on Dr. Bell's system. A school for girls is partly supported by an endowment of £20 per annum by the late Thomas Webb, Esq.; and numerous small sums are appropriated to the relief of the poor. There are several saline springs.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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