Rocester 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 authorit ...

in the East Staffordshire district 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 C ...

, England. Its name is spelt ''Rowcestre'' 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 ...

. It is located on the

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

border.

Geography

The village is about north of

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from ...

and southwest of Ashbourne, situated on the county border with

. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,431. The village lies on a triangle of land between the River Churnet and River Dove, which join to the south. The parish borders, from the south going clockwise, the parishes of Uttoxeter Rural,

Croxden Croxden is a village in the county of Staffordshire, England, south of Alton, Staffordshire, Alton and north of Uttoxeter. The population of the civil parish as taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 255. The village is the site ...

, Denstone,

Ellastone Ellastone is a rural village in the West Midlands of England on the Staffordshire side of the River Dove, between Uttoxeter and Ashbourne in north Staffordshire. Geography Ellastone lies on the River Dove and is a hive of fluvial activity. ...

, all in East Staffordshire, and then

Norbury and Roston Norbury with Roston is a civil parish in west Derbyshire incorporating the villages of Norbury Norbury is an area of south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring Streatham. Norbury is south of Charing Cross. Etymo ...

Marston Montgomery Marston Montgomery is a small village and civil parish in western Derbyshire. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was at least 3. It is four miles from the town of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. The Church of Saint Giles dates b ...

and Doveridge, all in the

Derbyshire Dales Derbyshire Dales ( ) is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 71,116. Much of it is in the Peak District, although most of its population lies along the River Derwent. The borough borders ...

district of Derbyshire.

History

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

fort was founded on the site in about 69 AD, as an intermediate point between

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 g ...

and

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 ...

on a route later known as Long Lane. The remains of the earthworks can still be seen. After the Romans departed in about 400 AD, the village remained in use by the

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a 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-Saxons happened ...

throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. In 1141 the St Mary's Augustinian Abbey was built on the site now known as Abbey Fields. The order was disbanded in 1538; the abbey and its chapel were demolished and a manor house was built on the site. The village church, St Michael's, was constructed in the 13th century. It was mostly rebuilt in 1873, although the tower is the original. In 1781

Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...

bought an old corn mill on the River Dove and converted it to a water-powered cotton mill. This introduced industry to a predominantly agricultural community. With industry came the canal and railway networks, and Rocester became an important trading point. The mill was a great driving force in the expansion of the village; its owners were responsible for much building in the village. The mill has now been converted into the

JCB Academy The JCB Academy is a non-selective co-educational secondary school within the English University Technical College programme, in Rocester, Staffordshire, England. It specialises in engineering and business qualifications. Governance The scho ...

. On 1 August 1849

Rocester railway station Rocester railway station was a railway station built by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) located at Rocester in Staffordshire. History It was opened in 1849 by the NSR on its Churnet Valley Line between and . Three years later the st ...

was opened by the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire. The company was bas ...

Modern times

The mill remained the primary employer until the 1950s, and finally closed in 1985. By this time another major employer had arrived in the village, JCB. The present factory, on the site of the original 1950s factory, was opened in 1970 and is the world headquarters for the company. There are a number of sculptures around the JCB site and landscaped parkland nearby. Most significant of these is The Fossor, which takes its name from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''fossor'' i.e. digger. The steel sculpture, created by Walenty Pytel, is made entirely of digger parts and is a powerful representation of JCB.''Public Sculpture of Staffordshire and the Black Country'', George T. Noszlopy and Fiona Waterhouse, 2005, It weighs 36 tonnes, stands high and was the largest steel sculpture in Europe at the time of its creation in 1979. It can be seen from the B5030 road that passes it. The village has several businesses, a school, a pre-school and a church. Rocester is home to the football team Rocester F.C. Rocester lies on the

Staffordshire Way The Staffordshire Way is a long-distance walk in Staffordshire, England. The path links with the Cheshire Gritstone Trail, the Heart of England Way and the North Worcestershire Path. The Way was opened in three stages by Staffordshire Co ...

, and is the southern terminus of the

Limestone Way The Limestone Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in Derbyshire, England. It runs for through the White Peak of the Peak District National Park, from Castleton south to Rocester over the county boundary into Staffordshire. The trail is ...

, a footpath which runs north to Castleton in the

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, whe ...

Notable people

Elizabeth Trentham, Countess of Oxford Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Oxford, formerly Elizabeth Trentham (d. c. December 1612), was the second wife of the Elizabethan courtier and poet Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Family and early years Elizabeth Trentham was born at Rocest ...

(born in Rocester, died 1612) the second wife of the Elizabethan courtier and poet

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604) was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron o ...

* Winifred, Lady Strickland (1645–1725) a member of the Jacobite court in exile, baptized at Rocester * M. J. B. Baddeley (1843 in Rocester – 1906) a distinguished English guidebook writer, his guide to the Lake District was first published in 1880 and continued to be revised and reissued, and remained in print into at least a 26th edition in 1978. * George Harris (born 1877 in Rocester) an English professional footballer, played 23 games for Stoke City. * Brigadier-General Charles Lyon CB CMG DSO (1878 at The Lodge, Rocester – 1959) an English soldier who also played first-class cricket for Derbyshire in 1902. * Graeme Edge (born 1941 in Rocester – 2021) an English musician, songwriter, poet and the drummer and one of the songwriters for the English band the Moody Blues * John Hall (born 1941) Vicar of Rocester 1988–1998, then

Archdeacon of Salop The Archdeacon of Salop is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield. The incumbent is Paul Thomas. History Shropshire was historically split between the diocese of Hereford (under the Archdeacon of Shropshir ...

1998-2011 *

Peter Swanwick Walter Peter Swanwick (29 September 1922 – 14 November 1968) was a British actor best remembered as the "Supervisor" (sometimes called the Controller) in the 1967 TV series, '' The Prisoner''. Swanwick's film career began with bit parts in ...

(born 1945 in Rocester) a former English cricketer, played for Staffordshire * Ryan Boot (born 1994 in Rocester) an English professional footballer, played 23 pro games for Port Vale

References

External links