Stafford is the
county town of
Staffordshire, in the
West Midlands region of
England. It lies approximately north of
Wolverhampton and south of
Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the
M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14. The population of Stafford was given in the
2001 census as 63,681, with that of the wider
borough of Stafford as 122,000, making Stafford the fourth largest settlement in the
Ceremonial county, after
Stoke on Trent,
Tamworth and
Newcastle under Lyme.
History
Stafford means '
ford' by a '
staithe' (landing place). The original settlement was on dry sand and gravel peninsula that provided a strategic crossing point in the marshy valley of the
River Sow, a tributary of the
River Trent. There is still a large area of
marshland northwest of the town, which has always been subject to flooding, such as in 1947, 2000 and 2007.
It's thought Stafford was founded in about 700 AD by Mercian prince called Bertelin who, according to legend, established a hermitage on the peninsular named Betheney or Bethnei. Until recently it was thought that the remains of a wooden preaching cross from this time had been found under the remains of St Bertelin's chapel, next to the later collegiate Church of St Mary in the centre of the town. Recent re-examination of the evidence shows this was a misinterpretation – it was a tree trunk coffin placed centrally in the first, timber, chapel at around the time Æthelflæd founded the burh, in 913 AD. The tree trunk coffin may have been placed there as an object of commemoration or veneration of St Bertelin.
Already a centre for the delivery of grain tribute during the Dark Ages, Stafford was commandeered in July 913 AD by Æthelflæd, Lady of Mercia and daughter of King Alfred the Great, after the death of her father and of her husband, Æthelred, then ealdorman of Mercia in 911, in order to construct a burh there. This new burh was fortified and provided with an industrial area for the centralised production of Roman-style pottery ("Stafford Ware") which was supplied to the chain of west midlands burhs.
She and her younger brother King Edward the Elder of Wessex, both children of King Alfred the Great and Ealhswith, wife of Æthelred, ealdorman of the Angles of Mercia, were attempting to complete their father King Alfred the Great's programme of unifying England into a single kingdom. Æthelflæd was a formidable military leader and tactician, and she sought to protect and extend the northern and western frontiers of her overlordship of Mercia against the Danish Vikings, by fortifying burhs, including Tamworth and Stafford in 913, and Runcorn on the River Mersey in 915 among others, while King Edward the Elder concentrated on the east, wresting East Anglia and Essex from the Danes. Anglo-Saxon women could play powerful roles in society. Her death effectively ended the relative independence of Mercia. Edward the Elder of Wessex took over her fortress at Tamworth and accepted the submission of all who were living in Mercia, both Danish and English. In late 918, Aelfwynn, Æthelflæd's daughter, was deprived of her authority over Mercia and taken to Wessex. The project for the unification of England took another step forward.
Stafford was one of Æthelflæd's military campaign bases and extensive archaeological investigations, and recent re-examination and interpretation of that evidence now shows her new burh was producing, in addition to the Stafford Ware pottery, food for her army (butchery, grain processing, baking), coinage and weaponry, but apparently no other crafts and there were few imports.
The Lady of Mercia, Æthelflæd, ruled Mercia for five years after the death of her father and husband, dying in Tamworth in 918.
At around this time the county of Staffordshire was formed. Stafford lay within the Pirehill hundred.
In 1069, a rebellion by Eadric the Wild against the Norman conquest culminated in the Battle of Stafford. Two years later, another rebellion, this time led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, culminated in Edwin's assassination. This meant his lands were distributed amongst the followers of William the Conqueror. Robert de Tonei was granted the manor of Bradley and one third of the king's rents in Stafford. The Norman Conquest in Stafford was therefore particularly brutal, and resulted not only in the imposition of a castle, but in the destruction and suppression of every other activity except the intermittent minting of coins for about a hundred years.
Redevelopment began in the late 12th century, and while the church, the main north to south street (Greengate) and routes through the late Saxon industrial quarter to the east remained, in other ways the town plan changed. A motte was constructed on the western side of the peninsula, overlooking a ford, and facing the site of the main castle of Stafford, on the hill at Castle Church, west of the town. Tenements were laid out over the whole peninsula and trade and crafts flourished until the early 14th century, when there was another upset probably associated with the plague of Black Death, which was followed in the mid 16th century by another revival.
Stafford Castle was built by the Normans on the nearby hilltop to the west in about 1090. It was first made of wood, and later rebuilt of stone. It has been rebuilt twice since, and the ruins of the 19th century gothic revival castle on the earthworks incorporate much of the original stonework.
