Harlaston is a village 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 authority ...

in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the

River Mease The River Mease is a lowland clay river in the Midlands area of England. It flows through the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire and forms the administrative border between these counties for parts of its length. The ri ...

, about north of Tamworth. There is an Early English church, dedicated to ''St Matthew'', and a

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 ...

, the ''White Lion''. Harlaston is a conservation area, and has won the Staffordshire Best Kept Small Village award 5 times.

History

The name Harlaston comes from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

, and means either ''Heoruwulfs farm'' or ''Heorulafs farm''. It has been suggested that the church goes back to the 11th century and is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

origin. Certainly, a corn mill is mentioned 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 ...

. Until 1845 Harlaston was a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...

of the parish of Clifton Campville, after which date it became an independent ecclesiastical parish. In 1851 the population was 221, on about 1400 acres of land. There were 2 lords of the manor, Captain Theophilus Levett and W Chettle, though much of the land belonged to other people.

Governance

The

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

of Harlaston became part of

Tamworth Poor Law Union Tamworth may refer to: Places England * Tamworth, Staffordshire * Tamworth (UK Parliament constituency) Australia * Tamworth, New South Wales ** Tamworth Airport * Tamworth Regional Council * Electoral district of Tamworth United States and Cana ...

1836 Events January–March * January 1 – Queen Maria II of Portugal marries Prince Ferdinand Augustus Francis Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. * January 5 – Davy Crockett arrives in Texas. * January 12 ** , with Charles Darwin on board, r ...

. In 1866 it also became a

in its own right, becoming part of

Tamworth Rural District Tamworth was a rural district in the English Midlands from 1894 to 1965. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from Tamworth rural sanitary district, and was one of a handful of rural districts to cross county boundaries, with pa ...

in 1894. During the boundary changes of 1934, the parish was extended to incorporate Haselour, becoming part of

Lichfield Rural District Lichfield was a rural district in the county of Staffordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was enlarged in 1934 by gaining part of Staffordshire that had been administered since 1894 as part of Tamworth Rural District, which was otherwise in Wa ...

. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

it became part of the new

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...

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 of B ...

. Electorally the parish is part of ''Mease and Tame'' ward of Lichfield District, and lies within the parliamentary constituency of Tamworth.

Landmarks

Harlaston includes a number of historic buildings. Listed Grade II* is the parish church of St Matthew; grade II listings include the Manor House, as well as several other houses, mileposts, and a telephone box. The Church is mainly built of red brick in Norman and Early English styles. There is a tower with three bells and a clock. The upper part of the tower is

half-timbered 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 wooden ...

– this is said to be unusual for Staffordshire. A small spire was added in the 19th century. The Old Rectory alongside the church dates from 1842. The Manor House dates back to 1540. It is of traditional timber construction. The Homestead dates back to 1773. It was built by William Mercer, a

harness A harness is a looped restraint or support. Specifically, it may refer to one of the following harness types: * Bondage harness * Child harness * Climbing harness * Dog harness * Pet harness * Five-point harness * Horse harness * Parrot harness * ...

maker. It may have once also been the village pub, the ''Whip and Saddle''.

Other Settlements

Haselour is an ancient manor and hamlet about a mile west of Harlaston. The name ''Haselour'' comes from

and means ''hazel ridge''. In 1851 it was described as having a population of 29 people in 5 houses, and covered . The area was

extra-parochial In England and Wales, an extra-parochial area, extra-parochial place or extra-parochial district was a geographically defined area considered to be outside any ecclesiastical or civil parish. Anomalies in the parochial system meant they had no ch ...

and the people were served by the chapel at Harlaston. For local government purposes Haselour was extra-parochial until 1858, when it became a civil parish within

Lichfield Poor Law Union Lichfield () is a cathedral city Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom. Cathedral city may also refer to: * Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States * Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Che ...

. In 1894 it became part of

; in 1934 the civil parish was incorporated into Harlaston. Listed Grade II* are Haselour Hall and its associated chapel. The manor house of Haselour Hall, with its traditional half-timbered Tudor appearance, dates back to the 16th century. The chapel dates from the 14th century, and was restored in the 1880s, but is now in poor condition and is on the

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

''at risk'' register. As of 2020, the Hall and chapel are on sale for £2.9 million. The now-closed

Elford railway station Elford railway station was a railway station serving the village of Elford and the manor of Haselour Hall in Staffordshire. History It was opened by the Midland Railway in 1850. It was between Tamworth and Burton upon Trent on the line ori ...

was originally named ''Haselour''.

References

External links