Dunston, Staffordshire

Dunston is a small village in England lying on the west side of the A449 trunk road about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Stafford, close to Junction 13 of the M6 motorway.

The lordship passed through their hands for several generations, uninterrupted even by the Black Death, until John Pickstock granted most of his lands to members of the Derrington family in 1437.

A considerable part passed by inheritance to Greville Verney, 7th Baron Willoughby de Broke in 1634 and stayed with his descendants until the 20th century.

This land ultimately passed in the late 16th century into the hands of John Cowper, who sold it to the Ansons in 1607, including a house called the Hall of Dunston.

[6] In the Middle Ages, Dunston was subject ecclesiastically to the large and important Collegiate Church of St. Michael at Penkridge, a royal peculiar whose dean was from 1215 the Archbishop of Dublin.

[8] The village church has been dedicated to Leonard of Noblac, a saint concerned with the liberation of prisoners, since at least the 15th century, as Richard Talbot, the dean and archbishop, confirmed this dedication in 1445 whilst declaring a hundred-day indulgence for all who would visit it and make a contribution to it[9] The prebendaries of Dunston were responsible for the cure of souls in the village.

Prebendaries in royal chapels were generally absentees and paid vicars to do their work for them, but no vicarage was apparently established for Dunston – a situation that persisted long after the Reformation.

In 1548 the Penkridge college under the terms of the Chantries Act 1547, a crucial part of the Reformation legislation of Edward VI's reign.

It is a stone building in 14th century style and consists of nave, chancel, transepts, vestry, and a spired west tower.

This arrangement was then replaced in 1890 by a carillon of eight tubular bells, rung from a keyboard, donated by Mrs. Perry of Dunston Hall.

The building is of red brick, the original block, dating from 1866, has lancet windows with diagonal glazing bars.

[13] Dunston Hall, rebuilt on the site of an older house by Frederick C. Perry c.1870, is a large stuccoed mansion bearing his monogram.

Dunston House, lying on the east side of the A449 trunk road opposite the church, is a square late 18th century building of red brick.

The back wing has an early 19th-century extension and at the front a Georgian porch and a bay-windowed addition dating from the 20th century.