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STAFFORDSHIRE
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STAFFORDSHIRE , a midland See also:county of See also:England, bounded N.E. by See also:Derbyshire, E. by that county and See also:Leicestershire, S.E. by See also:Warwickshire, S. by See also:Worcestershire, S.W. by See also:Shropshire and N.W. by See also:Cheshire. The See also:area is 1171.2 sq. m. The county includes the valley of the See also:Trent from its source to the point at which it becomes navigable, See also:Burton-upon-Trent. It rises in the extreme See also:north of the county, and follows a southerly course, turning eastward and finally north-eastward through the centre of the county. Its tributaries on the See also:left See also:bank follow a course roughly parallel with it; the See also:chief are the Blythe and the See also:Dove, which receives the Churnet from the See also:west, and forms the county boundary with Derbyshire. The See also:country between Trent, Churnet and Dove is undulating and beautiful; the hills rise to some 1800 ft. on the Derbyshire border in See also:Axe Edge near See also:Buxton, and continue by See also:Mow Cop or See also:Congleton Edge along the Cheshire border to the See also:coal-bearing hills above the See also:Potteries See also:district. Dovedale, the name applied to a portion of the upper valley of the Dove (q.v.), attracts many visitors on See also:account of its beauty, and is in favour with anglers for its See also:trout-fishing. See also:South of the Trent, about the See also:middle of the county, an elevated area is known as See also:Cannock See also:Chase, formerly a royal preserve, now a wealthy coalfield, and the high ground, generally exceeding 500 ft., continues south to surround the See also:great manufacturing district of south Staffordshire (the See also:Black Country), and to See also:merge into the Clent and Lickey Hills of Worcestershire. A small area in the north-west drains to the See also:Weaver, and so to the See also:Mersey, and from the west and south-west the See also:Severn receives some small feeders and itself touches the county in the extreme south-west. The only considerable See also:sheet of See also:water is Aqualate See also:Mere, in the grounds of the See also:mansion of that name near See also:Newport in Shropshire. See also:Geology.—The Pennine folding gently plicates the See also:northern of two Carboniferous tracts interrupting the Midland Triassic See also:plateau in Staffordshire, but affects the unconformable Trias less. It isolates the Pottery and smaller coalfields mainly in synclines, but elevates the western margin of the former anticlinally. A prolongation See also:arches the South Staffordshire Coal See also:Measures, with See also:minor saddles disclosing See also:Silurian inliers, intermediate formations being absent there. Faults depressing the Trias See also:bound the See also:southern coalfield on both sides, the northern Carboniferous westward. At See also:Walsall Upper See also:Llandovery See also:Sandstone with Stricklandinia See also:lens and See also:Barr (Woolhope) See also:Limestone (Illaenus barriensis) underlie See also:Wenlock Shales, succeeded, as at See also:Wren's See also:Nest and See also:Dudley, by Wenlock Limestone in two beds, honeycombed with old See also:lime-workings and famous for See also:trilobites. At See also:Sedgley there follow See also:Lower See also:Ludlow Shales, Sedgley (Aymestry) Limestone (Pentamerus knighti) and some Upper Ludlow Shale. Carboniferous Limestone, with gently-sloping hills and deep valleys, enters the northern region on the See also:east. It contains brachiopods and See also:corals of the Dibunophyllum See also:zone, with See also:lead and See also:copper, once worked at Ecton. Marine Pendleside (Yoredale) Shales, with thin limestones and higher sandstones, ascend around a central syncline and the northern margins of the coalfields into the Millstone Grit, whose four grits in massive escarpments, only the " First " and " Third " persisting westward, alternate with shales. The Pottery Coalfield, the centre of pottery manufacture, though See also:local See also:clays now furnish only coarse See also:ware and the " saggars " in which pottery is baked, includes 8000 ft. of Coal Measures, chiefly shales, clays and sandstones, diminishing south-See also: Shales, pottery-clays and " black-See also:band " ironstones with thin Spirorbis-limestones, See also:Entomostraca and Anthracomya phillipsi (Blackband See also:Series), succeed in the Pottery Coalfield. Then follow red See also:brick-clays with ashy grits (See also:Etruria Marls) ; See also: Like most of the midland counties, Stafford-shire is well wooded. The acreage under See also:corn crops is steadily diminishing, and See also:wheat, which formerly was the principal corn See also:crop, is now superseded in this respect by oats, which occupies over one-See also:half of the corn acreage, little more being under wheat than under See also:barley. Turnips are grown on about half the acreage under See also:green crops.
