Alrewas ( ) is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

Lichfield District Lichfield () is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. It is administered by Lichfield District Council, based in Lichfield. The dignity and privileges of the City of Lichfield are vested in the parish council of the 14 km ...

of Staffordshire, England.

Geography

The village is beside the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

and about northeast of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west ...

. It is located southwest of

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. Th ...

. The parish is bounded by the Trent to the north and east, and by field boundaries to the south and west. The

A38 road The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England. The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it the longest two-d ...

passes the village, which is just inside the boundary of the

National Forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory. Background The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example: * In Australia ...

. Until 2009 Alrewas was part of the

of Alrewas and Fradley.

Fradley Fradley is a village in the Lichfield District, in the county of Staffordshire, England.OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) :

had begun as a hamlet in the ancient parish of Alrewas, and the civil parish was named to reflect Fradley's growth into a village. From 1 April 2009 Alrewas and Fradley have been two separate civil parishes. Near Alrewas are the villages of

Wychnor Wychnor (or Wichnor, ) is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, situated in the East Staffordshire local government district adjoining Alrewas and Barton-under-Needwood. It is situated on the A38, formerly the Roman road Ryknild ...

, Barton-under-Needwood,

Fradley Fradley is a village in the Lichfield District, in the county of Staffordshire, England.OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) :

and Kings Bromley. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 2,852.

Toponym

The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name o ...

"Alrewas" is derived from the Old English ''Alor-wæsse'', meaning "alluvial land growing with alder trees".

Places of interest

Bagnall Lock at Alrewas, Staffordshire - geograph

The A38 dual carriageway follows the line of

Ryknild Street Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in England, with a route roughly south-west to north-east. It runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire () to Templeborough in South Yorkshire (). It passes through Alce ...

, a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman R ...

that linked what are now

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

and

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. I ...

. Orgreave Hall is a brick-built

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhouse (Great Britain), town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the cit ...

in Alrewas parish about northwest of the village. It was built in 1668 and extended in the early 18th century. The

Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Mid ...

was built between 1766 and 1777. It passes through Alrewas, where northeast of the village it has a junction with the River Trent. The South Staffordshire Line of the South Staffordshire Railway was built through the parish in the 1840s and Alrewas railway station was opened in 1849.

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

ways closed the station in 1965, but this part of the line remains open. East of Alrewas is the

National Memorial Arboretum The National Memorial Arboretum is a British site of national remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the British Armed Forces and civilia ...

, dedicated to remembering those lost due to warfare since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Churches

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

is All Saints in Church Lane. The oldest parts of the building are 12th-century. Some Norman work remains but much of the present building is

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

from the 13th, 14th and 16th centuries. The

font In movable type, metal typesetting, a font is a particular #Characteristics, size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "Sort (typesetting), sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of ...

is 15th-century. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

is Jacobean, made in 1639. There is a monument by Thomas White to John Turton, who died in 1707. The church was restored in 1997. All Saints' is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

. The Methodist Church is in Post Office Road opposite the Crown Inn. It is a Gothic Revival brick building completed in 1928. In 1989 due to

rot Rot(s) or rotting may refer to: Decay Organic matter * Rot, decomposition of organic matter ** Dry rot, of wood ** Root rot ** Wet rot, of wood * Necrosis, of tissue Technology * Bit rot, data degradation ** Software rot, a form of bit rot * Di ...

the roof was renewed. At the same time a new floor was laid, involving the removal of pews and organ.

School

All Saints Primary School is the local Church of England primary school. It is a small primary school which is only slightly more than single form entry.

Public houses

The village has three pubs: the Crown Inn, the George and Dragon and the William IV. The Crown is a pub and restaurant in Post Office Road. The George and Dragon is an 18th-century building in Main Street. The William IV was three cottages until the 1830s, when it was converted into a pub.

The National Memorial Arboretum

The

is at Alrewas. It "honours the fallen, recognises service and sacrifice, and fosters pride in our country". The Arboretum is a charity run by staff and volunteers, and part of The

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in n ...

group of charities. An Act of Remembrance, including a silence, is observed daily in the Millennium Chapel. The Arboretum receives about 300,000 visitors a year.

Culture

The village holds the biennial Alrewas Arts Festival every other summer. The first festival was in 2006, and it has become a much loved attraction in the village's calendar. It is an eight-day free festival that includes workshops, performances, exhibitions and events in Alrewas village. It features local artistic and artisan talents. The workshops range from silk painting to film making. There is fund raising including auctions and sales in the intermediate 2-year period to meet the festival's costs. It culminates in a Sunday daytime to evening event of live music, comedy and interactive arts in Alrewas Park that attracts thousands of party-goers from surrounding villages and towns. Each year the village hosts the Alrewas Show, which is a registered charity. It includes a walking carnival procession (formerly driven floats), galloping acrobatics, a falconry display, miniature steam display, Punch and Judy show, livestock display, fairground rides and attractions, trade stands, historic cars, farm machinery and music.

Buildings

Gallery

File:All Saints, Alrewas.jpg, Lychgate and west tower of
All Saints' parish church. File:Alrewas Methodist Church, Staffordshire - geograph.org.uk - 1587845.jpg, Alrewas Methodist church (2009) File:The George and Dragon at Alrewas, Staffordshire - geograph.org.uk - 1587998.jpg, The George and Dragon (2009) File:Armed Forces Memorial - View towards the Lafarge quarry workings - geograph.org.uk - 846536.jpg, Part of the

(2008) File:Tudor House, Alrewas - geograph.org.uk - 321304.jpg, Alrewas has several

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

timber-framed houses Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

. Shakespeare Cottage in Main Street was built in the 17th century and extended in the 19th. (1993)

Sport & Leisure

Cricket

Alrewas Cricket Club is an English amateur

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

club with a history of cricket in the village dating back to 1879. The club ground is based on Daisy Lane. Alrewas CC have 3 Saturday senior XI teams that compete in the

Derbyshire County Cricket League The Premier Division of the Derbyshire County Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Derbyshire, England, and is a designated ECB Premier League. a Sunday XI team in the Lichfield & District Cricket League, a Women's team in the West Midlands Women’s Cricket League, a Woman's softball team and an established junior training section that play competitive cricket in the Burton & District Youth Cricket League.