South Staffordshire

Towns & Villages

ABBOTS BROMLEY

This delightful small Staffordshire town has its own village green and butter cross and also boasts timber-framed buildings dating to the Elizabethan period. Even older, though, is the ancient Abbots Bromley horn dance, a pagan rite played out each year at nearby Blithfield Hall in which six local men wear reindeer’s antlers while another acts the fool. It is thought to be a Saxon celebration of the granting of rights to villagers to hunt in nearby Needwood Forest.

Cottages in Abbots Bromley - Photo: Geoff Pick CCL

ADMASTON

Blithfield reservoir, near Admaston - Photo: Angella Steluk CCL

ALREWAS

Tudor house in Alrewas - Photo: Chris Eaton CCL

A lovely old village with a rich history and a 12^th century church, Alrewas has a number of romantic-looking black and white thatched cottages, some dating from the 1400s. Across the River Tame is a 19^th th century bridge made from cast-iron.

BREWOOD

Locals pronounce Brewood as ‘Brude’. The old Roman road of Watling Street is a mile away. Go a little further and you will find Boscobel House where Charles II famously hid in a great oak tree (the ‘Royal Oak’) following his defeat at the Battle of Worcester. The house is a one-time hunting lodge and was built in the 1630s by John Gifford on the site of an earlier timber-framed farmhouse. As well as the king, it sheltered many fleeing Catholic priests. Brewood’s Anglican church dates to the 12^th century and has a peel of eight bells. Its Victorian Roman Catholic Church was built under the direction of Pugin.

Boscobel House - Photo: Pam Brophy CCL

BROWNHILLS

The Brownhills miner, sculpted by John McKenna - Photo: Frank Smith CCL

This old ‘new’ town only developed in the 18^th century and rapidly grew around the coal industry, which gave impetus for the arrival of the railway and a canal network. It was home to one of Britain’s first road signposts, or ‘fingerpost’.

BURTON-UPON-TRENT

An interesting town with pleasant riverside walks, Burton lies on the River Trent and was noted in the Middle Ages for its cloth making until an enterprising monk in the 13^th century discovered that its local water helped to produce excellent beer. It took 400 years and the arrival of the Trent and Mersey Canal before brewing began on an industrial scale, turning companies such as Bass and Marston into household names. Later the town became famous for another well-known brand, Marmite, a yeast-based byproduct of the brewing process.

Ferry Bridge, Burton-upon-Trent, designed by Lord Burton. Photo: Ralph Rawlinson CCL

CANNOCK

Fairoak Pool, Cannock Chase - Photo: Geoff Pick CCL

Although Cannock is an industrial town it has a remarkable piece of greenery on its doorstep - Cannock Chase, 28 square miles of forest and heath, which makes up Britain’s smallest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A herd of shy fallow deer has survived here for hundreds of years. The Chase was a royal hunting forest but Richard 1 sold it to the then Bishop of Lichfield to help him fund a crusade.

The Chase was used as a training ground for troops during the First War while the dead of both world wars are buried in German and Commonwealth cemeteries; the former has the remains of the first Zeppelin crew shot down over Britain. Nearby is the ancient hill fort of Castle Ring.
 

ECCLESHALL

One of the prettiest country market towns in this part of the world, Eccleshall lies in the valley of the River Sow and was mentioned in the 11^th century Domesday survey. Its restored castle has been transformed into a house and the area still clings to its historic heritage, boasting many more fine old buildings. During the 16^th century it was the seat for the Bishops of Lichfield. For hundreds of years it was noted for glass making. The tombs of five bishops can be found in the Holy Trinity church which dates to the early part of the 12^th century.

King's Hotel, Eccleshall - Photo: Richard Thomson CCL

GNOSALL

The Boat Inn, Gnosall - Photo: Andy and Hillary CCL

A large village on the Shropshire Union Canal, Gnosall was mentioned as far back as the Domesday Book. The imposing Church of St Lawrence was built by the Normans on the site of a Saxon church. Norman arches have survived beneath a pinnacled tower added in the 15^th century. Inside the building is the effigy of a knight. Coton Mill – now a house – is claimed to be the source of self-raising flour. Gnosall’s most famous son was the Puritan minister Rev. Adam Blackman who was born here in 1596 and went on to found the American town of Stratford Connecticut in the mid 17^th century.

GREAT HAYWOOD

Once a Saxon settlement, this historic village was the scene of a battle between the warring sides during the English Civil War. It lies on the banks of the River Trent which is spanned by a 14-arched bridge. It plays an important role in the canal network - the Trent and Mersey and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canals meet here. In 1916 ‘Lord of the Rings’ author J.R.R. Tolkein stayed at his wife’s cottage, Gipsy Green, while convalescing from trench fever and the locality provided ample inspiration for his early book ‘The Silmarillion’. The nearby village of Norbury is thought to relate to his ‘Norbury of the Rings’.

Essex Bridge - Photo: David Bagshaw CCL

HANBURY

Church of St. Werburgh - Photo: Michael Patterson CCL

This Staffordshire village has a remarkable claim to fame - the hilltop Church of St Werburgh possesses the oldest known alabaster tomb in England. Lying within is believed to be the knight John de Hanbury, who died in 1303.