Manufactures.—The manufactures of Staffordshire are varied and important. Out of the three great coalfields in the north, south and centre (Cannock Chase), the two first have wholly distinct dependent See also:industries. The southern See also:industrial district is commonly known as the Black Country (q.v.) ; it is the principal seat in England of See also:iron and See also:steel manufacture in all its branches. It covers an area, between Birmingham and See also:Wolverhampton, resembling one great See also:town, and includes such famous centres as Walsall, See also:Wednesbury, Dudley (in Staffordshire) and West Bromwich. The northern industrial district is called the Potteries (q.v.). Cheadle, east of the Potteries, is the centre of a smaller coalfield. Burtonupon-Trent is famous for its breweries. Chemical See also:works are found in the Black Country, brick and See also:tile works in the Black Country
and at See also:Tunstall, glassworks at See also:Tutbury ; there are also a considerable textile industry, as at Newcastle-under-Lyme, See also:paper-See also:mills in that town and at See also:Tamworth, and manufactures of boots and shoes at Stafford and See also: This See also:company and the Great Western serve the towns of the Black Country by many branches from Birmingham, and jointly See also:work the Stafford-See also:Shrewsbury line. The London & North-Western has branches from Trent Valley to Burton-upon-Trent, and from Rugeley through the Cannock Chase coalfields. The North Staffordshire railway runs from Stafford and from Burton-upon-Trent northward through the Potteries, with a line from See also:Uttoxeter through See also:Leek to See also:Macclesfield. The Manifold Valley See also:light railway serves See also:part of the Dovedale district. The west-and-north line of the Midland railway (See also:Bristol-See also:Derby) crosses the south-eastern part of the county from Birmingham by See also:Tam-See also:worth and Burton, with a See also:branch to Wolverhampton. The Great Northern, with a branch from its main line at See also:Grantham, serves Uttoxeter, Burton and Stafford. A considerable amount of coal-transport takes See also:place along canals, the Black Country especially being served by numerous branches. The principal canals are—the See also:Grand See also:Trunk, which follows the Trent over the greater part of hf , ..4.a .mWABd h.mAW Ordn....8w.y.l~ y.rmbdve .f .4. Coc V.IW .1 NJ!.6o4mnq OM.. its course within the county, the See also:Coventry, Birmingham and Fazeley, Daw End and Essington canals, connecting the Grand Trunk with Warwickshire, the Black Country and Cannock Chase; the See also:Liverpool and Birmingham junction; the Staffordshire and Worcestershire, See also:running from the Severn at See also:Stourport by Wolverhampton and See also:Penkridge to the Grand Junction near Stafford, and the Caldon See also:canal running eastward from the Potteries into the Churnet Valley. See also:Population and See also:Administration.—The area of the See also:ancient county is 749,602 acres, with a population in 1891 of 1,083,424; and in 1901 of 1,234,506. The area of the administrative county is 744,984 acres. Staffordshire contains five hundreds, each having two divisions. The municipal boroughs are: in the southern industrial district, See also:Smethwick (pop. 54,539), Walsall (86,430), Wednesbury (26,554), West Bromwich (65,175), Wolverhampton (94,187); in the northern industrial district, Newcastle-under-Lyme (19,914), and the several formerly See also:separate boroughs amalgamated under the rr Potteries Federation " See also:Scheme (1908) under the name of Stoke-on-Trent (q.v.); elsewhere, Burton-upon-Trent (50,386), Lich-See also: The parliamentary See also:borough of Wolverhampton returns a member for each of three divisions, and the boroughs of Hanley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stafford, Stoke-upon-Trent, Walsall, Wednesbury and West Bromwich each return one member.
See also:History.—The district which is now Stafford-
shire was invaded in the 6th See also:century by a tribe
of Angles who settled about Tamworth, after-
wards famous as a See also:residence of the Mercian
See also:kings, and later made their way beyond Can-
nock Chase, through the passages afforded by
the Sow valley in the north and Watling See also:Street
in the south. The district was frequently
overrun by the Danes, who in 910 were defeated
at Tettenhall, and again at Wednesfield, and it
was after See also:Edward the See also:Elder had finally expelled
the Northmen from See also:Mercia that the See also:land of the
south Mercians was formed into a shire around
the fortified See also:burgh which he had made in 914
at Stafford. The county is first mentioned by name in the
Anglo-Saxon See also:Chronicle in 1or6 when it was harried by Canute.
