ALTON MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The registry record's Alton, Staffordshire location and the alternative name Alveton match the documented medieval and early-modern manor of Alveton/Alton. The associated archival material includes a 1656 Survey of Alveton manor, a 1706 boundary record, and an eighteenth-century Alton map. Historical sources identify Alton as the caput or principal centre of the Verdun barony and later Shrewsbury estate, distinguishing it from the unrelated Alton Manor in Derbyshire.
Representative point: 52.9794, -1.8934
Basis: documented_estate_centre — Alton Castle was the medieval principal residence and manorial centre of Alveton/Alton. Historic England locates the castle at OS grid reference SK 07285 42448, corresponding to approximately 52.9794, -1.8934 WGS84.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: 1706, with related territorial evidence from the 1656 survey and 1750 map
Boundary confidence: medium
Boundary basis: A dedicated 1706 'Boundary of Alton Manor' record and a 1750 Alton map are catalogued in the Arundel Castle archive, while the 1656 survey lists manor holdings and constituent places including Over Colton, Lower Colton, Farley, Whiston, Lees, Eaves, Staunton, Alveton, Bradley and Denstone. The available web evidence confirms that a historical manor boundary was documented, but does not expose the boundary map or sufficient parcel-level coordinates to reconstruct a defensible polygon. The modern parish or estate boundary has therefore not been substituted.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Alton Manor record F256009: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F256009 — Registry record for Alton Manor, Staffordshire, authority/reference GB/NNAF/M274050.
- FW Steer Catalogue, Arundel Castle Archives: https://www.arundelcastle.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Steer-complete.pdf — Catalogues the 1706 'Boundary of Alton Manor', the c.1750 Alton map, and related Alton surveys and plans.
- Survey of Alveton manor, Staffordshire, MSP 43: https://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=ark%2F32150_s1w37636792.xml — Describes the 1656 survey as detailing tenants, rents and individual holdings in Over Colton, Lower Colton, Farley, Whiston, Lees, Eaves, Staunton, Alveton, Bradley and Denstone.
- Staffordshire Past Track: Alton: https://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/details.aspx?ExhibitionID=23130&PageIndex=1&ResourceID=23130&SearchType=2&ThemeID=750 — Identifies Alton as historically Alveton, records the manor's descent from the Verduns to the Furnivalls, Nevills and Talbots, and places the historic castle and estate at Alton.
- Historic England: Alton Castle, Scheduled Monument 1013227: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1013227 — Provides the authoritative location of Alton Castle at OS grid reference SK 07285 42448, the defensible representative point for the medieval manorial centre.
- Staffordshire Record Society: medieval jurisdiction of Alveton: https://www.staffordshirecountystudies.uk/WSAS%201885%20Part%201%20Sample.pdf — Records Bradley and Kingsley as members of the manor of Alveton, supporting the distinction between the manor's territorial extent and the settlement alone.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No defensible manor-wide polygon could be extracted from the accessible web evidence. The 1706 boundary document and 1750 map require direct examination of the archival originals or high-resolution copies.
- The representative point marks the historic Alton Castle/manorial centre, not the centre of the modern civil parish, Alton Towers estate or conservation area.
- The medieval manor included associated members and holdings beyond the immediate village; the precise composition changed over time and should not be represented by the modern parish boundary.