In the reign of Heory I. Staffordshire was ravaged by Robert de Belesme, who supported the claim of Robert of Normandy to the crown. In the reign of Edward II. the eerie of Lancaster and Here ford, then in insurrection, were defeated by the king at Burton-upon Trout. In the War of the Roses, the Yorkist Earl of Salisbury marching from the north towards London (1459) with 5000 men, was intercepted at Blore Heath, on the western side of the county, between Drayton (Salop) and Eccleshall, by 10,000 Lancastrians under Lord Audley. The good generalship of Salisbury secured the victory. Lord Audley was killed, with all his chief officers and a fourth part of his army. A stone pedestal, surmounted by an ancient wooden cross, marks the field of battle. Richard III. was with his army at Tamworth just before the battle of Bosworth Field.
The principal monuments of the middle ages are ecclesiastical. Lichfield Cathedral is the moat important. At Croxden, about 5 miles S.E. from Cheadle, are remains of an abbey, founded in 1176 for Cis tercian monks. The architecture is generally early English in style. The principal entrance and the west-end of the abbey are in good preservation.
Mary, queen of Scots, was imprisoned for some time, under the care of the Earl of Shrewsbury, at Tutbury Castle; also at Chartley. Holbeach House, where most of the Powder-Plot conspirators were taken or killed, is in Staffordshire, between Wolverhampton and Stourbridge.
In the great civil war the county generally embraced the side of the parliament, though several families sided with the Royalist party. Some Royalists, under the Earl of Chesterfield, garrisoned Lichfield Cathedral and close; but it was taken by the Parliamentarians, though with the loos of their general, Lord Brook, in March 1643. This post was retaken about a month after by Prince Rupert, who also took Burton : in the interval the Parliamentarians, under Sir William Brereton and Sir John Gell, bad a severe but indecisive battle with the Royalists at 'lepton Heath, near Stafford. The Parliamentarians occupied the towns of Stafford and Wolverhampton, and enbsequently took Eccleshall Castle, and took and demolished Stafford Castle : they also besieged Tutbury Castle, but without success. Their horse had
the advantage in a skirmish near Leek, which was one of their posts; and in the latter part of 1643 they gained the victory in two skir mishes with Colonel Hastings, the Royalist commander, in this county. In 1645 the king with his army marched through Staffordshire before the battle of Nascby, and was in it again after the battle. After the battle of Worcester (1651) Charles II. was at Boscobel House, in this county. In the rebellion of 1745 the Pretender's army was at Leek, while that of the Duke of Cumberland occupied Stone.
Religious ll'orahip and Education.—According to the Returns of the Census In 1851 there were then in the county 863 places of worship, of which 377 belonged to five sections of Methodists, 817 to the Church of England, 63 to Independents, 35 to Baptiste, 34 to Roman Catholics, 6 to Quakers, 6 to Unitarians, 5 to Plymouth Brethren, 5 to Mormons, and 4 to Presbyterians. The total number of sittings provided was 258,988. The number of day schools in the county was 1318, of which 440 were public schools, with 94,489 scholars, and 878 were private schools, with 21,698 scholars. Of Sunday schools there were 643, with 93,572 scholars. There were 29 literary and scientific institutions, with 3614 members, and upwards of 43,000 volumes in the libraries belonging to them.
Inthutry and Manufactures.—The southern part of Staffordshire is distinguished for its manufacturing industry in the production of iron and hardware (of which iron is the material); the north-west part of the county produces earthenware from the potteries in such quantity and excellence as to have gained the distinctive appellation of 'Staf fordshire ware.' Both these manufactures are of comparatively modern data.
&rings Banka—In 1853 the county possessed 23 savings banks, at Brcwood, Burton-on-Trent, Cheadle, Eccleshall, Kingswinford, Leek, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, l'enkridge, Pirehill Meaford, Rageley, Shelton, Shenston, Stafford, Tamworth, Trentham, Tunatall, Uttoxeter, Walsall, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, and Yoxall and Barton. The amount owing to depository, on November 20th, 1853, in 21 of these banks, for which returns were received, was 575,962/. 16s. 2d.