Tixall Gatehouse
Encyclopedia
Tixall
Tixall is a small village and former civil parish in the English county of Staffordshire lying on the western side of the Trent valley between Rugeley and Stone, Staffordshire and roughly 4 miles east of Stafford...
, near Stafford
Stafford
Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
and is all that remains of Tixall Hall. It is a Grade I listed building.
The manor of Tixall was held for many years by the Littleton family
Littleton Baronets
Two Baronetcies have been created in the Baronetage of England for members of the Littleton family.The Littleton family had their origins in South Lyttleton, near Evesham, Worcestershire. Thomas de Littleton was appointed a judge at the Court of Common Pleas in 1464 and was created a Knight of the...
until 1507 when the Littleton heiress married Sir John Aston. The medieval manor house was replaced by Sir Edward Aston, High Sheriff of Staffordshire
High Sheriff of Staffordshire
This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Staffordshire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...
, in about 1555 and the Gatehouse was added in about 1580.
The Gatehouse is a three-storey rectangular structure, the balustraded
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
facade of which is decorated with three orders of twinned columns. There are four octagonal corner turrets topped with cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
s and weather vanes.
The Astons were later raised to the baronetage
Aston Baronets
There have been two Baronetcies created in the Baronetage of England for people with the surname Aston. Both are extinct.The Aston Baronetcy, of Tixall in the County of Staffordshire was created on 22 May 1611 for Walter Aston of Tixall Hall...
and to the peerage
Lord Aston of Forfar
Lord Aston of Forfar was a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 28 November 1627 for Sir Walter Aston, Bt, who had been a baronet of Tixall Hall, Staffordshire on 22 May 1611...
. On the death of the sixth Lord Aston the estate passed to his sister, who had married Thomas Clifford (see Clifford-Constable Baronets
Clifford-Constable Baronets
The Clifford-Constable Baronetcy, of Tixall in the County of Staffordshire was given to Thomas Hugh Clifford-Constable in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. . His father Thomas Clifford who married Barbara Aston of Tixall Hall was a brother of the 4th Baron Clifford of Chudleigh. He changed...
). Clifford replaced the old house with a new mansion in about 1780 but retained the old Gatehouse. Several local families were descended from the Astons, including the Levett
Levett
Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...
s of Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
(and later of Wychnor Park
Wychnor Hall
Wychnor Hall is an early 18th century country house near Burton on Trent, Staffordshire. Formerly owned by the Levett family, descendants of Theophilus Levett, Steward of the city of Lichfield in the early eighteenth century, the hall has been converted to a Country Club. It is a Grade II listed...
).
The Cliffords sold the Tixall estate to Earl Talbot
Earl Talbot
Earl Talbot is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. This branch of the Talbot family descends from the Hon. Sir Gilbert Talbot , third son of John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury. His great-great-great-grandson the Right Reverend William Talbot was Bishop of Oxford,...
of nearby Ingestre Hall
Ingestre Hall
Ingestre Hall is a 17th century Jacobean mansion situated at Ingestre, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England, which is now in use as a Residential Arts and Conference Centre. It is a Grade II* listed building.Ingestre is mentioned in the Domesday Book...
in about 1835 and thereafter the property was let out to tenants.
The old Hall was demolished in 1927, leaving only the Gatehouse standing, and the estate was broken up when sold off piecemeal in 1960. In 1968 the Landmark Trust
Landmark Trust
The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then gives them a new life by making them available for holiday rental...
bought the Gatehouse which, following restoration, is now available for holiday lets.