LICHFIELD

Many important and famous people have been born in this wonderful medieval cathedral city, which also boasts Georgian houses, 16^th century cottages and fine timber-framed buildings. The 13^th century cathedral is dedicated to St Chad, Bishop of Mercia, and is made from blush-red sandstone. It is unusual in having three separate spires known as the ‘Ladies of the Vale’. The cathedral’s west front has over 100 statues while the 16^th century stained glass windows of its Lady Chapel are among the finest in the country. In the cathedral’s library can be found St Chad’s Gospels, a fabulous illustrated manuscript. The 17^th century Bishop’s Palace is contained within the cathedral close.

Among Lichfield’s most notable sons was the 18^th century lexicographer Samuel Johnson, who lived in Breadmarket Street until he left for London at the age of 27. His old house in a now a museum. A statue of the great man stands in Market Square near two others – one of his biographer James Boswell and one of Edward Wightman, the last man in England to have been burned at the stake for heresy (1612). Nearby is the Lichfield Heritage Centre, tracing the city’s 2,000-year-old history.

Lichfield Cathedral - Photo: George Mahoney CCL

Stowe pool, Lichfield - Photo: Angella Steluk CCL

The antiquarian Elias Ashmole (1617-92), whose vast wealth was behind the creation of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, was also born in the city, as were the famous Shakespearian actor David Garrick, the poet Anna Seward and the botanist and inventor Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles. Darwin, Josiah Wedgwood, Matthew Boulton and James Watt founded the Lunar Society, which met here on bright, moonlight nights. Darwin’s house is also a museum.

MILWICH

PENKRIDGE

This historic market town lies on the banks of the River Penk – hence its name – and has both stocks and old prison cells in in the town centre. The local church has a tower dating from the 14^th century.

Longford Lock, Penkridge - Photo: Jurek and Trish Sienkiewicz CCL

RANTON

RUGELEY

Rugeley Old Church Ruin - Photo: Geoff Pick CCL

A modest market town close to the wild beauty of Cannock Chase, Rugeley lies on the Trent and Mersey Canal and until the late 20^th century was an important centre for coal mining. In the 19^th century it hit the headlines when one of its citizens, the infamous surgeon William Palmer, was hanged for a poisoning spree.

SALT

Boasting one of the England’s oldest pubs, the thatched Holly Bush Inn, this sleepy old Saxon village stands on the banks of the River Trent and was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The building apparently dates to the 12^th century but was only the second pub to be officially licensed in the mid 17^th century. Nearby Hopton Heath witnessed one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. It was eventually won by the king’s men. A hill in neighbouring Milwich is named after Oliver Cromwell whose men camped there before the battle.

Trent and Mersey Canal near Salt - Photo: Stephen McKay CCL

STAFFORD

Stafford Town Centre - Photo: Val Vannet CCL

A vibrant market town on the banks of the River Sow, this county town was created by King Alfred’s daughter, Aethelfraed, in the Middle Ages. Much later it became a centre for shoe making. The remains of one of two old castles can still be seen and acts as a backdrop to many events, including Shakespearian plays. The top attraction here, though, is the Elizabethan High House, England’s largest timber-framed house, which somehow survived the ravages of the English Civil War. Both Charles 1 and Prince Rupert stayed here for a few tumultuous days in 1642. The house has now become a local museum. The remarkable Williams Salt Library, run by a charitable trust, is contained in an 18^th century house.

Close to Stafford is the beautiful mansion of Weston Park and its huge park landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown. The interior contains tapestries, paintings and furniture. Nearby Doxey Marshes is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Shugborough Hall - Photo: Mandy Moore CCL

STONE

Beacon at Stone Lock - Photo: Colin Smith CCL

A former canal and railway town, Stone has two famous sons – the admiral John Jervis, Earl St Vincent, who defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797, and the 18^th century watercolour painter Peter de Wint.

STRETTON

Sorry, no information is available.

Church of St. John, Stretton - Photo: Geoff Pick CCL

TAMWORTH

Tamworth Castle - Photo: Darren Cummins CCL

Once the home of the Reliant Robin – made famous by the antics of TV’s Del Boy – historic Tamworth lies on the banks of the River Tame and has a sense of antiquity. In the 8^th century it was home to the Mercian King Offa and the site of his mint. Two hundred years later King Alfred’s daughter, Aethelfraed, fortified the town after crushing an army of Danes. In the 11^th century the Normans provided the town with a dramatic motte and bailey castle which has managed to survive, thanks to some later additions. Its 17^th century town hall, together with local almshouses, was built with cash made available by local MP Thomas Guy, founder of London’s Guy’s Hospital. In front of the building is a statue of Prime Minister Robert Peel who lived here from 1830 until his death in 1850.

TUTBURY

Although Tutbury is a delightful old town on the banks of the River Dove, visitors will also want to see the romantic remains of its once-mighty hilltop castle. Dating to the 12^th century, the building has three towers, one of which was twice used as a jail for the recalcitrant Mary Queen of Scots in 1569 and 1587. The 12^th century priory is considered one of Finest Norman churches in Britain.

Tutbury Castle - Photo: Simon Johnson CCL

UTTOXETER

Sudbury Hall - Photo: Alan Walker CCL

Bagot’s Wood lies nearby and some miles away is the 17^th century mansion Sudbury Hall - built by George Vernon – which has an unusually ornate staircase and a Long Gallery.