Staffordshire

Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the Midlands of England. The county town is Stafford. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders. It adjoins the ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Shropshire.

Major towns in Staffordshire include Stoke-on-Trent, Burton-upon-Trent, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Tamworth and Stafford itself.

Staffordshire is divided into a number of districts. These are Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands and Tamworth. Stoke-on-Trent is administered as a separate unitary authority.

History

Main article History of Staffordshire.

The historic county of Staffordshire included Wolverhampton, Walsall, and West Bromwich, these were removed in 1974 to the new county of West Midlands. The resulting administrative area of Staffordshire has a narrow southwards protrusion that runs west of West Midlands to the border of Worcestershire. Further, Stoke-on-Trent was removed in the 1990s to form a unitary authority, but is still considered part of Staffordshire for ceremonial purposes.

Historically, Staffordshire was divided into the five hundreds of Cuttlestone, Offlow, Pirehill, Seisdon and Totmonslow.

Geography

In the north and in the south the county is hilly, with wild moorlands in the north and Cannock Chase an area of natural beauty in the south. In the midland regions the surface is low and undulating. Throughout the entire county there are vast and important coal fields. In the southern part there are also rich iron ore deposits. The largest river is the Trent. The soil is chiefly clay and agriculture was not highly developed.

Towns and villages

See the list of places in Staffordshire.

Places of interest

• Lichfield Cathedral [1]
• Shugborough Hall [2]
• Blithfield Hall
• Dovecliff Hall
• Ford Green Hall, Smallthorne
• Madeley Old Hall
• Moseley Old Hall, Featherstone
• Sandon Hall
• Whitmore Hall
• Biddulph Grange
• Eccleshall Castle
• Mow Cop Castle
• Stafford Castle
• Tamworth Castle
• Tutbury Castle
• Croxden Abbey
• Broad Eye Windmill, Stafford
• Cheddleton Flint Mill, watermill
• Watermill housing Brindley Water Museum, Leek
• Izaak Walton Cottage Museum
• Weston Park
• Cannock Chase
• Hazel Slade Reserve
• RSPB Coombes Valley
• National Memorial Arboretum [3]
• Trentham Gardens
• Rudyard Lake
• Tittesworth Reservoir [4]
• Chasewater [5]
• River Trent
• River Blythe
• River Churnet
• Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
• Caldon Canal
• Coventry Canal
• Shropshire Union Canal
• Trent and Mersey Canal, Harecastle Tunnel
• Heritage railways: Chasewater Railway, Foxfield Steam Railway, Manifold Valley Railway
• Long distance footpaths: Heart of England Way, Staffordshire Way

Local Groups

• West Midland Bird Club
• Lichfield Cricket Club

See also

• The Stafford knot – as on the coat of arms above

External links

• Staffordshire Past Track – excellent historical archive about the county