Cresswell is a hamlet 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 approximately one mile SE of

Blythe Bridge Blythe Bridge is a village in Staffordshire, England, south-east of Stoke-on-Trent. Etymology Blythe Bridge is so called as it is built around the site of a bridge over the River Blithe (spelt differently from the name of the village itself), a ...

and has a population of approximately 300. From the 2011 census the population of this hamlet has been included with

Draycott-in-the-Moors Draycott in the Moors is a village between Stoke on Trent and Uttoxeter near the River Blythe. It is two and a half miles from Cheadle, Staffordshire, Cheadle and is near Blythe Bridge railway station, on the North Staffordshire Railway.

. The "Izaak Walton"

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and restaurant is named after the seventeenth-century fisherman Izaak Walton, whose book ''

The Compleat Angler ''The Compleat Angler'' (the spelling is sometimes modernised to ''The Complete Angler'', though this spelling also occurs in first editions) is a book by Izaak Walton. It was first published in 1653 by Richard Marriot in London. Walton continu ...

'' is still in publication today. Walton was born in

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 legend has it that he fished in the

River Blithe The River Blithe is a river in Staffordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Trent and runs for around 18 miles from source to its confluence with the River Trent. Etymology The Origins of the name Blithe probably come from the Old E ...

, which is near the pub. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

Staffordshire saw a great deal of conflict. The local manor house Paynsley Hall was first held for

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, then garrisoned by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

arian forces before being destroyed. The site of the hall is protected as a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. Although little

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

remains, it is significant as an example of a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

ed site. Although it is still a rural area, the hamlet is the home of the Blythe Colour Works, which was established to produce under- glaze colours for the pottery industry. Cresswell is also the home of

Blythe The name Blythe ( or ) derives from Old English ''bliþe'' ("joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant"; modern ''blithe''), and further back from Proto-Germanic ''*blithiz'' ("gentle, kind"). People * Blythe (given name), including a list of people named ...

Cricket Club. Cresswell formerly had a railway station on the

Crewe to Derby Line Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston, ...

, but, although trains still pass through the hamlet, there are now no stations between Blythe Bridge and

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from De ...

. In the twentieth century there was also a short line from Cresswell to Cheadle ( Cheadle Branch Line).

Places of worship

Cresswell has an old

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

community. After the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

part of the population worshipped not in the local

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Draycott in the Moors Draycott in the Moors is a village between Stoke on Trent and Uttoxeter near the River Blythe. It is two and a half miles from Cheadle, Staffordshire, Cheadle and is near Blythe Bridge railway station, on the North Staffordshire Railway.

, but in a private chapel at Paynsley Hall, whose owners, the Draycot family, remained faithful to the old religion.

Anthony Babington Anthony Babington (24 October 156120 September 1586) was an English gentleman convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, for which he was hanged, drawn and quartere ...

(famous for the Babington Plot) married into the Draycot family. In 1791 Roman Catholicism was legalised in England and St. Mary's Catholic Church was constructed to serve the local Roman Catholics. The church is now served by the clergy of St. Augustine's, Meir, Stoke-on-Trent.

References

{{authority control Borough of Stafford Villages in Staffordshire

Places of worship

See also

References