All of the lands described in the survey are located in Staffordshire, England. Creswell is about 2 miles northwest of Stafford, while Blymill and Brineton are about 9 miles southwest of Stafford.

The survey lists about 350 fields by name, with the value and the acreage of each. It includes enclosed pasture land, arable land, and meadows; meadow doles; and arable land in named commons.

Although this survey consists only of a written description, the physical evidence suggests that it may formerly have been accompanied by a (folded?) map. The 2 gatherings were formerly sewn and may have been bound in a volume, such as an estate atlas. The outer margins of the blank back page of the 2nd gathering are dirty and discolored, marking the edges of a clean, slightly smaller rectangular patch that indicates lengthy proximity to a smaller or folded leaf, such as a map, not now present. A marked vertical center fold also indicates that the survey description must have been folded at some time for greater portability or more compact storage, whether bound (typical of the period would be a soft, foldable leather cover) or not.

Oliver Lord Fitzwilliam had inherited part ownership of the property from his first wife, Dorothy Brereton, who died without issue. He and a younger brother had married sisters, the daughters and heirs of Richard Brereton of Malpas, Cheshire (Burke 162, 214). Mrs. Mary Fitzwilliam may have been his sister-in-law or a relative who had inherited her interest. This survey must date between the creation of the title Earl of Tyrconnell in 1663 and his death in 1667. The surveyor has assigned it "A true survaigh. . . by me John Wilson." He may be the John Wilson also listed in Steer, Eden and Bendall (vol. 2, 561) as surveyor of an estate map in neighboring Warwickshire in 1682, although there are no maps accompanying this survey description.