Clifton Campville is a village, former manor and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the River Mease, about 10 mi east of the City of Lichfield, 6 mi west of Measham and 7 mi north of Tamworth. The village lies close to Staffordshire's borders with Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire. The parish, which includes Haunton village, had a population of 912 at the 2011 census. There is a fine gothic church, dedicated to St Andrew, and listed Grade I. The village pub, The Green Man, is also a historic building.

Etymology

The first part of the name is Old English clif tun, that is cliff farm; the family de Camvill held the land in the early 13th century. The name has also been recorded as Clistone.

Descent of the manor

There is some evidence of pre-Saxon, or even pre-historic settlement in the area. After the Norman Conquest of 1066 the manor was in the royal demesne. The manor of Clistone is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as having 33 villagers, a priest, 11 ploughs and 2 mills. One of the mills was possibly at Mill Farm.

de Camville

From 1200 it was held by the de Camville (or de Canville) family, at least until 1338, which originated probably at the Normandy manor of Canville-la-Rocque, in La Manche (not at Canville-les-Deux-Églises in the Pays de Caux). The arms of the de Camville family were: Azure, three lions passant argent. The descent in the de Camville family was as follows:

Stafford

Other

By 1700 it was in possession of the Coventry family, who sold it in that year to Sir Charles Pye, Baronet, whose descendant Henry John Pye owned the manor in 1851.

Governance

In 1848 the parish included both Haunton and Harlaston, and also Chilcote in Derbyshire. Clifton itself then had a population of 341, while the population of the whole parish was 921 on 6300 acre. The core parish of Clifton and Haunton covered around 3000 acre in 1851. It became part of Tamworth Poor Law Union in 1836; in 1866 Harlaston became a civil parish in its own right. In 1894 Clifton with Haunton became a civil parish within the newly constituted Tamworth Rural District. The civil parish became part of Lichfield Rural District during the boundary changes of 1934. In 1974 it became part of the new non-metropolitan district of Lichfield. The parish council meets jointly with Thorpe Constantine. Electorally the parish is part of the Mease and Tame ward of Lichfield District, and lies within the parliamentary constituency of Tamworth.

Landmarks

Clifton contains a number of listed buildings, including the Grade I listed Church of St Andrew, Clifton Hall, Manor Farm, the old Post Office and the village pub, the Green Man. There are also several historic buildings in Haunton.

Church of St Andrew

The parish church, dedicated to St Andrew, is a Grade I listed building. Though nothing remains of the building mentioned in Domesday, some parts of the south wall date back to the year 1200, with traces of 13th century wall paintings. The church was enlarged into the shape of a cross in the first half of the 13th century. It was enlarged again in the 14th century. The tower was built in the first half of the 14th century, with a spire, reaching to a height of about 210 feet (65 m), added at some time during the century. The interior includes 14th century screens carved from oak; the rood screen is from the 15th century, as is some stained glass in one of the north windows. The church was restored by George Edmund Street in the second half of the 19th century, and again by W. D. Caroe in the early 20th century. In 1984 the spire was struck by lightning, with much damage to the church. Repairs were completed in 1987. The adjoining cemetery also dates back to mediaeval days. The Church of England parish includes Haunton and Chilcote, and also Statfold. The Old Rectory is in origin a 15th-century building, though the history of the rectory can be traced further back, to the mid 14th century. The building was altered in 1694, and again in 1778, and restored in around 1980. It is listed Grade II.

Education

The village school is St Andrew's Church of England Controlled Primary School. In 2009 it had 63 pupils, and was rated as 'outstanding' by OFSTED.