Croxall is a hamlet and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of Edingale, in the

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

district of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England. The settlement today is mainly the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of St John and

Croxall Hall Croxall Hall is a restored and extended 16th century manor house situated in the small village of Croxall, Staffordshire (close to the southeastern border with Derbyshire and historically part of it). It is a Grade II* listed building. The man ...

. On 30 September 1895 the part in Derbyshire was transferred to Staffordshire meaning Croxall was entirely in Staffordshire. In 1931 the parish had a population of 184.

History

In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, Croxall is mentioned as an outlying farm of

Weston-on-Trent Weston-on-Trent is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,239. It is to the north of the River Trent and the Trent and Mersey Canal. Nearby places ...

and listed among the lands given to

Henry de Ferrers Henry de Ferrers (died by 1100), magnate and administrator, was a Normans, Norman who after the 1066 Norman conquest of England, Norman conquest was awarded extensive lands in England. Origins He was the eldest son of Vauquelin de Ferrers and i ...

''Domesday Book: A Complete Translation''. London: Penguin, 2003. p. 745 by the king,

William I of England William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was ...

. The land given to HenryHenry de Ferrers held a considerable number of manors including a massive number in Derbyshire given to him by the

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

. These included obviously Croxall and Edingale which are now in Staffordshire but also

Stretton en le Field Stretton en le Field is a small village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, about 7 miles/11 km south-west of Ashby de la Zouch, historically an exclave of Derbyshire. According to the 2001 ...

which is now in Leicestershire. included of pasture that was valued at £4. The lordship of the manor of Croxall was held for several centuries by underlords of the Ferrers, the

Curzon family Curzon may refer to: People Americans * Aria Curzon (born 1987), American actress * Walter de Curzon Poultney (1845–1929), one of Baltimore, Maryland's most colorful and flamboyant high-society members Britons * Christopher Curzon (born 1958), ...

, an early Anglo-Norman family seated at Derbyshire since the 12th century. A Curzon heiress carried the manor and

to the Sackvilles,

Earls of Dorset Earl of Dorset is a title that has been created at least four times in the Peerage of England. Some of its holders have at various times also held the rank of marquess and, from 1720, duke. A possible first creation is not well documented. About ...

, who in turn conveyed the manor to the Prinsep family, heirs of John Prinsep, an early Anglo-Indian merchant and later Member of Parliament. On the death in 1849 of Thomas Prinsep,

High Sheriff of Derbyshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1567 until 1974 and High Sheriffs since. The ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around ...

, the manor of Croxall was inherited by his nephew Thomas Levett-Prinsep. St John's parish church contains memorials to all four families, as well as the Horton family of nearby

Catton Hall Catton Hall is a country house near the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire, within the civil parish of Catton. It gives its postal address as Walton-on-Trent although there was a village of Catton at one time. It is a Grade II* liste ...

, a member of whom (

Anne Wilmot-Horton Anne Beatrix Wilmot-Horton (''née'' Horton, 1788 – 1871) was an English amateur botanist who was the dedicatee of the plant genus Hortonia and of Lord Byron’s poem 'She Walks in Beauty'. Early life and family She was born in 1788, the dau ...

) prompted

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

to write his famous poem beginning with the lines: "She walks in beauty, like the night....". On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with Edingale.

References

{{authority control Villages in Staffordshire Former civil parishes in Staffordshire

History

See also

References