Uttoxeter

Coordinates: 52°53′53″N 1°51′36″W / 52.898°N 1.860°W / 52.898; -1.860

Uttoxeter (ⁱ/juːˈtɒksᵻtər/ or sometimes locally uh-CHET-ər ) is a market town in Staffordshire, England. In 2001, the population was 12,023, increasing to 13,089 at the 2011 Census.

Uttoxeter lies close to the River Dove in East Staffordshire, near the cities of Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and Lichfield.

History

Uttoxeter's name has had at least 79 spellings since it was mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Wotocheshede": it probably came from Anglo-Saxon Wuttuceshǣddre = "Wuttuc's homestead on the heath". Some historians point to pre-Roman settlement here and Bronze Age axes have been discovered in the town (now in display in the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent). It is possible that Uttoxeter had some form of Roman activity due to its strategic position on the River Dove and closeness to the large garrison forts at Rocester between 69 and 400 AD, and recently discovered fort at Stramshall, though little corroborating archaeology has been found.