STAFFORDSHIRE |
| Chillington Hall |
Off A449, 6 miles north-west of Wolverhampton |
The present Georgian mansion is the third house the
Giffard family have built on this site over the last 900 years. After arriving in England
with William the Conqueror, they first built a castle, a small corner of which remains in
the cellars of the present house. Elizabeth I stayed in the Tudor mansion which replaced
the castle on her Royal Progress through Staffordshire. Most of the present house was
designed in the 18th century, partly by Francis Smith of Warwick and partly by Sir John
Soane. The best rooms are the Staircase Hall, the Morning Room with its stucco ceiling,
and the Saloon - Soane's best work at Chillington. The grounds, 1100 acres of park and
woodland, were landscaped by Capability Brown. |
| Eccleshall Castle |
Off A519, 0.25 miles north of Eccleshall |
Cromwell's soldiers demolished most of Eccleshall
Castle during the Civil War, but it makes a most romantic ruin. One unusual nine-sided
tower survives, together with the moat walls, from the original 13th century building in
which Queen Margert of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, took refuge after the Battle of Blore
Heath in 1459. The moat was drained in the 18th century and now forms attractive formal
gardens. The castle is in the grounds of a handsome William and Mary house of 1690 which
contains fine porcelain, paintings and furniture. |
| Kinver Edge |
Off A449, 5 miles north of Kidderminster |
People have been coming to Kinver Edge for thousands of
years. Iron Age tribes occupied it 2500 years ago, and the earthworks of a hill-fort are
still visible. Over the succeeding centuries, wherever the soft sandstone formed a
suitable cliff, cave dwellings and rock houses were scooped out. The most spectacular of
these are in Holy Austin Rock at the northern end where some dwellings, with brick fronts
and tiled gables, continued to be occupied until about 1950. |
| Lichfield Cathedral |
In centre of Lichfield |
Two lakes, the Minster Pool and the Stowe Pool,
separate the cathedral from the town. The cathedral dates from the 13th century, and
though the interior was altered in the 18th century, it retains much of its medieval
grandeur. A medieval mason at work on Lichfield Cathedral is the subject of one of the
tableaux in the Lichfield Heritage and Treasury Exhibition at the nearby St Mary's Centre.
A series of lifelike tableaux illustrates Lichfield's history over some 2000 years. |
| Moseley Old Hall |
Off A460, 5 miles south-west of Cannock |
There may be finer Elizabethan houses in the country,
but few have such an interesting history. Charles II arrived at the hall on September
8,
1651, after leaving his army defeated at the Battle of Worcester five days earlier. In the
King's Room at Moseley is the four-poster bed in which he slept, and the hiding place,
concealed within a cupboard, in which he spent a time while Cromwell's soldiers questioned
the owner of the house. On the wall in the corridor is a document of September 10, 1651,
offering a reward of £1000 for the king's capture. A showcase in the entrance hall
contains a letter written by Charles to the sister of a local landowner, thanking her for
her assistance in helping him to escape to France. |
| Shugborough |
Off A513, 6 miles east of Stafford |
The house, which is the home of the Earl of Lichfield,
contains fine collections of 18th century ceramics, silver, paintings and French
furniture. The Red Drawing Room is the finest room in the house, with outstanding
plasterwork. The old servants' quarters are now the home of the Staffordshire County
Museum, which contains authentic reconstructions of bygone times in Staffordshire.
Nostalgia is the theme also of Shugborough Park Farm, one of the most complete
re-creations in England of 19th century agricultural life. |
| Stafford Castle |
Off A518, on western side of Stafford |
One of the earliest and largest Norman castles in
Britain, Stafford Castle was originally built four years after the Norman Conquest. It was
partly demolished by the Parliamentarians in the Civil War and remained a ruin until 1800,
when parts were rebuilt. The earthworks are among the best preserved of their kind in
Britain, and include the site of a Norman settlement. An illustrated trail leads through
the castle grounds. |
| Stoke-On-Trent City Museum |
Bethesda Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent |
The importance of Stoke-on-Trent as the centre of
English pottery making from the 17th century to the present day is appropriately the
principal theme of the town's main museum. The ceramics galleries illustrate the technique
of pottery making, and the history and development of Staffordshire pottery. The museum
also honours one of Staffordshire's most famous sons - Reginald Mitchell, the designer of
the Spitfire. The museum's Spitfire Gallery celebrates the whole of Mitchell's brief but
brilliant career. |
| Tamworth Castle |
In centre of Tamworth |
This fine Norman castle is thought to date from the
1180s. The shell-keep has a square tower set into its walls and contains Tudor and
Jacobean apartments. The fine timber-framed Great Hall dates from the mid-15th century. In
the Long Gallery are museum displays, including models of Tamworth's Saxon fortifications
and silver pennies from the town's mint, and visitors can see an audiovisual presentation
on the town and castle. Collections of period furniture can be seen in some of the rooms.
The keep is reputedly haunted by two female ghosts. |
| Tutbury Castle |
On A50, 4 miles north-west of Burton upon Trent |
The castle stands on a steep, isolated rock from which
vast areas of surrounding countryside can be seen. Mary, Queen of Scots, was twice
imprisoned there by Elizabeth, Queen of England. The castle was also visited several times
by Mary's son James I, and by Charles I. After Charles I's departure in 1646 the castle
was besieged by Parliamentarian soldiers and largely destroyed. The oldest parts of the
castle's remains are the 12th century chapel and 14th century gateway. |
| Wall Roman Site |
Off A5, 2 miles south-west of Lichfield |
One of the most complete examples of a Roman town
bath-house in Britain adjoins the remains of a mansio, or lodging house for
official travellers. In Roman times Wall was the substantial settlement of Letocetum, a
posting station on the main road known as Watling Street from London to Chester, where
horses could be changed and accommodation found. The walls of the bath-house, which served
townspeople as well as travellers, still stand to a considerable height. Many finds from
excavations, including some military equipment, are in the site museum. |
| Weston Park |
Off A5, 11 miles west of Cannock |
The house, built in 1671, is one of the best examples
of Restoration period architecture in the country. It has been the home of the Earls of
Bradford for nearly 300 years and contains Aubusson and Gobelins tapestries, and pictures
by Holbein, Van Dyck, Reynolds, Stubbs and Gainsborough. The grounds combine superb
landscaping by Capability Brown with a variety of ornamental buildings. There are nature
and architectural trails, and a narrow-gauge miniature railway. |
