Stafford

Stafford means "ford" by a staithe (landing place). The original settlement was on a dry sand and gravel peninsula that offered 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 north-west of the town, which is subject to flooding and did so in 1947, 2000, 2007 and 2019.

Stafford on the 14th-century Gough Map, at bottom centre. Stone is bottom left, Lichfield centre left. North is to the left

Stafford is thought to have been founded about AD 700[3] by a Mercian prince called Bertelin, who, legend has it, founded a hermitage on a peninsula named Betheney.[4] Until recently it was thought that the remains of a wooden preaching cross from the time had been found under the remains of St Bertelin's Chapel, next to the later collegiate Church of St Mary in the town centre. Recent reappraisal of the evidence shows this to be a misinterpretation – it was a tree-trunk coffin placed centrally in the first, timber chapel around the time that Æthelflæd founded the burh in 913.[5] It may have been placed there as a commemoration or veneration of St Bertelin.

Already a centre for delivering grain tribute in the Early Middle Ages, Stafford was commandeered in July 913 by Æthelflæd, Lady of Mercia, to construct a burh there. This fortification provided an industrial area for centralised production of Roman-style pottery (Stafford Ware),[6] which was supplied to a chain of West Midlands burhs.

Æthelflæd and her younger brother, King Edward the Elder of Wessex, were trying to complete their father King Alfred the Great's programme of moulding England into a single kingdom. Æthelflæd, a formidable military leader and tactician, 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, 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; Æthelflæd's death in 918 effectively ended Mercia's relative independence. Edward the Elder of Wessex took over her fortress at Tamworth and accepted submission from all who were living in Mercia, Danish or English. In late 918 Aelfwynn, Æthelflæd's daughter, was deprived of her authority over Mercia and taken to Wessex. The project of unifying England took another step forward.[7]

Stafford was one of Æthelflæd's military campaign bases. Extensive archaeological investigations and recent re-examination and interpretation show her new burh producing, alongside Stafford Ware, food for her army (butchery, grain processing, baking), coinage and weaponry, but apparently no other crafts and making few imports.[6][8]

The county of Staffordshire was formed at about this time. Stafford lay within the Pirehill hundred.[9]

In 1069, a rebellion by Eadric the Wild against the Norman conquest culminated in the Battle of Stafford. Two years later another rebellion, led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, ended in Edwin's assassination and distribution of his lands among 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 there was especially brutal, and resulted not only in the imposition of a castle, but in destruction and suppression for about a century of every other activity except intermittent minting of coins.

Stafford Castle

Stafford Castle, built by the Normans on a nearby hilltop to the west about 1090, was first made of wood and later rebuilt in stone. It has been rebuilt twice since; the ruins of the 19th-century Gothic revival castle on the earthworks incorporate much of the original stonework.

Redevelopment began in the late 12th century. While the church, the main north–south street (Greengate) and routes through the late Saxon industrial quarter to the east remained, the town plan changed in other ways. A motte was built 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 peninsula and trade and crafts flourished until the early 14th century, when a period of upset may have been associated with the Black Death. This was followed in the mid-16th century by another revival.[6]

In 1206 King John granted a Royal Charter creating the borough of Stafford. It became a medieval market town mainly dealing in cloth and wool. Though a shire town, Stafford required waves of external investment from Æthelflæd's time to that of Queen Elizabeth I.[10]

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, he was said to be so impressed by the Shire Hall and other buildings that he called it "Little London".[3]

The author Izaak Walton was born in Stafford. Portrait by Jacob Huysmans

Charles I visited Stafford shortly after the outbreak of the English Civil War, staying for three days at the Ancient High House. The town was later captured by the Parliamentarians after a small-scale battle at nearby Hopton. Stafford still later fell to the Parliamentarians, as did Stafford Castle after a six-week siege. However, its famous son Izaak Walton, author of The Compleat Angler, was a staunch Royalist.

