Eccleshall is a town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

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 th ...

district, in the county of

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 C ...

, England. It is located seven miles northwest of

, and six miles west-southwest of

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

. Eccleshall is twinned with

Sancerre Sancerre () is a medieval hilltop town (ville) and commune in the Cher department, France overlooking the river Loire. It is noted for its wine. History Located in the area of Gaul settled by the powerful Celtic (Gaule Celtique) tribe, the B ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

History

According to 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 ...

, Eccleshall in 1086 was no more than a small village of about one hundred inhabitants. A few fragments of stone at the base of the tower of the present Parish Church of Holy Trinity suggest that a stone church was in existence about this time and the base of a 10th-century cross still stands outside the church. The oldest part of the church, the pillars and arches of the nave, were begun in 1180 while the remainder of the church was completed during the 13th century, with a fine clerestory being added in the 15th century. Eccleshall became important as a market town for the surrounding area. In 1153 it was granted the right to hold a weekly market. Around the beginning of the 13th century the village had become a town with the granting of ‘Borough’ status and by 1259 had obtained a charter to hold an annual fair at Ascensiontide. By the time of the survey of the bishop’s estates in 1298 about five hundred people lived in the village, mainly craftsmen or engaged in agriculture. To the

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and W ...

, Eccleshall was conveniently situated on the main road between the centres of the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

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 ...

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 o ...

and

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

. Land was reputedly granted to

St Chad Chad of Mercia (died 2 March 672) was a prominent 7th-century Anglo-Saxon Catholic monk who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and subsequently Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonised ...

and in 1200 Bishop Geoffrey de Muschamp was granted by King John a ‘licence to crenellate’ a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

. From then on until the 1860s the site would provide a residence for the Bishops of Lichfield. However the ruins which exist today are those a later castle built in 1305 by Bishop William Langton, a friend of King

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

and later Chancellor of England. This was the great era of castle building and he built an imposing fortress with four corner towers and a wide moat. Eccleshall castle briefly played a part in the

War of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

, when it was used as a base for the Lancastrian

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Margaret of Anjou Margaret of Anjou (french: link=no, Marguerite; 23 March 1430 – 25 August 1482) was Queen of England and nominally Queen of France by marriage to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Born in the Duchy of Lorrain ...

and her troops before and after her defeat at the

Battle of Blore Heath The Battle of Blore Heath was a battle in the English Wars of the Roses. It was fought on 23 September 1459, at Blore Heath in Staffordshire. Blore Heath is a sparsely populated area of farmland, two miles east of the town of Market Drayton in ...

in 1459. In June 1643 the castle was besieged by Sir William Brereton and his Parliamentary forces encamped around the church. Their guns caused considerable damage to the walls but the castle held out. When the Parliamentary forces finally took the castle on 30 August they found that the bishop had died of a heart attack during the siege and most of the defenders were either drunk or had gone into town drinking in the taverns. The castle was sacked but enough of the building remained to be used as a prison for Royalist gentry. With the development of turnpike trusts in the 18th century as a method of financing road building and improvements, coach travel throughout England had become faster and more reliable. With its position on the main

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

road Eccleshall became an important stopping point for coaches on several different routes and the town prospered, the inns in particular. Until recently the large stables at the Royal Oak Hotel could be seen. For three centuries

leather working Leather crafting or simply leathercraft is the practice of making leather into craft objects or works of art, using shaping techniques, coloring techniques or both. Techniques Dyeing The application of pigments carried by solvents or water in ...

and

shoemaking Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

had been important domestic industries in Eccleshall, but by the end of the 19th century both had almost ceased, with the growth of the mechanised shoe factories in nearby

. Bishop William Overton (1580–1609) was probably responsible, in 1580, for bringing two

glass making Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

families from

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

, Tyzack and Henzey to Bishop's Wood near Eccleshall to set up glass production. Manufacturing ceased around 1615, however, the site of one glass furnace has been excavated in recent times and is preserved and can be seen in Bishop's Wood. The film '' I Know Where I'm Going!'', Powell and Pressburger's classic romantic comedy made in 1945 highlights Eccleshall in the scene where Joan Webster ( Wendy Hiller) meets up with her father in London, and he informs her that he had travelled all the way from Eccleshall to see her that evening.

Community

The high street has numerous shops, pubs, restaurants and businesses. A

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

is held every month and the town holds its major festival every two years. The Eccleshall Show is held every summer at Sugnall Parks. Eccleshall High Street, with many Georgian and earlier buildings, is a conservation area. The town has been a regular winner in the Britain in Bloom competition and, in summer, the main parts of Eccleshall are bedecked with colourful floral baskets, organised by the town's civic group, the 'Ecclian Society'. Eccleshall F.C. are an English non-league football club. They play in the North West Counties League Division One. The reserves play in the Staffordshire County Senior League Premier Division. HM Prison Drake Hall is a women's

closed Closed may refer to: Mathematics * Closure (mathematics), a set, along with operations, for which applying those operations on members always results in a member of the set * Closed set, a set which contains all its limit points * Closed interval, ...

