KEELE, is a village and parish, 21/2 miles W. by S. of Newcastle-under-Lyme, containing 1194 inhabitants, and about 2700 acres of land, most of which belongs to Ralph Sneyd, Es., the lord of the manor, who has here extensive coal and iron works, and resides at Keele Hall, a large stone mansion, pleasantly seated half a mile S.E. of the village, on an eminence, overlooking a narrow, romantic, and well-wooded valley. This house has been the residence of the principal branch of the Sneyd family more than two centuries; and during the civil wars, Colonel Ralph Sneyd had a small garrison here for the King. It was erected in 1581, but has since undergone many alterations. The late Walter Sneyd, Esq., erected a handsome new west front, which is embattled, and adorned with four octagon turrets. The lawn and pleasure grounds are embellished with flourishing groves and plantations, and on an eminence stands a neat summer-house, called the Pavilion, which commands extensive views of the surrounding country. The late Walter Sneyd, Esq., was many years Lieut. Col. of the King’s Own, or Staffordshire Militia, a distinction which the regiment acquired under his command, whilst stationed at Windsor, where it remained as a kind of body guard for upwards of 14 years, and where Colonel Sneyd received many marks of Royal favour, his Majesty condescending to become sponsor for one of his children. Keele CHURCH (St. Michael,) stands on a lofty summit at the east end of the village, and was rebuilt in 1790. It is an oblong structure, with an embattled parapet and tower, and is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. R.Sneyd, Esq., is impropriator of the tithes and patron of the perpetual curacy, which was valued in 1831 at £171, and has been augmented by subscriptions and Queen Anne’s Bounty. The Rev. Henry Sudcliffe is the incumbent. Keele parish is in the Union of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and has PETTY SESSIONS, once a month, at the Sneyd’s Arms. Mr. Francis Stanier, of Newcastle, is clerk to the magistrates. 

SILVERDALE is a scattered village and district, on the north side of the parish, two miles W. of Newcastle, where Sneyd and Stanier’s, or the Silverdale Company’s coal and iron works are situated, and where there is also a silk mill. There is a branch canal to Silverdale, and a railway is to be extended to it from Stoke. FINNEY GREEN is a hamlet on the south side of the parish, 1Y2 miles S.W. of Keele. 

BEN EFACTIONS — Ralph Sneyd, Esq., pays £5. 14s yearly, to be distributed among the poor on St Thomas’s day; and £5 to a school for the education of 12 poor girls. These payments are made as the interest of £255, of which £100 was left by Mrs. Sneyd in 1698, £100 by Mrs. Ann Giles, and the remainder by six other donors. The following yearly sums are distributed in bread, viz., 4s on Good Friday, from Abnet’s charity (see Audley;) 20s. on the nearest Sunday to Feb. 19, out of an estate at Dimsdale, left by Madame Brett; and 20s. on New- Year’s day, left by Samuel Whitehurst, “as long as the Nabbs’ estate should be free from a parish apprentice.” 

Those marked 2 reside at Bank top, 3 Finney green, 4 Honeywall, 7 Silverdale, and the others in Keele. 

Barrow, William, coal agent 
7 Bostock Jas. & Cheadle Ts., agents 
Collier Wm., wheelwgt, & Ann, shopr 
Copper James, butcher 
Cooper Jph., tailor and parish clerk 
7 Goodall Philip, high constable and 
clerk to commissioners of taxes for 
Pirehill N. Division, and tanner 
7 Griffiths Wm., clk, Silverdale Wks 
Holland Charles, grocer, &c. 
Kent John, victualler, Bush 
Lawton Edwin, builder 
Muffin John, joiner, &c 
Mountford Adam, maltster and 
victualler, Sneyd’s Arms 
Foyer Thos, tailor, Post office 
Salt Isaac, blacksmith 
Silverdale Co., (Sneyd and Stanier,) 

coal and iron masters & founders, 
Silverdale Works 
7 Sneyd Ralph, Esq., coal and iron master 
and brick and tile mfr., (Silverdale Co.); 
h Keele Hall 
7 Stanier Jph., manager, Brick yard 
Stevenson George, shoemaker 
Sudcliffe Rev. Hy., B.A., incumbent 
7 Thompson Andrew, agent 
7 Walter Geo. Wood & Walker Wm. 
Henry, silk throwsters 

FARMERS 
4 Alcock John 
7 Goodall Philip 
2 Hancock John 
Kent John 
Mountford Adam 
Key Richard 
Peake Thomas, Westfields 
3 Pryme Jesse 
Young James 

POST OFFICE at Thomas Pover’s. 
Foot-post to Newcastle 6 ½  evening.