In 1658 Stafford elected John Bradshaw, who had been judge at 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 feeling with claims of a plot to have the king killed. Lord Stafford was among those accused; he was unfortunate to be the first to be tried and was beheaded in 1680. The charge was false and on 4 June 1685, the bill of attainder against him was reversed.[11]

The town was represented in Parliament from 1780 by the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. During that period, the town's mechanised shoe industry was founded, the best-known factory owner being William Horton.[3] The industry gradually died, the last factory being redeveloped in 2008.

In 1837 the Grand Junction Railway built a line from Birmingham to Warrington to pass through the town and link at Warrington, via another line, with the Liverpool–Manchester railway. Birmingham provided the first connection to London. Other lines followed. Stafford became a major junction, which helped to attract other industries.[12] The Friars' Walk drill hall was completed in 1913, just in time for the First World War.[13]

On 31 March 2006 the Queen visited the town for the 800th anniversary civic celebrations.

In 2013 Stafford celebrated its 1,100th anniversary year with a number of history-based exhibitions, while local historian Nick Thomas and writer Roger Butters were set to produce the two-volume A Compleat [sic] History of Stafford.

The Borough Hall

Staffordshire County Council and Stafford Borough Council are both based in the town. The office of Mayor of Stafford Borough has existed since the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The Mayor in 2019–2020 is Gareth Jones.[14] The borough council was based at the Borough Hall before moving to the new civic offices in Riverside in 1978.[15]

Stafford has its own parliamentary constituency, represented since 2019 by Theo Clarke, a Conservative.

Ancient High House

View from Stafford Castle

The Elizabethan Ancient High House in the town centre is the largest timber-framed town house in England.[16] It is now a museum with temporary 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 is also a recreated medieval herb garden. Shakespeare productions take place in the castle grounds each summer. The castle forms a landmark for drivers, as it is visible from the M6 motorway.

St Chad's Church, Stafford

The oldest building now in Stafford is St Chad's Church, dating back to the 12th century.[17] The main part of the church is richly decorated. Carvings in its archways and on its pillars may have been made by a group of stonemasons from the Middle East who came to England during the Crusades. Much of the stonework was covered up in 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 rediscovered. The church hosts "Timewalk", a computer-generated display that 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 rebuilt in the early 13th century on a cruciform plan, 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 the chancel. St Mary's was restored in 1842 by Giles Gilbert Scott.[18]

Shire Hall and Market Square

The Shire Hall was built in 1798 as a court house and office of the Mayor and Clerk of Stafford.[19] The Shire Hall used to be the town's court house, and is a Grade II listed building. In recent times, the building was used as an art gallery and library, before a new facility was built within the new council buildings, The Market Square has recently gone under a £20 million redevelopment which is due to be completed by December 2023.

Green Hall on Lichfield Road is a Grade II listed manor house (now apartments), originally built about 1810 as Forebridge Hall, known after 1880 as Green Hall. It was previously used as a girls' school and as council offices.[20]

The Shugborough Hall country estate is 4 miles (6.4 km) out of town. It once belonged to the Earls of Lichfield and is now owned by the National Trust. The 19th-century Sandon Hall is 5 miles (8.0 km) north-east of Stafford. It is set in 400 acres (1.6 km²) of parkland, as the seat of the Earl of Harrowby. Weston Hall stands 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Stafford, in the Trent valley with a large park and was once part of the Chartley estate. It is thought that the main part of the hall was built about 1550 as a small dower house, but the architectural evidence suggests it is Jacobean. Weston Hall was extended in 1660 into a three-gabled structure with high-pitched roofs.[21]

Stafford Gatehouse Theatre is the town's main entertainment and cultural venue. Its Met Studio is a dedicated to stand-up comedy and alternative live music. There is an art gallery in the Shire Hall. Staffordshire County Showground, just outside the town, holds many national and local events. The annual Shakespeare Festival at Stafford Castle has attracted many notable people, including Frank Sidebottom and Ann Widdecombe.

