Stanton, Staffordshire

Swinscoe is a small hamlet within the Staffordshire Moorlands in Staffordshire, England. Administratively, the hamlet is part of the civil parish of Blore with Swinscoe.

Blore (grid reference SK137493) is a small village and parish in the Staffordshire Moorlands District of England. It is on an acclivity above Dovedale, three and a half miles north west of Ashbourne, including the hamlet of Swinscoe, one mile (1.6 km) to the south and a part of the parochial chapelry of Calton. The ecclesiastical parish is Blore Ray with Okeover and the civil parish is Blore-with-Swinscoe, both with slightly different boundaries. Blore parish, exclusive of the portion of Calton, contains about 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) and 273 souls. Swinscoe contains about 1,000 acres (4.0 km2). The village of Blore comprises Blore Hall (now owned by the Holiday Property Bond), St Bartholomew's parish church, the Old Rectory, a few other houses and several farms. The hall was first mentioned in 1331, though only one building remains substantially unaltered since 1661. The Holiday Property Bond is a life assurance bond investment in securities and assets. Its 35,000 Bondholders have exclusive access to Blore Hall. Blore Hall was the home of the Bassett family, (from whom the Queen is descended) ; William Bassett, the last of the male line, died in 1601 and his magnificent alabaster tomb, erected by his wife about 1630, can be seen in the church. Blore Church was built around 1100 and is a Grade 1 listed building. Apart from the Bassett tomb, it has remained virtually unchanged for almost 400 years. It was extensively restored between 1994 and 1997.

Thorswood is a nature reserve of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, situated in the Weaver Hills near the village of Stanton, in Staffordshire, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Calwich Abbey, previously Calwich Priory, was in turn the name of a medieval Augustinian priory and two successive country houses built on the same site near Ellastone, Staffordshire.

Blore with Swinscoe is a civil parish north-west of Ashbourne, in the Staffordshire Moorlands district of Staffordshire, England, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 123, apparently declining to less than 100 according to the 2011 census. The parish includes Blore and Swinscoe.

Ellastone is a village in the East Staffordshire borough of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands of England. It is on the Staffordshire side of the River Dove and is directly opposite the village of Norbury in Derbyshire. It is between Uttoxeter and Ashbourne.

St Mary and St Barlock's Church, Norbury is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England: 289  in Norbury, Derbyshire.

Norbury with Roston is a civil parish in west Derbyshire incorporating the villages of Norbury and Roston.

Norbury is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Rocester, on the B5033 road and the River Dove (which is the traditional border for Staffordshire). The hamlet has links with George Eliot's family, the Evans. George Eliot's father, Robert Evans, was born in Roston Common and sang in the choir at Norbury church, and most of George Eliot's paternal ancestors are buried there.The ecclesiastical parish of Norbury includes Norbury, Roston, the parochial chapel and manor of Snelston, the hamlets of Birchwood and Darley Moor, and formerly included the liberty of Stydd, now in Yeaveley.A Methodist chapel stood where Chapel Farm, by the Queen Adelaide Inn, is now. Dinah Morris (based on George Eliot's aunt, Elizabeth Evans) preached here. Eliot's father Robert was a carpenter at Norbury, and became a land agent here- he moved with his employer to Arbury, where Eliot was born to his second wife. Eliot's own connections with Norbury were slight- "As to my indebtedness to facts of locale- the details which I knew as facts and have made use of for my picture were gathered from such imperfect allusion and narrative as I heard from my father in his occasional talk about old times." The carpenter's shop at Norbury was associated with the smell of pinewood and the scent of elderflower; Eliot said to Oscar Browning that the elder tree growing at the door of the workshop was an early recollection closely connected with the poetry of her life.The graveyard contains the graves of Thias and Lisbeth Bede.

Norbury and Ellaston railway station was on a branch of the North Staffordshire Railway between Rocester and Ashbourne. The station, which had a waiting room, ticket office, and stationmaster's office, and two side platforms, opened at Norbury, Derbyshire in 1852.In 1899 the line was joined with the Ashbourne Line built by the London and North Western Railway from Buxton. Regular passenger services ended in 1954, freight finished in 1956. Occasional excursion trains and specials continued to use the station until it was officially closed in 1958. The line closed in 1963 and the track lifted.

Wootton is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. The village is situated approximately 20 miles (30 km) east from Stoke-on-Trent and 20 miles (30 km) northwest from Derby.

Norbury Manor is a 15th-century Elizabethan manor house and the adjoining 13th-century stone-built medieval hall house, Norbury Hall, known as The Old Manor in Norbury near Ashbourne, Derbyshire. It is a Grade I listed building.The manor was owned by the FitzHerbert family from the 12th century, granted to William Fitz-Herbert in fee-farm by the Tutbury Priory in 1125. In 1444, Nicholas FitzHerbert and his son Ralph gave their land in Osmaston, along with other lands in Foston and Church Broughton, to the priory to purchase the manor.The manor house built by William FitzHerbert in the mid-14th century, The Old Manor, is remarkably well preserved. It is a medieval hall house, and is noted for its historic architectural features including a rare king post, medieval fireplace, a Tudor door and some 17th-century Flemish glass. The adjoining Tudor house was built by Ralph FitzHerbert in the mid-15th century and rebuilt in about 1680, but retains many of the original features. The accompanying gardens include a parterre herb garden. The Hall was badly damaged by Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War and after the death of Sir John FitzHerbert in 1649 was in a ruinous state and fell into disuse. On the death of John FitzHerbert in 1649, the estate passed to his cousin William FitzHerbert of Swynnerton Hall, Staffordshire, who rebuilt the Tudor portion of the property in about 1680. The Fitzherberts sold the estate in 1881.Norbury Hall has been owned by the National Trust since 1987 and is currently used as holiday accommodation, having previously been let to tenants. The Old Manor, however, is open to the public on Friday mornings and Saturday afternoons during the summer.Junior branches of the FitzHerbert family had seats at Tissington Hall and Somersal Herbert Hall.