Wigginton is a village and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of

Wigginton and Hopwas Wigginton and Hopwas is a civil parish in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England. The villages of Wigginton and Hopwas, that make up the parish, lie 2 miles to the north and north-west, respectively, of Tamworth. They are separated by the ...

, in the

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

district, in the county of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England.

History

The name ''Wigginton'' is believed to come from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, and to mean ''Wicga's farm''. The name was also sometimes written as ''Wiggington''. The village lies on a medieval trade route, the Portway, possibly used for transporting salt from the

River Mease The River Mease is a lowland clay river in the Midlands area of England. It flows through the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire and forms the administrative border between these counties for parts of its length. The riv ...

Edingale Edingale is a village and civil parish in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England.OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) :

to Tamworth. Ecclesiastically, Wigginton had been a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

attached to the parish of St Editha in Tamworth. For civil government it had been a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

– the township was more than just the village, and included the hamlets of Comberford and Coton, the latter now part of the borough of Tamworth. In 1866 the township became a

, and in 1894 part of

Tamworth Rural District Tamworth was a rural district in the English Midlands from 1894 until its abolition in 1965. The architect Alfred Edward Cheatle, Alfred Cheatle was for many years chairman. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from Tamworth, Sta ...

, in 1934 it became part of

Lichfield Rural District Lichfield was a rural district in the county of Staffordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was enlarged in 1934 by gaining part of Staffordshire that had been administered since 1894 as part of Tamworth Rural District, which was otherwise in ...

. On 1 April 1934, the parish of

Hopwas Hays Hopwas is a village in Staffordshire, England. It lies along the North West borders of Tamworth Borough (along the River Tame to the east and Dunstall Lane to the south of Hopwas) and east of Lichfield. It is situated where the A51 road cross ...

was merged with Wigginton, parts of Wigginton were moved to

Fisherwick Fisherwick is a civil parish in the Lichfield District, Lichfield district, Staffordshire, England. Located about east of the City of Lichfield, the parish does not include a village, just a scattered collection of farms and houses. The ancient ...

and

Harlaston Harlaston is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the River Mease, about north of Tamworth. There is an Early English church, dedicated to ''St Matthew'', and a public house, the ''White Lion''. Harlaston is a co ...

. On 1 September 1993, the new parish was renamed to "Wigginton & Hopwas". In 1931 the parish of Wigginton (prior to the merge) had a population of 2291. In 1861 the population of Wigginton township was 670, on . This figure included inmates of the Tamworth

workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

, which at that time lay within the township. The population of the chapelry alone was 466.

Landmarks

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

buildings in Wigginton village include two or three houses and the former

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

chapel, now a church. Dedicated to St Leonard, it was rebuilt in 1777, extended in 1830, and altered again in 1861 to a design by Nicholas Joyce. Situated within the modern village is a shrunken medieval village, visible as a series of pronounced earthworks to the northern end of the village, and medieval ridge and furrow still to be seen in surrounding fields. To the south-west of the village is the former site, now ploughed out, of a likely

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

barrow formerly known as "Robin Hood's Butt". Several finds of archaeological interest have been made in the area around the village. To the north-west is a flat area formerly called the "Money Lands", where human bones and ancient coins, thought to be Roman, were recovered in a find made in the 18th century.

Amenities

The village contains a pub, the Old Crown, and a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

primary school, St Leonards. The pub called ''The Wigginton'' is over the border in Tamworth, as is ''Wigginton Park'', the home of Tamworth RUFC.

Notable people

John Burnet Biddulph John Burnet Biddulph (10 December 1796 Wigginton, Staffordshire – 3 March 1837 Graaff-Reinet) was a Cape Colony explorer and trader who arrived with the 1820 Settlers. Midshipman John Biddulph joined Lieutenant John Bailie's party aboard the ...

(1796–1837), a

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

explorer and trader who arrived with the

1820 Settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Origins After th ...

. * Samuel Parkes (c. 1815–1864), a Wigginton-born private in the

4th Light Dragoons Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

won the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

in the

Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a military action undertaken by British light cavalry against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, resulting in many casualties to the cavalry. On 25 October 1854, the Light Br ...

for saving the life of Trumpeter Hugh Crawford. *

Gene Kemp Gene Kemp née Rushton (27 December 1926 – 4 January 2015) was an English author known for children's books. Her first, ''The Pride of Tamworth Pig'', appeared in 1972. She won the British Carnegie Medal for her school novel '' The Turbulent ...

(1926–2015), children's author, was born in Wigginton.

References

External links