Victoria Park, Stafford

Victoria Park, opened in 1908, is a 13-acre (53 ha) Edwardian riverside park with a play park, bowling green, bird cages and greenhouses. It has a children's play area, a sand-and-water-jet area replacing an open-air paddling pool, and a bmx/skateboard area. Stafford also has a 9-hole golf course near the town centre.

Recent developments on Riverside allowed for an expansion of the town, notably with a new Odeon cinema to replace the ageing one at the end of the high street. Stafford Film Theatre is based at the Gatehouse Theatre and shows independent and alternative films. There is a tenpin bowling alley at Greyfriars Place. The new Stafford Leisure Centre opened in 2008 on Lammascote Road.

Night life consists of smaller bar and club venues such as Casa, the Grapes, the Picture House, neighbouring night clubs Couture and Poptastic, Hogarths, and rock gigs at the live music venue Redrum. Most of these are in walking distance of each other. There is a big student patronage, with coaches bringing them from Stoke-on-Trent, Cannock, and Wolverhampton.

A new shopping centre was completed in 2017, housing major stores and a number of restaurants, The Guildhall shopping centre is undergoing major redevelopment as accommodation and now only supports 5 shops

Like most of the British Isles, Stafford has a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest Met Office weather station is at Penkridge, about 5 miles to the south.

Stafford has a history of shoemaking as far back as 1476, when it was a cottage industry,[25] but a manufacturing process was introduced in the 1700s.[25] William Horton founded a business in 1767 that became the largest shoe company in Stafford, selling worldwide. He had several government contracts through the town's Member of Parliament (MP), the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The shoe industry gradually died out in the late 20th century, with Lotus Shoes the last manufacturer.[26] Its factory in Sandon Road was demolished in 2001 and replaced by housing.

A locomotive firm, WG Bagnall, was set up in 1875 to manufacture steam engines for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and the Great Western Railway. Between 1875 and 1962, the Castle Engine Works in Castle Town produced 1,660 locomotives, including steam, diesel and electric. It was taken over in 1962 by English Electric, which also bought the Stafford-based engine manufacturer WH Dorman & Company. This had merged with Bagnall's by then.

Since 1903, a major industrial activity has been heavy electrical engineering, particularly 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 T&D was split between former owners Alstom and Schneider Electric. At the end of 2015, the works were acquired by General Electric consolidating Stafford as the Centre of Excellence for HVDC, AC Substations and Converter Transformers. Each transformer weighs several hundred tons and a road train is used for transport. In the 1968 Hixon rail crash, one such road train was struck by an express train on a level crossing.

Perkins Engines has a factory for diesel engines in Littleworth. Adhesives manufacturer Bostik has a large factory in the town. Stafford is also a dormitory town for commuting to Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham.

Private service industries based in Stafford include TopCashback. The public sector provides much local employment, with Staffordshire County Council, Stafford Borough Council and Staffordshire Police all headquartered in the town. Stafford Prison, County Hospital and Beacon Barracks are other sources of public-sector employment.

The town was home to the computer science and IT campus of Staffordshire University, along with Beaconside campus, which housed the Faculty of Computing Engineering and Technology and part of the Business School. These have all been transferred to Stoke-on-Trent. The only block of Stafford University left in use is the School of Health in Blackheath Lane, which teaches medical nursing. The main Stoke campus lies about 18 miles (30 km) to the north.

The Guildhall Shopping Centre in the centre of town offers over 40 retail outlets, several empty at present. The three superstores around the main town centre were joined by two others in 2018.

At the 2021 census there were 70,145 residents in Stafford, up from 68,472, in the 2011 census, and 62,440 in the 2001 census.[1]

In terms of ethnicity in 2021:[1]

• 90.6% of Stafford residents were White
• 4.5% were Asian
• 1.6% were Black
• 2.3% were Mixed.
• 0.7% were from another ethnic group.

In terms of religion, 51.8% of Stafford residents identified as Christian, 42.9% said they had no religion, 1.7% were Muslim, 1.5% were Hindu, 0.8% were Sikh, 0.6% were Buddhists, and 0.6% were from another religion.[1]

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.

