Notable Families
Over time, the ownership of the lands at Sandon has changed hands many times through inheritance, marriages and sales. A full list of all the patrons since 1066 can be found in the “First 1000 Years” eBook available on this website.
We have focused on the two families that have had the greatest visual impact on the church building: the Erdeswickes and the Earls of Harrowby, with mention of some of the many other patrons of significance.
The History Group at Sandon All Saints has created a document to celebrate 1000 years of the church being in existence. Click the button below to download the resource for free.
The Erdeswicke Family
The Erdeswicke family had a long association with All Saints, being the Lords of the Manor of Sandon from the 14th to 17th centuries. They had a major impact on the church building but also brought many interactions with the surrounding noble families. The most well-known is Sampson Erdeswicke, whose monument dominates the Chancel. See “Inside the Church” for more details.
The family originates from Cheshire, in the Parish of Minshull, where Erdeswick Hall was situated in Minshull Vernon. This housed the younger branch of the family of Minshull of Minshull Hall, who originated from the de Hulgreve family.
The family took on the name of Erdeswick and eventually moved to Sandon after acquiring the estate. As Lords of the Manor of Sandon, the Erdeswickes were patrons of the church from 1577 to 1635 and lived in an Elizabethan Manor House, with a moat, to the east of the church; the site now being a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The Harrowby Family
The Earls of Harrowby have had a long association with the Church, being its patron and carrying out many changes to the interior.
George Digby bought out Richard Erdeswicke’s share of the estate in 1624. It passed through inheritance and marriage to Lord Archibald Hamilton, who sold the estate to the first Baron Harrowby in 1776.
A summary of the lives of the 7 Earls of Harrowby in government and the political and commercial life of the country can be found in “A History of Sandon” by Robert Selby, copies of which are available in the church. This includes an “Extract from the Autobiography of Dudley, 1st Earl of Harrowby” by kind permission of the Trustees of the Harrowby Manuscript Trust. The extract describes the state of the fields and countryside before then Earl had them landscaped into the park which now forms the backdrop to the church.
Visit sandonhall.co.uk for the family history of this eminent family in Georgian and Victorian Britain.
Other Patrons of Note
Over the previous 1,000 years many families have been involved in developing both the Christian mission of All Saints and building itself. Changes over time have been impacted both by major events, like the Reformation, as well as catering to the ever-changing numbers in the congregation, and the family's wish for privacy in their worship.
Aelfgar, Earl of Mercia was overlord of the Sandon area before the Norman Conquest. It is believed there was a Saxon church on the site. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the estate belonged to The Earl of Chester who gave the lands to William de Malbanc. William, or his son, Hugh, founded the first stone church at Sandon, and gifted it to the new Combermere Abbey. This was conveyed in marriage via Baron Harrowby to Sir William Stafford of Sandon and then via family links to Sampson Erdeswicke, who researched his earlier family ties, illustrating these on the Chancel walls, his monument and family tombs.
Although never Lords of the Manor of Sandon, other patrons of note include Bassett of Bloreheath, Harcourt, Baron Grey, Venables, and Leigh.
Following this period the owners of the Sandon Estate were George Digby, The Dukes of Hamilton and, from 1776 until today, The Earls of Harrowby.
The Trubshaw and Ginders Families and the West Window
The families of Trubshaw and Ginders have had a visible effect on the church building over the centuries. The Trubshaws were architects and builders who have left their marks on the east gable of the south aisle, 1655, and the west gable of the Nave, 1839, both chiselled into the stonework. The west window of the Nave is dedicated to Jeremiah Ginders. However these families are related.
Thomas Trubshaw F.S.A
Thomas Trubshaw (born 6th April 1802 in Little Hayward, who died in 1842 in Little Hayward (Colwich)),
The family are likely to have come over with, or shortly after, the Norman Conquest in 1066, as the name from that time contains the prefix “de”. The full family history from 1155 to 1842 is contained in the Archive Section.
Edward Trubshaw worked as the architect and mason on the south aisle in 1655.
Thomas Trubshaw was the sixth generation descendent of Edward Trubshawe. He extended the west end of the Nave of Sandon Church in 1839, and supervised other works inside the church.
He also designed and built Salt church, (and Hilderstone, Great Haywood and Brereton Churches) and was a noted architect, builder and civil engineer in the area, designing many prestigious buildings and structures.
Jeremiah Ginders (b 12th Jan 1777, d. 27th Dec 1845)
Thomas Trubshaw married the daughter of Jeremiah Ginders, who wrote in his Diary of 1843 “ the Bishop of Herefordshire consecrated Salt Church in the absence of our Bishop, due to his ill health”, a remark relating to his son-in law’s work at Salt and illustrating the close connection of the two families in this local area.
Jeremiah Ginders was employed as Land Agent for the Earl of Shrewsbury and retired to run the Sandon flint mill.
The great-great grandson of Jeremiah Ginders was Sir Benjamin Britten, the noted composer.
The full family history is contained in the Archives Section.
The West Window
Jeremiah Ginders is memorialised in the west window of the Nave, which was dedicated to him in 1845. The window was manufactured by William Wailes, a Newcastle-on-Tyne manufacturer of stained-glass windows of the period; see his motif in the bottom left-hand corner. Wailes worked with Augustus Pugin on many stained-glass windows and the West window appears to be influenced by the style of Pugin. The window is not listed in Pugin’s works. Pugin and Wailes’s partnership ceased about this time.
Jeremiah Ginders was the Land Agent for the Earl of Shrewsbury at the time that Pugin was commissioned to produce windows in the area. These included
St James the Less Church, Fradswell
St. Editha’s Church. Tamworth
He also worked for the Earl of Harrowby and died in Sandon.
Jeremiah’s son, Samuel, followed his father as Land agent for the Earl of Shrewsbury and research may show that he paid for the west window in Sandon church as a memorial to his father.
With all these connections to Pugin and Wailes, it is possible that the west window in All Saints, Sandon, is a Pugin design. This requires further research.
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