Wootton is a village and civil parish in

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. The village is situated approximately 20 miles (30 km) east from

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 ...

and 20 miles (30 km) northwest from

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

History

Toponymy

The name ''Wootton'' is thought to come from the

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 ...

''wudu'' meaning wood and ''tūn'' meaning an enclosure; farmstead; village or estate. This translates to Wood Farm/Settlement.

In Victorian times

In 1870-72 ''John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer'' described ''Wootton'' as

Industry

In early reports Wootton was predominantly a farming village, with over 60% of males engaged in agriculture. Even to this day there remains a large farming culture, with still around 25% of the working population engaged in agriculture. The rest of the population are spread out between working in service industries or in managerial/professional occupations.

Notable Establishments

* Wootton Hall, the house where Rousseau stayed, was demolished in the 1930s. *

Wootton Lodge Wootton Lodge is a privately owned 17th-century country house situated at Wootton near Ellastone, Staffordshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Architectural description The impressive west entrance front has basements and three st ...

- The privately owned 17th century house is a grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in the parish. 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 re ...

the house was held for the Crown and was badly damaged during a Parliamentary siege. It was restored in about 1700 when a flight of balustraded entrance steps was added. *

Alton Towers Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often referred to as Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, ...

- Popular holiday theme park Alton Towers is located 4 miles (6.5 km) away from Wootton. The park attracts 2.7 million visitors from all over the globe annually. The resort encloses an area known as "Slain Hollow", reputed to be the site of a battle between King Ceolred of Mercia and King Ina of Wessex in 716 AD.

In poetry

A rich poetic description of the area around Wootton is ''The vales of Wever, a loco-descriptive poem'' (1797) by John Gisborne, written as a present to his host after staying at Wootton Hall. It shows the influence of Erasmus Darwin, who also wrote similar topographic poetry on the district, and it was admired by many poets including Wordsworth.

Transport

Wootton is located about 1.5 miles off the B5032 Uttoxeter to Ashbourne road, and is served by the 409 bus service between those two towns, which stops at Ellastone village. The nearest railway station is in ''Uttoxeter'' around 8 miles (12.5 km) away which has regular trains to

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

References

Villages in Staffordshire {{Staffordshire-geo-stub