The lordship descended from the Caverswells, who enjoyed it until the nineteenth of Edward III., when by the heir-general it passed to the Montgomerys, and subsequently to the Giffards, the Ports, the family of Hastings, Earls of Huntingdon, who were owners of it in the seventeenth century; and, by purchase, to Matthew Cradock, Esq., whose father, we are told in a celebrated letter of Sir Simon Degge’s, was a wool-buyer at Stafford. In the reign of James I., this latter proprietor, it is said, employed the skill of the celebrated Inigo Jones to erect the present castellated mansion. The site of this solemn fortress-like structure, enriched by the dark-grey tints of age, is the rock which gave foundation to Sir William de Caverswell’s Castle. The grit-stone of which it is built has been excavated from the moat that surrounds the whole; the same being the case no doubt with the materials of the earlier building, for the circumstance, as we shall see, is alluded to in the Latin lines on the founder’s tomb. The Castle is placed upon an elevated quadrangular platform, which is defended by a curtain running along each side, having a number of graduated buttresses rising from the moat, and by an octagonal turret, with its base dipping in the fosse, at each angle. The pointed arched gateway, approached by a stone bridge, is flanked by an additional turret on each side, like the others, balustraded at the top. This balustrade formerly was carried round the top of the Castle also. Its removal in recent times has been injurious to picturesque effect; hence the artist has retained this proper mark of style in our lithotint. The quadrangle of the Castle is laid out in gravelled walks, shaded by fine hedges of hornbeam, and a beautiful flower-garden, exhibiting many of the gems of Flora’s chaplet, and some remarkably fine specimens of Cotoneaster trained along the walls. The building itself is chiefly interesting as presenting the ideal of the great architect of the transition from the ancient castle to the baronial mansion. The keep may be said to be still retained in the lofty square tower, which overtops the building at its western end. Two great bays ascend, one on each side, to the top of the building, which break the plainness of the front, and afford additional light to the apartments. The numerous windows are all large, divided by deep mullions; and in a winter’s evening, when most of the rooms are occupied, a distant spectator might conceive there was an illumination in the Castle. The rooms are plain, and afford nothing worthy of particular note. The square tower is chiefly occupied by staircases. The turrets have been converted into apartments of residence. Whilst around the whole, flow the dark yet clear waters of the moat, which expands on the western side into a small lake. This moat is supplied by a number of springs and a limpid rill that runs into it. Its outer margin receives the shade of some fine limes.