Stone in 1841
Stone is in the southern division of Pyrehill hundred, seven miles north by west of Stafford. There was a very ancient monastery at this place, founded, it was said, by Wulfhere, king of Mercia, or his queen Ermenilda, in honour of his two sons, whom, before his own conversion, be had murdered for embracing Christianity. Wulfhere is said to have placed secular canons here ; but these being dispersed, some nuns occupied the place, who were removed in the time of Henry I to make room for some regular canons of St. Austin from Kenilworth Priory, to which this house was for a time a cell, but afterwards became independent. The yearly revenue at the dissolution was £129, 2 shillings, 11 pence gross, or £119, 14 shillings, 11 pence clear.
The town is on a rising ground on the left or north-eastern bank of the Trent, over which, on the Stafford road, there is a bridge ; the principal street is along the road from London to Liverpool, and is paved. The church is a modern building at the south-east end of the town, and near it are some remains of the ancient monastery. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists. The parish, including the chapelry of Normicott, has an area of 20,030 acres ; the population, in 1831, was 7,808. The principal branch of industry is shoemaking, and there are some breweries and mills. The Grand Trunk canal passes near the town. The market is on Tuesday, and there are five great markets or fairs in the year. The living is a perpetual curacy of the clear yearly value of £214, with a glebe-house : there are three chapels in the parish. There were, in 1833, twenty day or boarding and day schools, with 425 boys, 301 girls, and 44 children of sex not stated ; one of them was a national school, with 120 boys and 90 girls, and several of the others were assisted by endowment or contribution. There were also three Sunday-schools, with 355 boys and 306 girls. |