Stafford CC versus the MCC in their Centenary Year 1964

The town has two rugby union clubs,[57] though again they do not play at a high level.

There is a local hockey club[58] with eight adult teams.

Stafford Post Office Rifle and Pistol Club is a Home Office approved rifle club founded in 1956.[59] It has a 25-yard indoor range attached to the Stafford Post Office Social Club. In addition to short-range indoor shooting facilities, the club has a number of outdoor ranges, including Kingsbury, Sennybridge and Thorpe, for larger-calibre long-range shooting.

Stafford Cricket and Hockey Club, an ECB Clubmark Accredited Club founded in 1864, is almost certainly the town's oldest sports club. It appears to have played originally at the Lammascotes, before being offered a field at the Hough (Lichfield Road/GEC site) in 1899, which belonged to the grammar school. In 1984 the club made a move to Riverway in 1984, as the Hough came under the ownership of GEC. It currently owns 11 acres (4 ha) at Riverway and hosts numerous sports: two cricket pitches in summer and football, mini-football, rugby and hockey facilities in winter. In 1999 it won a £200,000 lottery grant towards a new pavilion completed in 2000, with six changing rooms and a function room. The cricket section welcomes players of all abilities.[60] Four senior sides play on Saturdays. The first and second elevens play in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League.[61] The third and fourth elevens play in the Stone and District Cricket League.[62] There is also a senior team that plays in the Lichfield Sunday League. The five junior sides are for under 9s, under 11s, under 13s, under 15s and under 17s.

In December 2018, a parkrun (free weekly timed 5k run/walk) was launched in Stafford on the Isabel Trail, a public foot/cycle path that follows part of the former course of the Stafford–Uttoxeter railway. The run/walk takes place on Saturday mornings at 09:00am, starting at the southern end of the Isabel Trail by Sainsbury's supermarket.[63]

Stafford Knot

The Stafford knot, sometimes Staffordshire knot, is a distinctive three-looped tie that is the traditional symbol of the county and county town, used on buildings, logos and coats of arms. It also gives its name to a pub.[64][65][66][67]

Notable people from Stafford include the 17th-century author of The Compleat Angler, Izaak Walton,[68] whose cottage at nearby Shallowford is now an angling museum, and the 18th-century playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan,[69] who was once the local MP. The 1853 Lord Mayor of London Thomas Sidney was also born in the town.

In the early 1900s, the village of Great Haywood near Stafford became home to the famous The Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien and his wife, Edith, in her cottage in the village during the winter of 1916. Surrounding areas were said to have inspired some of his early works.

The Scottish poet, playwright and freelancer Carol Ann Duffy, though born in Glasgow, 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 was the Poet laureate from 2009 to 2019, and now lives in Manchester.

Baron Stafford[70] is a title created several times in the Peerage of England.[71] A full schedule of over 30 of the eponymous title holders is listed at Baron Stafford. Here just three are included.

Map of Stafford

• Baswich

An estate towards Rugeley and Cannock from Stafford town centre

• Beaconside
• Burton Manor
• Castle House Gardens
• Castle House Drive
• Castlefields

An estate built on the wetlands off Newport Road in the early 1990s. Roads are named after then famous athletes (Gunnell Close, Christie Drive etc.)

• Castletown

Estate of terraced cottages built in the 1830s and 1840s for an influx of railway workers. Its former church, St Thomas's, was demolished in the 1970s and replaced by a new one in Doxey. The offices of Staffordshire Newsletter now occupy the site.

• The Crossings

An estate built on the site of Stychfields in the grounds of the Alstom factory. It also includes a retail park.

