Milford, Staffordshire

Last updated November 21, 2019

Milford is a village in the county of Staffordshire, England. It lies at the edge of Cannock Chase, on the A513 road between Stafford and Rugeley. Just to the north of the village is the River Sow.

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, West Midlands and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west.

Cannock Chase is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chase gives its name to the Cannock Chase local government district. It is a former Royal forest.

Rugeley is a historic market town in the county of Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent, and is situated between the towns of Stafford, Hednesford, Lichfield and Uttoxeter. At the 2001 census the town's population was 22,724,. increasing to 24,033 at the 2011 Census. Rugeley is twinned with Western Springs, Illinois and in July 1962 the towns made telephone history on national television when the chairman of Rugeley Urban District Council made the first telephone call via the new Telstar satellite to the Mayor of Western Springs.

History

Milford was described as a "pleasant hamlet" by the 1851 History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, it then being part of Baswich parish. There is no church, the church at Walton-on-the-Hill, Staffordshire being less than a mile away.

A hamlet is a small human settlement. In different jurisdictions and geographies, hamlets may be the size of a town, village or parish, be considered a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. The word and concept of a hamlet have roots in the Anglo-Norman settlement of England, where the old French hamlet came to apply to small human settlements. In British geography, a hamlet is considered smaller than a village and distinctly without a church or other place of worship.

Baswich is an estate on the south eastern side of Stafford. It is part of the civil parish of Berkswich and is located in Staffordshire, England. It is situated next to Weeping Cross, which is also part of the civil 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 parish priest, who might be assisted by one or more curates, and who operates from a parish church. Historically, a parish often covered the same geographical area as a manor. Its association with the parish church remains paramount.

Administration

Milford forms part of the civil parish of Berkswich which, in turn, forms part of the borough of Stafford.

In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government, they are a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of ecclesiastical parishes which historically played a role in both civil and ecclesiastical administration; civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. The unit was devised and rolled out across England in the 1860s.

Berkswich is a civil parish in the borough of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1528, being recalculated as 2,010 at the 2011 Census. Berkswich should not be mistaken for Baswich, which is included in the parish, along with Weeping Cross, Wildwood, Walton-on-the-Hill and Milford. Berkswich can be found on the south-eastern fringe of Stafford.

Leisure activities

Milford Common (grid reference SJ973211 ) is a popular recreation spot for local people, and has traditionally been the site of many travelling fairs. The open space and quiet roads around the Common have made it a popular gathering point for horse riders from surrounding areas.^[1] The entrance to the National Trust Shugborough estate faces the common. Shugborough houses the county's official museum.

Ordnance Survey National Grid System of geographic grid references used in Great Britain

The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, distinct from latitude and longitude. It is often called British National Grid (BNG).

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty Conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust, is an independent charity and membership organisation for environmental and heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Cannock Chase AONB is nearby. Its borders extend to about a mile south of the village, and the extensive Chase area offers a variety of outdoor activities including several leisure cycling routes.

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is an area of countryside in England, Wales or Northern Ireland which has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of their national importance, by the relevant public body: Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, or the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. In place of AONB, Scotland uses the similar national scenic area (NSA) designation. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty enjoy levels of protection from development similar to those of UK national parks, but unlike with national parks the responsible bodies do not have their own planning powers. They also differ from national parks in their more limited opportunities for extensive outdoor recreation.

Milford Hall is a privately owned 18th-century country mansion house at Milford. It is the home of the Levett Haszard family and is a Grade II listed building.

Milford Hall is a privately owned 18th-century English country house at Milford, near Stafford. It is the family seat of the Levett Haszard family and is a Grade II listed building.

Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of William the Conqueror's Norman lords.

The Staffordshire Way long-distance footpath passes very near Milford, to the south-east. It also lies on the Heart of England Way.

Access

The nearest railway station is in the town of Stafford, about four miles from Milford. Stafford station currently serves most inter-city services running on the West Coast Main Line Birmingham-Manchester route, as well as offering local services.

Road access is by way of the A513 road. Milford is accessible by canal narrowboat, along the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. There is a cycle path along the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal towpath, leading to the National Cycle Network National Route 5 that currently ends at Walton-on-the-Hill, but will be extended southwards to Birmingham.

Provisional IRA attack

On 18 September 1990, the former governor of Gibraltar, Sir Peter Terry was shot at his home in Milford by the Provisional IRA. Terry, then aged 64, survived the shooting, but his face had to be surgically reconstructed. It was said that the shooting took place as a revenge for his role in Operation Flavius in 1988, in which three IRA operatives were killed.^[2]

Famous people

Nearby Shugborough Hall was the home of the late photographer Lord Lichfield and numerous members of the Levett family are from Milford Hall.

Related Research Articles

The Heart of England Way is a long distance walk of around 160 km (100 mi) through the Midlands of England. The walk starts from Milford Common on Cannock Chase and ends at Bourton on the Water in the Cotswolds linking south Staffordshire through Warwickshire to east Gloucestershire.

South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of the West Midlands county, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains no towns of major size, and many of the settlements within the district are considered dormitory villages for Stafford, Telford, and the West Midlands conurbation.

Great Haywood is a village in central Staffordshire, England, just off the A51 and about four miles (6 km) northwest of Rugeley. Population details taken at the 2011 census can be found under Colwich.

Tixall is a small village and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the English county of Staffordshire lying on the western side of the Trent valley between Rugeley and Stone, Staffordshire and roughly 4 miles east of Stafford. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 239.

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.

Little Haywood is a village in Staffordshire, England. For population details as taken at the 2011 census see under Colwich. It lies beside a main arterial highway, the A51 but traffic through the village is mainly light, owing to this bypass. Nearby also is the West Coast Main Line railway, the Trent and Mersey Canal and beside it, the river Trent. Little Haywood is about 125 miles (201 km) northwest of London, about 25 miles (40 km) north of Birmingham, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Rugeley and 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Stafford.

The Way for the Millennium is an east-west route across Staffordshire, deliberately designed for easy walking, using towpaths, old railway lines and footpaths and visiting attractive countryside and green spaces.

Haywood Junction, or Great Haywood Junction, is the name of the canal junction where the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal terminates and meets the Trent and Mersey Canal near to the village of Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England.

The current Cannock Extension Canal is a 1.8-mile (2.9 km) canal in England. It runs from Pelsall Junction on the Wyrley and Essington Canal, north to Norton Canes Docks and forms part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations. Historically, it ran to Hednesford, and served a number of collieries, which provided the main traffic. It opened in 1863, and the northern section closed in 1963, as a result of mining subsidence.

Rumer Hill Junction was a canal junction on the Cannock Extension Canal where the Churchbridge Branch left to join the Hatherton Canal. The junction, along with the northern section of the canal was abandoned in 1963. The Churchbridge Branch and Rumer Hill Junction were subsequently obliterated by opencast mining.

Colwich is a civil parish and village in Staffordshire, England. It is situated off the A51 road, about 3 miles (5 km) north west of Rugeley, and 7 miles (11 km) south east of Stafford. It lies principally on the north east bank of the River Trent near Wolseley Bridge, just north of Cannock Chase. The parish comprises about 2,862 hectares (28.62 km²) of land in the villages and hamlets of Colwich, Great Haywood, Little Haywood, Moreton, Bishton, and Wolseley Bridge.

Walton-on-the-Hill is a substantial settlement in the English county of Staffordshire lying to the south-east of, and almost contiguous with, the county town of Stafford. Population details as taken in the 2011 census can be found under Berkswich.

The Two Saints Way is a recreated pilgrimage route of 92 miles between the cathedral cities of Chester in Cheshire and Lichfield in Staffordshire. The two saints referenced are St Werburgh and St Chad. The route partly follows the Heart of England Way and is around 95% waymarked.

Berkswich is a civil parish in the Borough of Stafford, Staffordshire, England. It contains eight listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. All the listed buildings are designated at Grade II, the lowest of the three grades, which is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The parish contains the village of Milford, and Baswich, a suburb of the town of Stafford. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal passes through the parish, and the listed buddings associated with this are two accommodation bridges and an aqueduct. The other listed buildings are a timber framed cottage, a large house, a road bridge, a smithy, and a pair of lodges at the entrance to Shugborough Park.

References

External links

Media related to Milford, Staffordshire at Wikimedia Commons

This Staffordshire location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Local Equestrian

[2] IRA gun attack on ex-Governor