The resistance which Staffordshire opposed to the Conqueror
was punished by ruthless harrying and See also:confiscation, and the
Domesday Survey supplies See also:evidence of the depopulated and
impovejished See also:condition of the county, which at this See also:period
contained but 64 mills, whereas See also:Dorset, a smaller county,
contained 272. No Englishman was allowed to retain estates
of any importance after the See also:Conquest, and the chief See also:lay See also:pro-
prietors at the See also:time of the survey were See also:Earl See also:Roger of Mont-
gomery; Earl See also:Hugh of Chester; See also: In the 13th century Staffordshire formed the archdeaconry of Stafford, including the deaneries of Stafford, Newcastle, See also:Alton and Leek, Tamworth and Tutbury, Lapley and Creigull. In 1535 the deanery of Newcastle was combined with that of Stone, the deaneries remaining otherwise unaltered until 1866, when they were increased to twenty. The archdeaconry of Stoke-on-Trent was formed in 1878, and in 1896 the deaneries were brought to their See also:present number; the archdeaconry of Stafford comprising Handsworth, Himley, Lichfield, Penkridge, Rugeley, Stafford, Tamworth, Trysull, Tutbury, Walsall, Wednesbury, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton; the See also:arch-deaconry of Stoke-on-Trent comprising Alstonfield, Cheadle, Eccleshall, Hanley, Leek, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent, Trentham and Uttoxeter.
In the See also:wars of the reign of Henry III. most of the great families of Staffordshire, including the Bassets and the Ferrers, supported See also:Simon de See also:Montfort, and in 1263 See also:Prince Edward ravaged all the lands of Earl Robert Ferrers in this county and destroyed Tutbury See also:Castle. During the Wars of the See also:Roses, Eccleshall was for a time the headquarters of See also:Queen See also:Margaret, and in 1459 the Lancastrians were defeated at Blore Heath. In the Civil See also:War of the 17th century Staffordshire supported the parliamentary cause and was placed under See also:Lord See also:Brooke. Tamworth, Lichfield and Stafford, however, were garrisoned for See also: The potteries are of remote origin, but were improved in the 17th century by two See also:brothers, the Elers, from See also:Amsterdam, who introduced the method of salt See also:glazing, and in the 18th century they were rendered famous by the achievements of See also:Josiah See also:Wedgwood.
Staffordshire was represented by two members in the parliament of 1290, and in 1295 the borough of Stafford also returned two members. Lichfield was represented by two members in 1304, and Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1355. Tamworth returned two members in 1562. Under the Reform Act of 1832 the county returned four members in four divisions, and the boroughs of Stoke-on-Trent and Wolverhampton were represented by two members each, and Walsall by one member. Under the act of 1868 the county returned six members in three divisions and Wednesbury returned one member.
Antiquities.—See also:Early See also:British remains exist in various parts of the county; and a large number of barrows have been opened in which human bones, urns, fibulae, stone hammers, armlets,pins, pottery and other articles have been found. In the neighbourhood of Wetton, near Dovedale, on the site called Borough Holes, no fewer than twenty-three barrows were opened, and British ornaments have been found in Needwood Forest, the district between the lower Dove and the See also:angle of the Trent to the south. Several See also:Roman camps also remain, as at See also:Knave's Castle on Watling Street, near Brownhills. The most noteworthy churches in the county are found in the large towns, and are described under their respective headings. Such are the beautiful cathedral of Lichfield, and the churches of Eccleshall, Leek, Penkridge St See also:Mary's at Stafford, Tamworth, Tutbury, and St See also:Peter's at Wolverhampton. Checkley, 4 M. south of Cheadle, shows See also:good Norman and Early See also:English details, and there are carved stones of pre-Norman date in the See also: Armitage, south-east of Rugeley, has a church showing good Norman work. Brewood church, 4 M. south-west of Penkridge, is Early English. This See also:village gives name to an ancient forest. Audley church, north-west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, is a good example of Early Decorated work. Remains of ecclesiastical foundations are generally slight, but those of the Cistercian See also:abbey of Croxden, north-west of Uttoxeter, are See also:fine Early English, and at Ranton, west of Stafford, the Perpendicular See also:tower and other portions of an Augustinian See also:foundation remain. Among See also:medieval domestic remains may be mentioned the castles of Stafford, Tamworth and. Tutbury, with that of Chartley, north-east of Stafford, which See also:dates from the 13th century. Here is also a timbered See also: Erdeswick, Survey of Staffordshire (London, 1717; 4th ed., by T. Harwood, London, 1844) ; Stebbing See also:Shaw, History and Antiquities of Staffordshire, &c., vol. i., ii., pt. i. (London, 1798–1801); William See also:Pitt, Topographical History of Staffordshire (Newcastle-under-Lyme, 1817) ; See also:Simeon Shaw, History of the Staffordshire Potteries (Hanley, 1829) ; Robert Garner, Natural History of the County of Stafford (London, 1844–186o) ; William Salt, Archaeological Society, Collections for a History of Staffordshire (188o), vol. i.; See also:Victoria County History; Staffordshire. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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