Seighford ( ) is a village and civil parish about west of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. The population of this

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 ...

at the 2011 census was 1,793. The ford across a small stream is the origin of the village's

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

. The village has a red brick Church of England parish church, St Chad's, and a 16th-century Tudor mansion.

History

William White's ''History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire'' (1851) described the village:

Seighford is a scattered village above a small brook which flows east from Latford pool to the
River Sow The River Sow is a tributary of the River Trent in Staffordshire, England, and is the river that flows through Stafford. Course The river rises to the south of Loggerheads, near Broughton and flows south-east beside the villages of Fairoak ...
. Its parish contains the hamlets of Aston,
Doxey Doxey is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. It is a north-western suburb of Stafford. The village became a civil parish on 1 April 2005. There is some uncertainty about the origin of the name D ...
, and Derrington, from one to one and a half miles east, Coton Clanford, one mile south, and
Great Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...
and Little Bridgeford, three and a half miles north-east of Stafford. It forms a highly cultivated district, containing 803 inhabitants, and 3,830 acre of land. Francis Eld, Esq, is lord of the manor, and owner of most of the soil. He resides at Seighford Hall, an ancient house with modern wings, on the west side of the village…the Parish Church, St Chad, was partly rebuilt of brick about 100 years ago, and contains many neat mural monuments. It has a brick tower, five bells and a clock ... there is a small
Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...
Chapel at Little Bridgeford, built in 1850."

Amenities

The village school is Cooper Perry Primary School.

RAF Seighford RAF Seighford is a former Royal Air Force station located northwest of Stafford, Staffordshire, England. The site was opened as a satellite/relief landing ground for RAF Hixon, to the east. From 1956 until 1965, the airfield and associated b ...

was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

airfield that was opened in 1943 and closed in 1947. Remains of the control tower and some outbuildings survive.Control Towers: Seighford
/ref> Part of the site is still used by small aircraft, particularly gliders, along with a small runway close to the village of Seighford.

St Chad's

The

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, ...

of St Chad, was originally built around the time of 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 Con ...

. Some historians maintain there was a wooden Saxon church before that built around 650 AD. The earliest stone remains are Saxon and two four-column arcades are early

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

with typical billet and lozenge carving on the capitals. Shortly before 1600 the original Norman tower collapsed. The south side of the aisle and the main entrance were destroyed. The church was partly rebuilt in brick in about 1610 by a local builder called Clay. The parish register commences in 1561. The original registers for the period 1561-1879 (baptisms), 1561-1945 (marriages) and 1561-1925 (burials), together with Banns for the period 1754–1812, are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.

Bishop's Transcripts A bishop is a person of authority in a Christian church. Bishop, Bishops or Bishop's may also refer to: Religious roles * Bishop (Catholic Church) * Bishop (Eastern Orthodox Church) * Bishop (Latter Day Saints) * Bishop (Methodism) Places Anta ...

for the period 1661-1850 are deposited at

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 ...

Record Office. A transcript of the registers for the period 1561-1812 was published by Staffordshire Parish Register Society in 1978, and has been reprinted by the Birmingham and Midland SGH.

Notable people

Richard Cocks Richard Cocks (1566–1624) was the head of the British East India Company trading post in Hirado, Japan, between 1613 and 1623, from its creation, and lasting to its closure due to bankruptcy. He was baptised on 20 January 1565 at St Chad's, ...

(1566–1624) head of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

trading post in

Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...

, Japan, 1613 to 1623; baptised at St Chad's, Seighford. * Sir (Edwin) Cooper Perry (1856–1938) a physician and medical administrator, the only son of Edwin Cresswell Perry (1828–1899), who became vicar of Seighford in 1861. Perry was brought up in the village and became

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

from 1917–19.

References

External links

Pictures of St Chad's parish church

Seighford
at genuki.org {{authority control Civil parishes in Staffordshire Borough of Stafford Villages in Staffordshire