In 1206, King John granted a Royal Charter which created the Borough of Stafford. In the Middle Ages, Stafford was a market town mainly dealing in cloth and wool. In spite of being the shire town, from Æthelflæd to Queen Elizabeth I, Stafford required successive surges of external investment. King Richard II was paraded through the town's streets as a prisoner in 1399, by troops loyal to Henry Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV). When James I visited Stafford, when he was said to be so impressed by the town's Shire Hall and other buildings that he called it 'Little London'. Charles I visited Stafford shortly after the out-break of the English Civil War. He stayed for three days at the Ancient High House. The town was later captured by the Parliamentarians, while a small-scale battle was fought at nearby Hopton Heath. Stafford later fell to the Parliamentarians, as did Stafford Castle, following a six-week siege. The town's most famous son is Izaak Walton, author of The Compleat Angler. He was a staunch Royalist.
In 1658, Stafford elected John Bradshaw, the man who judged the trial of King Charles I, to represent the town in Parliament. During the reign of Charles II, William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford became implicated in the Popish Plot, in which Titus Oates whipped up anti-Catholic feelings with his claims that there was a plot to have the king killed. Viscount William Howard was among those accused and he was unfortunate to be the first to be tried and was beheaded in 1680. The charge was false and over five years later, on 4 June 1685, the bill of attainder against Viscount Stafford was reversed.
The town was represented in Parliament by the famous playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan in the eighteenth century. During the same era, the town's mechanised shoe industry was founded, the most well-known factory owner being William Horton. The industry gradually died out, with the last factory being redeveloped in 2008.
In 1837 the Grand Junction Railway built the first railway line (Birmingham to Warrington) and station in the town, and at Warrington this linked, via another line, with the Liverpool to Manchester railway. Birmingham provided the first connection to London. Other lines followed, Stafford became a significant junction and this helped attract a number of industries to the town.
On 31 March 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited the town to join in the 800th anniversary civic celebrations.
In 2013 Stafford will celebrate its 1,100 th anniversary year with a number of history-based exhibitions, while local historian Nick Thomas and write Roger Butters are set to produce a two volume 'A Compleat History of Stafford'(sic).
Governance
The top-tier
Staffordshire County Council, and
Stafford Borough Council, are both based in the town. Stafford has its own
parliamentary constituency.
Landmarks
The Elizabethan Ancient High House in the town centre is the largest timber-framed town house in England. It is now a museum, with changing exhibitions.
Stafford Castle was built by the Normans on the nearby hilltop to the west in about 1090, replacing the post-Conquest fort in the town. It was first made of wood, and later rebuilt of stone. It has been rebuilt twice since, and the ruins of the 19th century gothic revival castle crowning the earthworks incorporate much of the original stonework. The castle has a visitor centre, with audio visual displays and hands-on items. There's also a recreated medieval herb garden and Shakespeare productions take place in the castle grounds each Summer. The castle forms a landmark for drivers, as it is highly visible from the M6 motorway.
The oldest building now in Stafford is St Chad's Church, dating back into the twelfth century. The main part of the church is richly decorated. Carvings in the church's archways and pillars may have been made by a group of stonemasons from the Middle East who came to England during the Crusades. A great deal of the stonework was covered up during the 17th and 18th centuries, and the church took on a neo-classical style. In the early 19th century restoration work was carried out on the church and the Norman decoration was rediscovered. The Church hosts "Timewalk", a computer generated display which relates the journey of history and mystery within the walls of the church.
St Mary's, the collegiate church formerly linked to St Bertelin's chapel, was completely rebuilt in the early 13th century in a cruciform layout with an aisled nave and chancel typical of the period. It has an impressive octagonal tower, once topped by a tall steeple, which can be picked out in Gough's plan shown above. The church was effectively two churches in one, divided by a screen, with the parish using the nave and the collegiate canons using the chancel. St Mary's was restored in 1842 by Giles Gilbert Scott.
The Shire Hall Gallery was built in 1798 as a court house and office of the Mayor and Clerk of Stafford. It houses the Art Gallery, which shows changing exhibitions. It also contains a café and the town's library. The Shire Hall used to be the town's court house, and is a Grade II listed building. It still retains two courtrooms. One of them is open to the general public and has a permanent exhibition showing the history of the building and details of some high profile cases that were heard there. An old 'holding cell' is also open to public viewing.
The Shugborough Hall country estate is outside town. It previously belonged to the Earls of Lichfield, and is now owned by the National Trust and maintained by the leaseholder, Staffordshire County Council. The 19th century Sandon Hall is northeast of Stafford. It is set in of parkland, and is the seat of the Earl of Harrowby. Weston Hall stands east of Stafford, in the Trent valley, with a large park and it was once part of the Chartley estate. It is believed that the main part of the Hall was built around 1550 as a small dower house, however the architectural evidence suggests that it is Jacobean. Weston Hall was extended in 1660 into a three-gable structure with high-pitched roofs.
Culture
Stafford Gatehouse Theatre is the town's main entertainment and cultural venue. The Met Studio within the Gatehouse is a dedicated venue for standup comedy and alternative live music. There is an art gallery in the Shire Hall. Stafford Showground, just outside the town, is the venue for many national and local events.
Victoria Park, opened in 1908, is a 13 acre (53,000 m2) Edwardian riverside park with an open-air paddling pool, bowling green, bird cages and greenhouses; Victoria Park has recently undergone a major re-development in places, incorporating a new children's play area, new sand and water jet area which has replaced the previous open-air paddling pool and also a brand new bmx / skateboard area which has attracted a lot of attention from the youth who had been requested in recent surveys.
The three screen Apollo Cinema, showing mainstream releases, is in the centre of town. Stafford Film Theatre is based at the Gatehouse Theatre, and shows independent and alternative films. There are £500 million plans to build a new multiplex cinema as part of a new retail and leisure complex on the site of the old Riverside Leisure Centre. There is also a tenpin (10 Pin)bowling alley located at Greyfriars Place,Stafford which is provided by a national company "Tenpin Bowling"
Nightlife in the town consists of smaller bar and club venues such as Casa, The Grapes, The Littern Tree, The Picturehouse, Apres, and the new super nightclub Couture and Noir et Blanc, most of which are in walking distance of each other. There is a big student patronage, with coaches bringing students from Stoke-on-Trent, Cannock and Wolverhampton.
The new £15 million Stafford Leisure Centre opened on 12 April 2008 in Lammascote Road. It replaces the old Riverside Recreation Centre, which has been demolished to make way for a £50 million housing, leisure and retail complex along the River Sow.
Stafford is also home to a 9 hole golf course Stafford Castle Golf Club which has a great view and is located near to the Stafford Castle, Stafford Railway Station and also Stafford Town Centre.
Economy
Stafford has a long history of shoe making. It is recorded as far back as 1476, when it was a cottage industry, but the manufacturing process was introduced in the 1700s. William Horton founded his business in 1767, which progressed to become the largest shoe company in Stafford, selling worldwide. He had a number of contracts with the government, through his connections with the town's MP, the famous playwright
Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The shoe industry gradually died out in the town, with Lotus Shoes being the last manufacturers. The large red-brick Lotus Shoe factory on Sandon Road was demolished in 2001 to be replaced by modern housing.
Since 1903, a major activity in the town has been heavy electrical engineering, particularly producing power station transformers. The works have been successively owned by Siemens, English Electric, GEC and GEC Alsthom. Alstom T&D; was sold in 2004 to Areva. At the end of 2009, Areva Ltd was split between former owner Alstom and Schneider Electric. Each transformer weighs several hundred tons and so a road train is used for transportation. In the 1968 Hixon rail crash, one such road train was struck by an express train when it was crossing the railway at a level crossing.
Perkins Engines has a factory making diesel engines in Littleworth. Adhesives manufacturer Bostik has a large factory in the town. Stafford is also a major dormitory town for workers commuting to Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham.
The public sector provides a lot of local employment, with Staffordshire County Council, Stafford Borough Council and Staffordshire Police all headquartered in the town. Stafford Prison, Stafford Hospital and MoD Stafford are other sources of local public sector employment.
The town is also home to the computer science and IT campus of Staffordshire University. The Beaconside Campus houses the Faculty of Computing Engineering and Technology and part of the Business School, and the adjacent Blackheath Lane campus houses the School of Health, which teaches nursing. The main campus in Stoke-on-Trent is located about north.
The town centre Guildhall shopping centre is the town's main shopping venue, housing more than 40 retail outlets such as HMV, Topman Topshop, River Island and JJB. There are 3 major superstores that surround the main town centre, an Asda superstore, a Tesco Extra and a Sainsbury's store. They are open 24 hours with the exception of Sainsbury's.
Transport
Stafford railway station was once a major hub on the railway network, but Beeching's closure of the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway, and the Shropshire Union Railway to Shrewsbury and beyond completely halted east-west traffic via Stafford. The years up to 2008 saw cross-country trains stopping at Stafford less and less. Since the CrossCountry trains franchisee change, more CrossCountry trains are now stopping at Stafford Station, However if you require services to Carlisle, Preston or Glasgow a change at Crewe railway station is required; Stafford railway station is still a stop for some Virgin Trains services on the West Coast Main Line enabling easy commuting to the cities of Birmingham, London Euston, Wolverhampton and Liverpool. If you require services to the cities of Stoke-on-trent or Manchester CrossCountry trains operate a regular service to Manchester Piccadilly normally every 30 Mins during the weekdays; Since December 2008 London Midland have operated a service stopping at Stafford which also serves Tamworth, Northampton, Milton Keynes and London and also a Birmingham - Liverpool Lime Street service which departs Stafford Station normally every 30 mins during the weekdays.
Junctions 13 (Stafford South & Central) and 14 (Stafford North) of the M6 motorway provide access to the town, therefore the major cities of Birmingham and Manchester and beyond are easily reached. The A34 road runs through the centre of the town, linking it to Stone and Stoke-on-Trent to the north and Cannock and the West Midlands conurbation to the south. The A518 road connects Stafford with Telford to the south west and Uttoxeter to the north east, and therefore is the main route to the major theme park at Alton Towers. The A449 runs south from the town centre and connects with the nearby town of Penkridge and Wolverhampton. Finally, the A513 runs east from Stafford to the local towns of Rugeley and Lichfield.
Local bus travel within the town is provided by Arriva Midlands, D & G Coach and Bus Ltd and also some small bus companies who provide to mainly rural communites, while services to Stone and Stoke-on-Trent are handled by First PMT and Baker Bus.
Stafford is served by four large taxi companies: Aerobrights, Anthony's AJ's, Kaminski Hire and Westside. There are also a large number of independent operators who work from the ranks at the station, Bridge Street, Broad Street and Salter Street.
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal runs close to the Baswich and Wildwood areas, and was previously linked to the River Sow by the River Sow Navigation.
Healthcare
The town is supplied with primary care by the South Staffordshire
Primary Care Trust.
The town's main hospital is Stafford Hospital, previously known as ''Staffordshire General Hospital'' and also ''Stafford District General Hospital''. The hospital is operated and managed by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and provides a wide range of non-specialist medical and surgical services. Stafford Hospital's Accident and Emergency unit is the only such facility in the town. Wards at Stafford Hospital are numbered, with the exception of the children's wards (known as the "Anson Suite"), which are named after local towns and landmarks (e.g. Shugborough Ward). This hospital was built on the site of Coton Hill private psychiatric hospital which opened in 1851 and closed 1975 and was demolished with only the old chapel and gatehouse still visible. The hospital made the national news in March 2009, with the release of a Healthcare Commission report detailing the facility's appalling shortcomings.
The St George's Hospital, part of the South Staffordshire and Shropshire Health Care Trust, is actually a combination of two historical hospitals—the Kingsmead Hospital (previously an elderly care facility) and the St George's psychiatric hospital. This hospital provides mental health services, including an intensive care unit, secure units, an eating disorder unit, an EMI unit for the elderly and mentally frail, drug and alcohol addiction services and open wards. There is a small outpatient facility, and this is the location of the town's AA meeting. Wards at St George's Hospital are named after local villages and termed "houses" (e.g. Brocton House, Chebsey House).
Education
Primary schools
Anson CE (A) Primary School
Barnfields Primary School
Berkswich CE Primary School
Blessed Mother Teresa RC Primary School (Formerly Bower Norris)
Brooklands Preparatory School (Independent)
Burton Manor Primary School
Castlechurch Primary School
Cooper Perry Primary School
Flash Ley Community Primary School
John Wheeldon Primary School
Leasowes Primary School (formed by the merger of Leasowes Infant School and Leasowes Junior School in 2006)
Oakridge Primary School (plus nursery)
Parkside Primary School
Silkmore Primary School
Stafford Preparatory School
St Anne's RC Primary School
St Austin's RC Primary School
St Bede's Preparatory School (Independent)
St Johns CE Primary School
St Leonard's Primary School
St Patrick's RC Primary School
St Paul's Primary School
Tillington Manor Primary School - formerly Holmcroft Primary School
The Grove Primary School
Secondary schools
Stafford Sports College (formerly Rising Brook High School)
Walton High School
Blessed William Howard RC High School and Performing Arts College
King Edward VI High School (Highfields)
Sir Graham Balfour School
Weston Road High School
Stafford Grammar School. Selective, independent school, Founded 1982.
Tertiary education
The Chetwynd Centre also provides
Higher Education in the town. It normally teaches specialised A-levels, some vocational qualifications and subjects taught by teachers with no school base. The centre has joined up with all the town's secondary schools, except the grammar school, to provide better resources for students.
Stafford College is a large College of Further Education. Stafford College also provides some Higher Education courses on behalf of Staffordshire University and focuses heavily on computing and engineering.
South Staffordshire College has a base in the village of Rodbaston, on the edge of Stafford. It is an agricultural college and provides most of its training in this sector.
Staffordshire University has a large campus in the east of the town and focuses heavily on computing, engineering and media technologies (Film, Music and Computer Games). It also runs teacher training courses. The University has 2 halls of residence opposite the campus, the smaller Yarlet with 51 rooms and the larger Stafford Court with 554 Rooms. Stafford Court is divided into 13 'houses' named after local villages.
Sport
Stafford is home to three
association football clubs;
Stafford Rangers F.C.,
Brocton F.C.,and
Stafford Town F.C., none of which play at a fully professional level.
The town also has two Rugby Union clubs though again they do not play at a high level.
There is also a local Hockey team with eight adult teams.
Stafford Cricket and Hockey Club was founded in 1864, which almost certainly makes it the oldest sports club in Stafford. The club appears to have originally played at The Lammascotes before being offered a field at The Hough (Lichfield Road/GEC site) in 1899 which belonged to the Grammar school (The new ground there was opened by the mayor, a Mr Mynors in May of that year). In 1984 the club negotiated a move to Riverway in 1984 as The Hough came under the ownership of GEC. They currently own at Riverway and host numerous sports all year round - they have 2 cricket pitches in the summer and in the winter host football, mini football, rugby and hockey.
In 1999 they were awarded a £200K lottery grant towards a new pavilion completed in 2000. The pavilion has 6 changing rooms and a lounge/function room for members and guests. The clubroom may also be hired for all kinds of functions and celebrations, as well as business meetings and charity events.
The Cricket Section always welcome new players of all abilities
There are four senior sides that play on a Saturday. The 1st & 2nd XI's play in The North Staffs and South Cheshire Premier Cricket League. The 3rd and 4th XI's play in the Stone & District Cricket League. They also have a senior team on a Sunday that plays in the Lichfield Sunday League. They have five junior sides in the following age groups; Under 9, Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, & Under 17's. They are an ECB Clubmark Accredited Club and promote sport for all in the local community.
Language
The Stafford accent may be distinguished from that of the more southern parts of Staffordshire heading towards the
West Midlands, where the accent is more
Black Country-influenced.
The accent of Stafford is more influenced by
Stoke-on-Trent, to varying extents, but less broad and perhaps more "watered-down." Those who live in Stafford tend to believe they have a more "neutral" accent, or perhaps no accent at all, but the influence of Stoke-on-Trent and nearby
Stone sets it apart and distinguishes itself from more
southern Staffordshire.
The Stafford knot
RAF/MOD Stafford
RAF Stafford was a non-flying Royal Air Force station. In March 2006, RAF Stafford was redesignated as MOD Stafford. The event was marked by a fly past and a flag lowering ceremony. For many years the site provided employment for civilians and military personnel. However, RAF Stafford was handed over by the RAF in accordance with the current policy of defence strategy and streamlining. A small element of the Tactical Supply Wing (TSW) still operates from MOD Stafford. It is now home to a
Gurkha signals regiment and a
RAF Regiment contingent alongside Tactical Supply Wing.
Notable people
Politics and literature
Notable people from Stafford include the 17th century author of ''
The Compleat Angler'',
Izaak Walton, and the 18th century playwright
Richard Brinsley Sheridan was once the local
MP. Also, the 1853 Lord
Mayor of London,
Thomas Sidney, was born in the town.
