Audley is a large village in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England. It is the centre of

Audley Rural Audley Rural is a parish of Staffordshire, England, located four miles to the north-west of the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is predominantly a rural area, of which Audley is the centre. Other settlements are Alsagers Bank, Bignall End ...

parish, approximately four miles (6 km) north west of

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

and 3 miles (5 km) from

Alsager Alsager ( ) is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located to the north-west of Stoke-on-Trent and east of Crewe. The town's population was 13,389 at the 2021 census. ''The Mere'' is a ...

near the Staffordshire-

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

border. Audley is located on the B5500, the former

A52 road A5 and variants may refer to: Science and mathematics * A5 regulatory sequence in biochemistry * A5, the abbreviation for the androgen Androstenediol * Annexin A5, a human cellular protein * ATC code A05 ''Bile and liver therapy'', a subgroup of ...

. Just south of the A500, the village is approximately five minutes from the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...

. The first mention of Audley is in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, when it was called ''Aldidelege'', when the lands were held by a Saxon called

Gamel Muselmann (German plural Muselmänner) was a slang term used amongst prisoners of German Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust (World War II) to refer to those suffering from a combination of starvation (known also as "hunger disease") ...

. At this time, the area was very sparsely populated, and because of its distance from the major towns of

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

there was little outside contact. There was a medieval castle at Audley Castle Hill during the late 13th century; only a low earthwork remains of the former

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

. Excavations have yielded some stonework.

Church

The parish church of St James is on Church Street, at the top of Wilbraham's Walk. Christians have met together on the site of the present church building for nearly 1000 years. Part of the Lichfield Diocese of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, the church is linked to St John's, Alsager's Bank and St Martin's, Talke in a united benefice established by the Diocese. It is a Grade II* listed building, Thomas Audley, whose commemorative brass is i
St James Church
in Audley, was the son of the second Lord Audley, James (Baron Audley of Redcastle and Heleigh) and Elizabeth Lestrange of Knokyn. James 2nd Baron Audley's first wife was Joan Mortimer, daughter of Roger Mortimer. James's cousin Sir James Audley was Edward 'The Black Prince's' hero on the battlefield who was created 21st

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

. Sir James's father was Hugh Audley Baron Audley of Stratton.

Theatre

The volunteer-run Audley Theatre is located in the former Coronation Cinema on Hall Street. The cinema was originally opened in 1911. In the 1930s it was renamed the Palace Cinema, and after 1962 was converted into a bingo club. It later stood empty. It was purchased by the Audley Players in 1967, and renovated; in 1969 the Audley Theatre was opened by

Jackie Trent Yvonne Ann Burgess (6 September 1940 – 21 March 2015), better known by her stage name Jackie Trent, was an English singer-songwriter and actress. She was best known for co-writing (with Tony Hatch) several hits for Petula Clark in the 1960s an ...

and

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mus ...

Sport

Audley has football, cricket and bowling clubs within the village. For the 2010–2011 season the football club played in Division 1 of the Staffordshire County League Staffordshire County Senior League. Audley Cricket club 1st team play in the North Staffs South Cheshire Premier League

North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League The North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire area of England, and the league Headquarters is based in Stoke on Tren ...

, which they won in 2007. They also have 2x other Saturday teams, 1x Sunday team and various junior teams from Under 19's through to Under 8's. Audley Cricket Club

Audley climbing centre offers a wide range of activities to the local area and Audley's Kent Hills cricket ground has hosted 3

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

games; v Shropshire in 2010 and v Suffolk in 2009 and 2006. Wood Lane cricket ground - geograph

Schools

Ravensmead County Primary School
* Sir Thomas Boughey Academy
Wood Lane Primary School

Notable residents

* Robert Latham (1912–1995), academic and editor of ''The Diary of Samuel Pepys'', was born in Audley *

Ronnie Jepson Ronald Francis Jepson (born 12 May 1963) is an English former football player and manager who is now Neil Warnock's assistant manager at club Huddersfield Town. A striker, he scored 86 goals in 354 league games in an eleven-year profession ...

(born 1963), footballer for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

*Dr Adam Kelso Fulton (1929-94), Scottish rugby union internationalist

References

* ''Audley Parish Millennium 1000 – 2000 AD'', ed. Robert Speake

External links

A brief history of Audley Village

Website for charities, organisations and businesses, in and around the Audley area

St James Church, Audley - website

The Orthodox Church of St Michael in Audley
* * Audley Cricket Clu
website
{{authority control Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Villages in Staffordshire