• Coppenhall
• Coton Fields
• Doxey
• Forebridge
• Highfields

A council estate between Wolverhampton Road and Newport Road. The first houses were built about 1955 and many others ("Highfields No. 2 estate" in 1963–1964. West Way is its longest street. Many streets added in the 1960s are named after poets and playwrights (Shakespeare Road, Masefield Drive, Coleridge Drive, Keats Avenue, Tennyson Road, Binyon Court, etc.) Much of the original estate was built on Preston's Farm land. Two tower blocks stood in Milton Grove: Brooke Court, mainly used as student housing, was demolished in 1998 for a housing development. Binyon Court was renovated and renamed the Keep.

• Holmcroft
• Hyde Lea
• King Edward Court
• Kingston Hill
• Littleworth
• Manor Estate
• Meadowcroft Park
• Moss Pit

Moss Pit is 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 in the north of the town built in the 1970s. It has two entrances from the A513 Beaconside Road and access to three parks, a green and Stafford Common. It has a primary school (Parkside Primary School) and Sir Graham Balfour School, rebuilt in 2001. Some school grounds were sold off for the adjacent Oaks housing estate. There is a precinct of shops and a bus terminus.

• Queensville
• Rising Brook
• Rickerscote

Rickerscote had a lane running from the Silkmore estate towards the area of the bridge to Argos. The area is known to many as the village and has a shop. Its large area of grassland know as the Green.

Other local areas are the Conker Tree, Boulton's Farm, Devil's Triangle and the Metal Bridge.

• Rowley Park
• Silkmore

Silkmore, between Rickerscote and Meadowcroft, by the Rising Brook. It has a primary school and a selection of shops. It has seen a development programme to upgrade the exteriors of the housing.

An area of Silkmore near the old Southend Club was subject to flooding. It has been replaced with new homes. Other parts such as Pioneer, the Garage and Finney's Farm have been replaced by homes or the Co-op.

• St. George's

A development close to St George's Hospital along St George's Parkway, with various modern buildings, including a modern interpretation of a Georgian crescent. Work has begun on restoring the hospital building, disused since 1995, as luxury flats.

• Tillington, Staffordshire
• Trinity Fields
• The Oaks

An estate off the A34 built on the site of the old Sir Graham Balfour School in the extreme north of Stafford. Coppice Way, so named after the adjacent Coppice is located where the environmental science department of the school used to be. Old School Drive and Balfour Way are located on the site of the old school's Balfour and Trinity buildings used to be.

• Walton on the Hill

To the south of Stafford bordering Milford. Walton High School is specialist science school.

• Weeping Cross

An estate on the east side of Stafford, off Radford Bank, towards Rugeley and Cannock. It contains the Leasowes Primary and St Anne's Catholic Primary schools.

• Western Downs

This borders Highfields and the M6 motorway. A green area with two football pitches and a basketball court known as Bottom Pitches can be found, along with Rainbow Park in Clarendon Drive and Dome Park in Torridge Drive.

• Wildwood

A large estate with a ring road that joins the A34 road. It was built around the 1970s and housed many of the Stafford police force at its HQ was on the opposite side of the A34.

These nature reserves are in Stafford:

• Astonfields Balancing Lakes, a local nature reserve, are two lakes constructed in recent decades for flood protection, a mile north of the town centre
• Doxey Marshes, managed by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, is a wet grassland habitat two miles northwest of the town centre
• Kingsmead Marsh, a local nature reserve, is a remnant of marshland near the town centre
• Radford Meadows, managed by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, is a floodplain two miles south of the town centre

Town Twinning Sign on Eccleshall Road

Stafford is twinned with:

• 1990 Stafford rail crash
• 1996 Stafford rail crash at Rickerscote
• HMP Stafford
• Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom
• Stafford (UK Parliament constituency)
• Listed buildings in Stafford (Central Area)
• Listed buildings in Stafford (Outer Area)
• Stafford power station

• Middlefell, Alfred (1 January 2000). The Ancient Town of Stafford from the 8th to the 20th Century. privately published.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Stafford (category)

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Stafford.

• Official website
• Stafford Gatehouse Theatre
• Stafford Borough Council site with short history of the town
• "Stafford" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 756–757.