7th March 1959 SN
AROUND OUR VILLAGES by TERENCE KIRTLAND
Sandon Moved Half A Mile Down The Road
NOW THEY HAVE THE LONG TREK TO CHURCH
There can be few villages in the county that have ever changed their geographical position, but in the case of Sandon, this actually happened. At the beginning of the 18th century, when the parkland surrounding Sandon Hall was enclosed, the cottages near to the church were demolished and rebuilt at a site half a mile away, where the present village is situated.
Except for an adjoining Vicarage, the church now stands alone in the quiet Sandon parkland and it is necessary for the local people to make a long trek up a winding lane cut deep into the hillside to attend services.
They are rewarded with a splendid view of the surrounding countryside, with fields appearing like a patchwork quilt and the neighbouring village of Salt partially hidden amid trees.
Founded in 1100, the church has stood the test of time, but being erected in an exposed position has a somewhat weathered appearance. A closer inspection reveals that All Saints’ Church, Sandon, was built on a foundation of grey rock and the very stones with which it was constructed, and even the gravestones, are of the same colour and texture.
In the churchyard can be seen the base and broken shaft of what is presumed to be an early preaching cross. It is surmounted by a sundial, but has no finger.
The church tower is 15th century and contains a window, which has been filled in. Of the other windows, several contain delicate tracery and there is one tall, oblong window, leaded with diamond panes.
Immaculate Church
Carefully restored, the interior of the church is immaculate. The south aisle is a lady chapel and is believed to be the original church. Both the nave and north chapel are about 600 years old.
Sermons are preached from a Jacobean pulpit, which has a carved wood canopy. There are two fonts. One is 17th century and the other, a Norman font (now disused) was hidden during the Civil War and at a later date was rediscovered after having been buried for a considerable time in the churchyard.
MEMORIALS
Within the church are memorials to nearly all the lords who lived at Sandon and there is an impressive collection of monuments and hatchments, dating as far back as the Erdeswicke family, who were descendants of the Normans. The park still contains a circular moat, which guarded their homestead from foes, but all traces of that old feudal manor have long since disappeared. Wild fowl have now made their home on this forgotten backwater.
But the tombs of the Erdeswicke family are still preserved within the chancel of Sandon church. There is a recumbent figure of Hugh Erdeswicke wearing armour, with his wife beside him. Their son and his wife, too, lie nearby.
FAMILY TREE
There is a large memorial to Sampson Erdeswicke, who had built his own tomb and monument and was also responsible for the painting of the chancel walls with a genealogical tree of his family with their shields. This work, painted in 1603, can still be viewed, as can a false window, which he had painted on the wall to match its adjoining neighbour.
Sandon Hall
The first Sandon Hall was destroyed after a disastrous fire. A second hall –the present building—was erected in 1854.
According to White’s Directory of Staffordshire for 1834, it was in 1824 that the then Earl of Harrowby had built two Lent schools near the east end of the village, where “60 boys and as many girls, were educated on the Madras system, the Earl paying 2s. 3d. and their parents 1s. 3d. per quarter, towards the education of the local children.”
It is recorded that on September 29th, 1893, the Earl of Harrowby, the Rev. W.E. Coldwell and Mr. W.H. Yarde, H.M.I. were present in the school when it was settled to build a large classroom from the boys’ room with a moveable partition so that the whole could be used if necessary.
The present school, known as the Dudley Ryder Primary School, remains the same as from this date, but soon a new school may be built at Sandon.
The village to-day, is, of course, closely linked with the extensive park and hall which it serves. The entrance to the park is situated close by the village green and is marked by a pair of ornate wrought iron gates, surmounted by the family crest. At either side are two lodges, both of a distinctive design, and between them passes a private road leading through the estate to the Hall itself. Fixed iron grills set into the carriageway, prevent the cattle from leaving the park.
Monuments
There are several interesting monuments in Sandon Park, the most prominent being a 75 foot column of grey local stone, which just shows its tip above the trees. This is Pitt’s Column and was built in 1806. Copied from the celebrated Trajan’s Pillar at Rome, and about one-third the size of that famous column, it perpetuates the memory of the Rt. Hon. William Pitt by his Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the first Earl of Harrowby.
Another monument to a Premier is a Gothich shrine to Spencer Perceval. A plaque tells visitors “that this seat as erected by Dudley, 1st Earl of Harrowby in memory of his esteemed friend, the Rt. Hon. Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of England, who met his death at the hands of an assassin in the lobby of the House of Commons, April 1812”. It adds: “He was beloved by his friends, trusted by his King and country, and supported in death by that Christian faith, which had been the guide of his life”.
Nearby is the summit of a tower, which once graced Trentham Hall, the work of Sir Charles Barry, who built the Houses of Parliament. It was brought to Sandon when Trentham Hall was demolished.
CREST
The impressive Harrowby crest appears on several buildings in the village and even on the railway bridge on the road to Stafford. Sandon railway station, closed shorty after the war, is naturally more imposing than most similar country stations, and incorporates a portico to shelter the Lord and his Lady from weather when they travelled by iron horse.
The crest can also be seen in church on the family pew, which was erected as recently as 1929, in the position of an old rood screen.
Village Club
Although Sandon is not a large village, it enjoys its select surroundings, and even boasts a village club which was opened by the Earl for the benefit of local residents in 1905. It was in 1955 that the late Earl Harrowby unveiled an electric clock on the front wall of the club to commemorate its 50th jubilee.
Sandon Parish Room was erected in 1902 as a memorial to the third Earl of Harrowby by “tenants and friends”.
With the passing of the fifth Earl and Lady Harrowby in March, 1956, Sandon has been without its Lord and Lady and the hall is partially closed.
Preparations are now going ahead, however, at the Hall to receive the sixth Earl and Countess of Harrowby, who are moving to Sandon, from their old home at Burnt North, Chipping Campden, in Gloucestershire, with a month.
Reach PLC. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD
