Knightley, Staffordshire

Knightley
Christ Church in Knightley
Knightley Location within Staffordshire
OS grid reference	SJ815248
Civil parish	Gnosall
District	Stafford
Shire county	Staffordshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	STAFFORD
Postcode district	ST20
Dialling code	01785
Police	Staffordshire
Fire	Staffordshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Stafford
List of places UK England Staffordshire 52°49′17″N2°16′31″W / 52.821292°N 2.27524°W / 52.821292; -2.27524

Knightley is a village in the Borough of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. It is located between both the towns of Newport and Stafford and is directly to the south of Gnosall.

History

The village is on the site of a former Roman military station, which was called Mediolanum. ^[1]

The de Knightley family

The prominent de Knightley family originated at the Staffordshire manor of Knightley, acquired by them shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. ^[2] The Domesday Book of 1086 lists the tenant of Chenistelei as Rainald, namely "Reginald the Sheriff", who held 88 manors throughout England, said to be the ancestor of this family. ^{[3] [4]} Mark Noble (1787) wrote of the de Knightley family: ^[5]

There is no private family in the kingdom has given more knights; none which has been more numerous in its branches; some of them have almost rivalled the eldest in consequence, and that fettled in France surpassed them, having many centuries ago been declared noble; the alliances they have contracted have been equal to themselves, and the many high offices held by them in the state, have been exceeded only by the very large possessions they have constantly had.

In 1415, Sir Richard Knightley purchased the manor of Fawsley in Northamptonshire, where the senior line of the family became seated. Branches of the family became Knightley baronets, of which two titles were created, and in 1892 Rainald Knightley, 1st Baron Knightley (1819-1895) was created Baron Knightley "of Fawsley" in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

Amenities

The village has no real amenities apart from a parish church, a Country Land and Business Association depot ^[6] and a 21st Century Windows Trade Centre. ^[7] The nearby village of Woodseaves provides amenities for the village.

Transport

The village is served by regular buses between Stafford and Eccleshall. ^[8]

References

1. Malte-Brun, Conrad (1831), Universal Geography: Or, a Description of All Parts of the World, on a New Plan, According to the Great Natural Divisions of the Globe, vol. VIII, Wells and Lilly, p. 739.
2. Mark Noble
3. "Reginald (The sheriff) | Domesday Book".
4. The Knightley family is said by Burke to descend from "Reginald the Sheriff", see Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage, 1848
5. Mark Noble, Memoirs of the Protectoral-house of Cromwell, Volume 2, London, 1787, pp.91-8, Knightley, p.91
6. "The Midlands • CLA". www.cla.org.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
7. "21st Century Window Centres". www.21stcenturywindows.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
8. "Knightley – Bus Times". bustimes.org. Retrieved 1 September 2025.