Moreton is a small rural village in the

borough of Stafford The Borough of Stafford is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England. It is named after the town of Stafford. It also includes the towns of Stone and Eccleshall, as well as numerous villages such as Weston, Hixon, ...

in Staffordshire, England, near the border with

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

. It lies south-west from the former site of Gnosall railway station, and south-east from Newport, both on the Stafford and Shrewsbury section of the former London and North Western Railway. Population details as taken at the 2011 Census can be found under

Gnosall Gnosall is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Stafford, Staffordshire, England, with a population of 4,736 across 2,048 households (2011 census). It lies on the A518, approximately halfway between the towns of Newport (in Shropshir ...

Description

Two notable sites in the village are the village community hall built in 2000 and St. Mary's Church. The church of St. Mary is a stone building, in the Italian style, and was erected in 1837; it consists of chancel, transepts and nave, with tower and one bell, and seats 340 people. One other local site which is now a privately owned home is the school, which at one point had over one hundred students from Moreton and its hamlets. Considering the size of the village (roughly 50-60 houses), the lack of more facilities is understandable. The village is made up primarily of three roads: Heath Lane, Post Office Lane and Church Lane. Both the village hall and church are located on Church Lane, nearer to where the Lane joins Post Office Lane.

History

Moreton

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

was formed on April 26, 1845, from the parish of

, although it remained in Gnosall parish for civil purposes. Until the mid-1870s, it was referred to as a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Gnosall , and can be found, prior to 1880, described with the history of Gnosall. However, by 1880 it had developed sufficiently to be referred to separately, with its own 'satellite' hamlets: Bromstead Heath, Great Chatwell, Coley,

Outwoods Outwoods may refer to the following places in England: * Outwoods, East Staffordshire, Staffordshire *Outwoods, Leicestershire The Outwoods is a ancient wood and visitor attraction overlooking Loughborough and the Soar Valley in Leicestershire, ...

and Wilbrighton. Folklorist Charlotte Burne (1850-1923) was born at Moreton Vicarage.

References

External links

* Villages in Staffordshire Borough of Stafford {{Staffordshire-geo-stub