In the early 1900s, the village of Little Haywood near Stafford was home to the wife of famous ''The Lord of the Rings'' author J. R. R. Tolkien. He stayed with his wife, Edith, in her cottage in the village during the winter of 1916, and the surrounding areas were said to be an inspiration for some of his early works. The science fantasy author Storm Constantine is a long-time resident.
British poet, playwright and freelance writer Carol Ann Duffy, although born in Glasgow, Scotland, grew up in Stafford and attended Stafford Girls' High School. She was awarded an OBE in 1995, and a CBE in 2002. Many of her poems describe experiences and places in Stafford. She has been the Poet laureate since 2009 and now lives in Manchester.
Visual arts
Dave Follows (3 October 1941—17 October 2003) was a prolific cartoonist and was born in and lived in Stafford all his life.
Performing arts and sport
Stafford was the birthplace of ''
Men Behaving Badly'' star
Neil Morrissey,
Freya Copeland, who plays Angela 'Angie' Reynolds in the soap ''
Emmerdale'', ''
Travis'' singer
Fran Healy (but he moved away to Scotland when very young), and comedian
Dave Gorman. 1970s hit duo
Medicine Head hailed from nearby
Tixall.
Climax Blues Band, initially, as their name suggests, was a popular Stafford blues band but later they achieved international record success. Rave acts
Altern-8 and
Bizarre Inc were also from the town.
Championship footballer Anthony Gardner, who plays for Hull City, and Chris Birchall, who plays for Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy, were both born in Stafford. Former Aston Villa, Derby County and Watford winger Nigel Callaghan lives and DJs in the town. Former Aston Villa player and manager Brian Little also lives in the town.
Areas
Baswich
: An estate which is next to Weeping Cross, and many people get confused between these two estates. It is found by heading towards Rugeley and Cannock from Stafford Town Centre, or from Uttoxeter past Weston Road High School and through Baswich lanes. It has a Co-Op as a convenience store, and a hairdresser. It also has a church with a graveyard.
Beaconside
Burton Manor
Castle House Gardens
Castle House Drive
Castlefields
: An estate built on the wetlands off Newport Road in the early 1990s, to the displeasure of many protesters. The roads are named after famous athletes of the time (Gunnell Close, Christie Drive etc).
Castletown
: An estate of terraced cottages, built in the 1830s and 1840s for the influx of railway workers into the town. The estate used to have a church, St Thomas's, but this was demolished in the 1970s and replaced by the new church in Doxey. The offices of Staffordshire Newsletter now occupy the site. Castletown is changing rapidly, with the demolition of Stafford Arms and the building of new executive apartments heralding a new era on the estate.
The Crossings
: A new estate built on the former site of Stychfields, in the grounds of the Alstom factory. It also includes a new retail park.
Coppenhall
Coton Fields
Doxey
Forebridge
Highfields
: A large council estate with Wolverhampton Road at one end and Newport Road at the other. The first houses in Highfields were built c. 1955, with substantial additions (Highfields number two estate, as it was then known) in 1963/4. West Way is the longest street in Highfields, carving its way through the entire estate. Many of the streets in the sixties expansion of Highfields were named after poets and playwrights (Shakespeare Road, Masefield Drive, Coleridge Drive, Keats Avenue, Tennyson Road, Binyon Court (now renamed "The Keep"), etc). Of the older roads, the longest is Bagot's Oak, so called because of a large old tree that was in the road. Much of the original estate was built on Preston's Farm land, and one of the bus services was still called 'Highfields Farm until recently.
Holmcroft
Hyde Lea
King Edward Court
Kingston Hill
Littleworth
Manor Estate
Meadowcroft Park
Moss Pit
: Moss Pit is situated in southern Stafford, approximately one mile from Junction 13 of the M6 motorway; areas include The Pippins, The Chestnuts and Scholar's Gate.
Parkside
: A housing estate at the extreme north of the town. It has two entrances from the A513 Beaconside Road, forming a U-shape. The estate has access to many green areas, including 3 parks, a 'green' and access to Stafford Common. There is also a primary school (Parkside Primary School) on the estate and access to
Sir Graham Balfour School which has been totally rebuilt in 2001. Some of the school grounds were sold off when the old school was demolished to build "the Oaks" housing estate which is adjacent to Parkside. There is also a precinct of shops and the northern terminus of the number 10 bus route (Parkside - Trinity Fields - Stone Road - Stafford Town Centre). The Parkside estate was built in the 1970s and has a selection of different types of housing: detached, semi-detached, flats and modern terraced housing.
