Tixall Gatehouse is a 16th-century gatehouse situated at

Tixall Tixall is a small village and civil parish in the Stafford district, 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. The populat ...

, near Stafford, Staffordshire and is all that remains of Tixall Hall which was demolished in 1927. The gatehouse is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Tixall was used as a prison for

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

for two weeks in 1586.

History

The manor of Tixall was held for many years by the Littleton family until 1507 when the Littleton heiress married Sir John Aston. The medieval manor house was replaced by Sir Edward Aston,

High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ass ...

, in about 1555 and the Gatehouse was added in about 1580. The Gatehouse is a three-story rectangular structure, the

balustraded A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

facade of which is decorated with three orders of twinned columns. There are four octagonal corner turrets topped with

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall 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. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

s and weather vanes. Tixall Hall and Gatehouse (1686)

The Astons were later raised to the baronetage and to the peerage, with the title

Lord Aston of Forfar Lord Aston of Forfar was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The barony was created on 28 November 1627 for Sir Walter Aston, Bt, who had been previously created Baronet of Tixall Hall, Staffordshire (in the Baronetage of England) on 22 May 1 ...

. Walter Aston, 2nd Lord Aston of Forfar became a recusant Catholic. After his death it was alleged, as part of the bogus accusations in the Popish Plot, that he received

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

at Tixall, and in August and September 1677 held meetings at Tixall attended by

William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford, FRS (30 November 1614 – 29 December 1680) was the youngest son of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and his wife, the former Alethea Talbot. A Fellow of the Royal Society from 1665, he was a Royalist ...

and Aston's steward Stephen Dugdale where the assassination of Charles II was plotted. Amidst the Popish Plot allegations, one contemporary witness, William Skelton, described finding Dugdale and Stafford talking alone together in the Little Parlour and the Great Parlour (a dining-room next to Aston's chamber) at Tixall in September 1678. A letter from Stafford mentioning a plot was allegedly found in Aston's study. On the death of the sixth Lord Aston the estate passed to his sister, who had married Thomas Clifford (see

Clifford-Constable baronets The Clifford-Constable Baronetcy, of Tixall in the County of Staffordshire was given to Thomas Hugh Clifford-Constable, originally Thomas Hugh Constable Clifford. The title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom was created on 22 May 1815 and a ...

). Clifford replaced the old house with a new mansion in about 1780 but retained the Tudor Gatehouse. Several local families were descended from the Astons, including the

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, no ...

s of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

(and later of Wychnor Park). The Cliffords sold the Tixall estate to

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 (died 1518), third son of John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury. His great-great-great- ...

of nearby

Ingestre Hall Ingestre Hall is a Grade II* 17th-century Jacobean mansion situated at Ingestre, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England. Formerly the seat of the Earls Talbot and then the Earls of Shrewsbury, the hall is now owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Bor ...

in about 1835 and thereafter the property was let out to tenants. The Hall itself 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 The Landmark Trust is a British architectural conservation, building conservation charitable organization, charity, founded in 1965 by John Smith (Conservative politician), Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or ...

bought the Gatehouse which, following restoration, is now available for holiday lets.

Mary, Queen of Scots at Tixall

was imprisoned here for two weeks in 1586. Her jailer

Amias Paulet Sir Amias Paulet (1532 – 26 September 1588) of Hinton St. George, Somerset, was an English diplomat, Governor of Jersey, and the gaoler for a period of Mary, Queen of Scots. Origins He was the son of Sir Hugh Paulet of Hinton St Geo ...

had gone to assess the hall in September 1585 as a more permanent residence. Paulet thought the house was suitable but argued it would be a pity to make Sir Walter Aston and his household of 100 persons move out, as his high standing and religion was good for the region. Aston argued that the move would disturb his farming and he would be forced to sell his sixty cattle and his plough oxen. On 11 August 1586, the English authorities decided to act on the

Babington plot The Babington Plot was a plan in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, her Catholic cousin, on the English throne. It led to Mary's execution, a result of a letter sent by Mary (who had been imp ...

. Mary was out riding from Chartley with

Bastian Pagez Bastian Pagez was a French servant and musician at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. He devised part of the entertainment at the baptism of Prince James at Stirling Castle in 1566. When Mary was exiled in England, Bastian and his family continu ...

, her doctor Dominique Bourgoing and others, and they were surprised by armed soldiers who took them to Tixall in order to search Mary's rooms at Chartley and seize her papers.

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...

sent an order to Paulet from

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

on 25 September 1586 not to take Mary back to Chartley and keep her at Tixall as

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

planned for Mary to go to

Fotheringhay Castle Fotheringhay Castle, also known as ''Fotheringay Castle'', was a High Middle Age Norman Motte-and-bailey castle in the village of Fotheringhay to the north of the market town of Oundle, Northamptonshire, England (). It was probably founde ...

. Paulet had taken Mary back to Chartley, however, before the new orders. As she left Tixall with Paulet and Walter Aston, Mary wept and said to some poor people at Tixall's gate, ''"I have nothing for you, I am a beggar as well as you, all is taken from me."''''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 8 (1914), pp 628, 632.

Notes

References

''Staffordshire Historical Collections, Volume 4'' (1883) pp 20-25 from British History Online

External links

Digital visualisation of a demolished Tixall bay window, De Montfort University
{{coord, 52.8041, -2.0324, type:landmark_region:GB-STS, display=title Grade I listed buildings in Staffordshire Landmark Trust properties in England British country houses destroyed in the 20th century Gatehouses (architecture)

History

Mary, Queen of Scots at Tixall

See also

Notes

References

External links