Hilderstone is a village and a

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 the English 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 Cou ...

.OS Explorer Map 244: Cannock Chase & Chasewater: (1:25 000) :Map Details
retrieved 11 April 2013

Location

The village is north of the town 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 south east of

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

. The nearest railway station is west in the town 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 ...

. The village is situate on the B 5066. The nearest main roads are the A520 which passes the village to the west.- Staffordshire A-Z County Atlas: 2011 Edition: Scale:3.8 inches to 1 mile (5.9cm to 1km)

Population

The 2011 census recorded a population of 641 in 235 Households. The parish comes under the Stafford Non-Metropolitan District.

History

Etymology

The genesis of the village name are said to be of Saxon origin.Staffordshire Place Names Including The Black Country – Hilderstone:Author: Anthony Poulton-Smith: Publisher: Countryside Books (1995): The name Heldulvestone and its variant are of Saxon derivation. The origin of Hilderstone is Hildewulf's ton meaning a warrior wolf and ton a place or town. Thus Hilderstone was the place of the warrior wolf.

Domesday Book

Hilderstone is recorded 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. In the survey the village has the name '' Heldulvestone''The Domesday Book, Englands Heritage, Then and Now, Editor: Thomas Hinde, Staffordshire Section, Hilderstone: In the survey the settlement was described as quite small with only 6 households. Other Assets included 2 villager or ''

villein A villein, otherwise known as ''cottar'' or ''crofter'', is a serf tied to the land in the feudal system. Villeins had more rights and social status than those in slavery, but were under a number of legal restrictions which differentiated them ...

'', meadow of 1 acres, 2 smallholders and 2 slave. There was also 3 ploughlands (land for), 1 lord's plough teams, 1 men's plough teams. In 1066 the lord of the manor was held by ''Wulfric'' Dunning. In 1086 the lord of the manor was held by ''Vitalis'' of Hilderstone. The Tenant-in-chief in 1086 was ''Robert'' of Stafford.

Buildings and structures

There are 15 listed buildings and structures within the parish. This includes a

K6 Telephone Box The red telephone box, a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar. Despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, ...

designed in 1935 by

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (9 November 1880 – 8 February 1960) was a British architect known for his work on the New Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral, and ...

. All of these structures have been designated a Grade II listing.

Listed buildings in Hilderstone

The parish church of Christ Church

The Grade II listedChrist Church Listings
retrieved 20 April 2013 parish church of Christ Church began construction in 1829 with the laying of a foundation stone. The church was designed by Thomas Trubshaw (1802–42) and was built using a local stone called Hollington stone. Trubshaw was a son of

James Trubshaw James Trubshaw (13 February 1777 – 28 October 1853) was an English builder, architect and civil engineer.gothic style 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 ...

. The structure is in length and has a central aisle and two side aisles. The church is at its widest. There is tall tower with a recessed spire at the north west with a single bell.Staffordshire (The Buildings of England): Author:

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

: Publisher: Pevsner Architectural Guides; 1st edition (27 May 1976): Around the outside

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

of the church there are carved gargoyles which are said to depict the workmen involved in the building of the church. The church was completed in 1833 and opened on 31 July of that year.

Moated site

The site of a moat lies south-west of Hilderstone Hall. It relates to a former house for which records go back to the 13th century, predating the hall which was built in 1730. The dry moat, dimensions about square, is about wide and up to deep. A fishpond, associated with the moated house, is immediately south-east. They are a

scheduled 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 ...

Notable people

Richard Gerard of Hilderstone Richard Gerard of Hilderstone, Staffordshire (born about 1635; died 11 March 1680 (O.S.)) was a victim of the Popish Plot of the reign of Charles II of England. He was a Roman Catholic recusant landowner in Staffordshire, and came forward as a wit ...

(1635-1680) a victim of the Popish Plot of the reign of Charles II. He was a Roman Catholic and came forward as a witness in the defence of the accused Catholic aristocrat,

William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford, FRS (30 November 1614 – 29 December 1680) was the youngest son of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and his wife, the former Alethea Talbot. A Fellow of the Royal Society from 1665, he was a Royalist ...

, which led to his own death in prison, although he had never been brought to trial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilderstone Villages in Staffordshire