Queensville
Rising Brook
Rickerscote
: Rickerscote many years ago used to have a lane running from the now Silkmore estate heading towards the area where the bridge to Argos is. This area is known to many as 'the village', and there is a local shop that serves the people. Rickerscote is home to a large area of grassland know locally as the 'green'.
:Other locally well known areas of here are 'The Conker Tree', Boultons Farm, Devils Triangle and 'The Metal Bridge'. The local drinking houses are the Rickerscote Arms, known to the old school as the Alpine, and further into the estate there is the Post Office Social Club.
Rowley Park
Silkmore
: Silkmore is an area situated between Rickerscote and Meadowcroft, with the distant Rising Brook to its side. The local primary school is Silkmore and the area has a selection of shops, ranging from the local butchers to a Chinese. Over the years the area has been under a small facelift in order to brighten up and change the image of the place.
:An area of Silkmore is renowned for flooding, namely the area where the 'Southend Club' used to stand. This has now been replaced with new homes. Other areas of the estate that no longer exist are 'The Pioneer', 'The Garage' and 'Finney's Farm'. These have all now been replaced by homes or the Co-op.
Tillington, Staffordshire
Trinity Fields
The Oaks
: The Oaks a new estate that is off the A34 near Sir Graham Balfour school extreme north of stafford.
Walton on the Hill
: Walton on the Hill is at the extreme south of Stafford bordering Milford and is viewed as an exclusive residential area in the Borough with the highest average house prices. Walton High School is specialist science school and one of the top state schools in the Midlands and as such, places are much sought after.
Weeping Cross
: Weeping Cross is an estate on the east side of Stafford, named after the First World War Memorial Cross placed there. It is easily found by heading up Radford Bank, towards Rugeley and Cannock. It also holds Leasowes Primary School and St Annes Catholic Primary School. Weeping Cross also has a local pub, the Lynton Tavern(now closed), a clinic with nearby Pharmacy, a library and a row of convenient shops. The number one bus runs every 30 minutes around the estate.
Western Downs
: An estate on the edge of Stafford that borders on Highfields and the M6 Motorway. A large green area with two football pitches and a basketball court known as 'The Bottom Pitches' can be found in Western Downs along with 'The Rainbow Park' on Clarendon Drive, and the 'Dome Park' on Torridge Drive. Until the council built a play area they were the main footballing locations on the estate. The number nine bus route also covers Western Downs.
Wildwood
: An large estate with a ring road that joins on to the
A34 road. The estate was built around the 1970s and housed a lot of the Stafford police force as the
Staffordshire Police HQ was / is located on the opposite side of the
A34 road.
Nearby places
Alton Towers
Birmingham
Cannock
Cannock Chase
Creswell
Eccleshall
Heath Hayes and Wimblebury
Hixon
Lichfield
Newport, Shropshire
Rugeley
Shugborough Hall
Stoke-on-Trent
Stone
Trentham Gardens
Uttoxeter
Wolverhampton
See also
Stafford rail crash
HMP Stafford
Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom
References
Notes
Bibliography
(11th century and earlier) Staffordshire Newsletter 1994 Guide is good.
External links
Stafford Borough Council
Stafford Tourism Bureau
Stafford Forum
www.StaffordHistory.co.uk
Stafford Town Centre Web Site
Ancient High House
Stafford Gatehouse Theatre
St. Chad's Church
Legionnaires' Disease, General Hospital Legionellosis
Lyrics and a live performance video of the Stafford Song
Stafford Now and Then, Antique Picture Postcards
Pictures & stories about the shoe industry in Stafford
History of Doxey
Stafford Borough Council site re a short history of the town
an illustrated history of the town
Stafford, a visitors guide
William Horton's 1801 penny token
Staffordshire Past-Track
Category:Towns in Staffordshire
Category:County towns in England
Category:Railway towns in England
ang:Stæfford
bg:Стафорд
ca:Stafford (Anglaterra)
cs:Stafford
de:Stafford
es:Stafford
fr:Stafford (Angleterre)
it:Stafford
ro:Stafford
nl:Stafford (Engeland)
no:Stafford (England)
nn:Stafford
pl:Stafford (Anglia)
sv:Stafford
vo:Stafford (Staffordshire)
zh:斯塔福德
