Keele 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 the

Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme The Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England. It is named after the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, where the council is based, but includes the town of Kidsgrove and village ...

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 three miles (5 km) 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 is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the

A53 road The A53 is a primary route in the English Midlands, that runs from Buxton in Derbyshire to Shrewsbury in Shropshire. Route of Road The A53 begins in the centre of Buxton off the A6 road, before meeting the A515 road at a roundabout. Out of t ...

from

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 "Dray ...

and

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

. The village is the location of

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

(at ) and

Keele Services Keele services is a motorway service station, between junctions 15 and 16 of the M6 motorway near Keele in England. Operated by Welcome Break, it was built in 1963 and was designed by Terence Verity of Verity Associates. The nearest towns are ...

(), a

motorway service area Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vas ...

on the M6. Keele is located in the

Keele ward Keele Ward is a local council ward in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It covers the village of Keele and the neighbouring University of Keele's campus. It has two local council positions. Elections last occurred in May 2014. Its council ...

of the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme with its name drawing from the old

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- ...

''Cȳ-hyll'' = "Cow-hill". The 2001 census indicated the parish had a population of 3,664,(increasing to 4,129 at the 2011 census) most of whom students at

as one of the halls of residence, Hawthorns, now sold for land redevelopment, was located in the heart of the village.

The Knights Templars & Hospitallers

The village is recognised for its association with the university and its position astride the M6. But during the Middle Ages, Keele was a major route from the North-West to London for laden packhorses and caravans alike.

Keele Preceptory Keele Preceptory was a preceptory (the headquarters of the order within a given geographical area), in Keele, Staffordshire, England. Owned by the Knights Templar until their suppression in the early 14th century, it then passed through a numb ...

was granted to the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

sometime between 1168 and 1169 by King Henry II. The Knights Templars, military order and later rivals

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

s, would charge incoming traffic to pass through their lands. This would supplement rental income from farming tenants. Little remains today of the Templar's heritage and less so of the Hospitallers. Erected during the 1992 bypass between Newcastle-under Lyme and Madeley to improve circulation in the village, an iron sculpture celebrates the arrival of the former at Keele. Additionally, one University hall of residence, Holly Cross, located on the estate and shaped in a Templar Cross, commemorates their presence. The parish church is named after the patron saint of the Hospitallers, St John the Baptist, and it is believed that one of the church's stained glass panels still contains elements of surviving early medieval glass.

Keele Estate & the Sneyd Family

From the mid 15th Century until the 1940s, the Sneyd family owned much of the village (cottages, school, farm, Inn), dominating local life architecturally as well as socially and receiving rents from villagers and tenants. The inhabitants were principally employed in collieries and iron works, notably in Silverdale, also belonging to the Sneyds. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the estate was requisitioned by the British government for the

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 Gurk ...

. Various training activities were carried out until the arrival of American servicemen in 1944. They occupied over 100 temporary buildings and

Nissen Huts A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British engineer and inventor Majo ...

. General

Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in Franc ...

visited during this period. Some prisoners of war were held locally during the war and after the war it became a camp for Polish servicemen and displaced persons.

University College of North Staffordshire

In 1948, with accumulated gambling debts amassed by the late Ralph Sneyd and high tax duties, the estate (including village outlets) was sold off by remaining relatives to Stoke-on-Trent Corporation. The land was earmarked for the development of the new University College of North Staffordshire, which was founded in 1949, opened in 1950 and received its royal charter as

in 1962. In the village, a collection of buildings, collectively known as the Hawthorns, named after a 19th-century medieval farmhouse were erected and became home to students. The first students took up residence in Hawthorns House in 1957 and the expanded residential complex was discontinued in 2017. The Sneyd Arms remains popular with the student community. Keele is featured on the UK 'Here and Now' edition of the board game

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

, released in September 2007, It takes the place of

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

in the traditional version.BBC News
"Monopoly launches UK-wide edition" 24 September 2007

Notable people

Walter Sneyd Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Sneyd (11 February 1752 – 23 June 1829), of Keele Hall was an English politician who served in the Parliament of Great Britain and as High Sheriff of Staffordshire. Early life Sneyd was born on 11 February 1752 in ...

(1752–1829) of

Keele Hall Keele Hall is a 19th-century mansion house at Keele, Staffordshire, England, now standing on the campus of Keele University and serving as the university conference centre. It is a Grade II* listed building. History Early history The manor of K ...

, MP for

Castle Rising Castle Rising is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated some north-east of the town of King's Lynn and west of the city of Norwich. The River Babingley skirts the north of the village separating C ...

in 1784–1790 *

Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (Russian: Михаил Михайлович; 16 October 1861 – 26 April 1929) was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. He was raised in the C ...

(1861–1929) lived in

between 1900 and 1909. * Major General William Donovan Stamer CB, CBE, DSO, MC (1895 in Keele – 1963) a British Army officer in the

North Staffordshire Regiment The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battalio ...

Transport

Keele is served by a bus service between

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

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

via

Crewe 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 ...

and also is served by a bus service to

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 ...

via Newcastle-Under-Lyme and

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 ...

. Keele was also served by

Keele railway station Keele railway station is a disused railway station in Staffordshire, England. The Stoke to Market Drayton Line was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) in 1870. The station, then called Keele Road was opened on the same day as the ...

which was on the former

Stoke-Market Drayton Line The Stoke to Market Drayton Line was a railway line that ran through Staffordshire and Shropshire that was built by the North Staffordshire Railway. Construction The first part of the line to be built required the private Silverdale & Newcastle ...

from 1870 to 1956, although the line remained in use for freight traffic until 1998 when the line was closed to

Silverdale Colliery Silverdale is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, west of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is a self contained ward of Newcastle Borough Council returning 2 Councillors. Historically, the village was dom ...

and the track was removed up

Pipe Gate railway station Pipe Gate was a railway station on the North Staffordshire Railway's Stoke to Market Drayton Line. Construction Construction was started on the Newcastle-under-Lyme to Silverdale Junction line on 29 July 1864, and the first train ran on 1 F ...

to north Silverdale railway station. The tracks remain in place but heavily overgrown and for potential future use if the line ever reopened.

Gallery

Keele Village & Sneyd Arms.jpg, Keele Village and Sneyd Arms Keele - panoramio (2).jpg, Keele Old School Knights Templar on the Keele bypass.jpg, Knights Templar sculpture Keele Suburbia - geograph.org.uk - 60540.jpg, Keele suburbia Fields near Clock House Lane.jpg, Fields near Clock House Lane Oak Trees in a Field - geograph.org.uk - 60647.jpg, Oak trees in a field near Keele Former railway bridge near Keele..jpg, Former railway bridge

References

External links

Keele University Website
{{authority control Villages in Staffordshire Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme