Haunton is a village in 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...

, England. It lies on the River Mease

River Mease

The River Mease is a lowland clay river in the Midlands area of England. It flows through the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire and forms the administrative border between these counties for parts of its length....

, about 7 miles (11 km) north of Tamworth

Tamworth

Tamworth is a town and local government district in Staffordshire, England, located north-east of Birmingham city centre and north-west of London. The town takes its name from the River Tame, which flows through the town, as does the River Anker...

, 1½ miles east of Harlaston

Harlaston

Harlaston is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the River Mease, about north of Tamworth. There is an Early English church, dedicated to St Matthew, and a public house, the White Lion....

 and 1 mile west of Clifton Campville

Clifton Campville

Clifton Campville is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the River Mease, about east of the City of Lichfield, west of Measham and north of Tamworth. In 2001 the parish had a population of 764....

.

History

The name of the village is believed to be Old English, with the meaning Hagenas (or Hagonas) farm. The chapel of St James the Greater at Haunton is mentioned in Domesday, and Haunton was a chapelry

Chapelry

A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England, and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel which acted as a subsidiary place of worship to the main parish church...

 of the parish of St Andrew, Clifton Campville

Clifton Campville

Clifton Campville is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the River Mease, about east of the City of Lichfield, west of Measham and north of Tamworth. In 2001 the parish had a population of 764....

, until the reformation

English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....

. The chapel then fell into disrepair.

For local government

History of local government in England

The history of local government in England is one of gradual change and evolution since the Middle Ages. England has never possessed a formal written constitution, with the result that modern administration is based on precedent, and is derived from administrative powers granted to older systems,...

 purposes Haunton remained a township

Township (England)

In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...

 of Clifton, and is still in the civil parish of Clifton Campville.

In 1848 the population of Haunton is given as 197.

Landmarks

Haunton includes a number of listed buildings, for example, the Grange, the Church of St Michael and St James and the nursing home (formerly Haunton Hall).

Church and Convent

The more recent history of Haunton Hall is closely linked with the Church of St Michael and St James and a community of Roman Catholic nuns. Charles Edward Mousley inherited the hall in the 1840s, and by 1845 had provided a chapel at the hall dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and available for Catholic services. By 1885 a church dedicated to St Michael had replaced the chapel for services. This church had been built with the support of the Squire of Clifton Campville, Henry John Pye

Pye Baronets

There have been two Baronetcies created for persons with the surname of Pye. Both are extinct.The Baronetcy Pye of Leckhampstead was created on 27 April 1641 in the Baronetage of England, for Edmund Pye, who had purchased the Manor of Leckhampstead, Buckinghamshire in 1628. He was Member of...

, the son in law of the Anglican bishop Samuel Wilberforce

Samuel Wilberforce

Samuel Wilberforce was an English bishop in the Church of England, third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his time and place...

. Pye had once been the Anglican rector of Clifton parish, but had since converted to Catholicism. This early church was soon extended, reusing masonry from the by then ruined Chapel of St James the Greater, and received its current name, adding the former dedication to the new. In 1902 this church was replaced by a new one, designed by Edmund Kirby

Edmund Kirby

Edmund Kirby was an English architect. He was born in Liverpool, educated at Sedgeley Park School and Oscott College. He was articled to E. W. Pugin, then worked for Hardman & Co., and for John Douglas in Chester. By 1863 he was practising in Birkenhead and by 1866 his office was in Derby...

, with the support of the latest tenant of Haunton Hall, Lady Frances Mostyn, mother of the future archbishop Francis Mostyn

Francis Mostyn

Francis Edward Joseph Mostyn was a Welsh prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Cardiff from 1921 until his death.-Biography:...

. Built of stone, in a neo-gothic style, it has a small timber bell tower, and contains stained glass from the firm of John Hardman and Company

Hardman & Co.

Hardman & Co., otherwise John Hardman Trading Co., Ltd., founded 1838, began manufacturing stained glass in 1844 and became one of the world's leading manufacturers of stained glass and ecclesiastical fittings...

.

In 1904 a group of French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

nuns, the Sisters of St Joseph of Bordeaux, set up a convent in Haunton Hall. This later became the St. Joseph Convent School for Girls. In 1987 the school closed and the hall is now a nursing home, with the nuns moving to a new convent.