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

. It is approximately a mile north of the town, near the village of Sturbridge. Nearby Cold Meece houses a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

training area that used to be a

Royal Ordnance Factory Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories during and after the Second World War. Until privatisation, in 1987, they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply, and later the Mini ...

, ROF Swynnerton. It is often used by the Air Training Corps and the

Army Cadet Force The Army Cadet Force (ACF), generally shortened to Army Cadets, is a national youth organisation sponsored by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence and the British Army. Along with the Sea Cadet Corps and the Air Training Corps, the ACF mak ...

Media

In terms of television, Eccleshall is served by

BBC Midlands Today ''Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the West Midlands. It was launched in 1964 and is presented by Mary Rhodes, Nick Owen, Elizabeth Glinka, Rebecca Wood and Shefali Oza. Overview ''Midlands Today'' is produc ...

and

ITV Central ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...

. Local radio is covered by

Signal Radio Signal 1 is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Staffordshire and South Cheshire. As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audience of 172,000 listeners acc ...

and

BBC Radio Stoke BBC Radio Stoke is the BBC's local radio station serving Staffordshire and South Cheshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, Freeview and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Hanley area of Stoke-on-Trent. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekl ...

. The town is also served by Free Radio Shropshire and Black Country. The local newspapers are the Staffordshire Newsletter and Express and Star, who have offices in

, an
The Stone and Eccleshall Gazette
which comes from

Transport

The

A519 road The A519 is a road in the Midlands, United Kingdom. Route It that runs between Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire and Newport, Shropshire. At Newport it meets the A518 and A41. It heads broadly north, passing via Eccleshall, junction 1 ...

runs through the town. Junction 14 of 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 ...

is five miles south of Eccleshall on the A5013. The nearest railway station was Norton Bridge, three miles east, which formally closed in 2017. The nearest operational railway stations are

and

Places of interest

Holy Trinity Church dates from 1195. The tombs of five Bishops of Lichfield lie in the church, that of William Overton beside the altar being particularly notable. Eccleshall Castle was the palace of the

. The

details that the Eccleshall estate had been given to the

some time before the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

, possibly as early as the 7th century. By the time Bishop John Lonsdale died in 1867 the lack of a railway was one of the main reasons that his successor Bishop Selwyn gave for the decision to sell the castle and thus sever the long association of Eccleshall with the

. At the beginning of the last century the castle passed into the hands of the present owners, the Carter family (distant relations of former US President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

). The town itself was a relatively important market town by the time of the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

. In 1459, the castle was briefly a residence for the Queen,

, in her preparation for the

, the site of which lies a few miles north of the town near

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and electoral ward in the north of Shropshire, England, close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is on the River Tern, and was formerly known as "Drayton in Hales" (c. 1868) and earlier simply as " ...

. Later, the castle suffered damage 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 r ...

. The restored Mill Meece Pumping Station is to the north of Eccleshall.

Twin towns

Eccleshall is twinned with: *

, France

Industry

For three centuries leather working and shoemaking had been important domestic industries in Eccleshall, but by the end of the 19th century both had almost ceased, with the growth of the mechanised shoe factories in nearby Stafford. Glass production was important to the town in the 14th and 15th centuries. Farming remains a major activity in the area. Eccleshall has been the site for an operational

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration ...

power station since September 2007, fuelled by

elephant grass The term Elephant grass may refer to the following grass species: * The Asian '' Miscanthus giganteus'', also known as giant miscanthus, commonly used as a biomass crop * The African ''Cenchrus purpureus'', also known as Napier grass, Uganda grass ...

, the majority of which is grown by local farmers within a 30-mile radius. The maximum capacity of 2.6MW makes Eccleshall one of the first carbon-neutral towns in the UK, according to the company that runs the plant.

Notable people

* William Overton (c.1525–1609), an English bishop, he is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Eccleshall. * Samuel Butler (1774-1839), Bishop of Lichfield, previously headmaster of

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

, died at Eccleshall Castle. *

Charles E. Dudley Charles Edward Dudley (May 23, 1780January 23, 1841) was an American businessman and politician. A member of Martin Van Buren's Albany Regency, Dudley served as mayor of Albany, New York, a member of the New York State Senate, and a U.S. Senat ...

(1780-1841),

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Mayor of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Cit ...

, member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan comp ...

, born at Johnson Hall, Eccleshall. * John Lonsdale (1788–1867), Bishop of Lichfield, died at Eccleshall Castle and buried in Eccleshall. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 34, Lonsdale, John
retrieved 9 August 2018

Sport

* Frederick Webster (1885 in Eccleshall — 1938), an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire in 1906. * Anthony Hobson (born in Eccleshall 1965), a former English cricketer. Hobson was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm off break * David Boden (born in Eccleshall 1970), a former English cricketer. Boden was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium-fast. * David Hibbert (born Eccleshall 1986), a former football striker; now a coach at Stoke City F.C.

Nearby locations

References

External links

Parish Council website

Comprehensive guide to Eccleshall

Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Parish

Eagle House (Early 18th century grade II listed building)
{{authority control Towns in Staffordshire Civil parishes in Staffordshire Borough of Stafford