Place:Mucklestone, Staffordshire, England

Watchers
NameMucklestone
Alt namesMuxtonsource: Family History Library Catalog
TypeVillage, Civil parish
Coordinates52.9341°N 2.4105°W
Located inStaffordshire, England
See alsoNorth Pirehill Hundred, Staffordshire, Englandhundred of which the parish was a part
Blore Heath Rural, Staffordshire, Englandrural district of which it was part 1894-1932
Newcastle-under-Lyme Rural, Staffordshire, Englandrural district of which it was part 1932-1974
Newcastle-under-Lyme (district), Staffordshire, Englanddistrict municipality in which it has been located since 1974
source: Family History Library Catalog
source: Family History Library Catalog
source: Family History Library Catalog
source: Family History Library Catalog
the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Mucklestone is a small village in Staffordshire, England. It is about nine miles (14 km) northwest of Eccleshall, and four and a half miles northeast of Market Drayton in Shropshire.

It is notable for its associations with the Battle of Blore Heath in 1459. According to legend, Queen Margaret of Anjou is said to have watched the defeat of her forces from the church tower, before fleeing on horse-back. It is said that Margaret employed the local blacksmith, William Skelhorn, to reverse the shoes on her horse to disguise her getaway. An anvil said to have belonged to Skelhorn stands in the churchyard to commemorate the event.

The ancient parish of Mucklestone was about six miles (10 km) in length, and from one to two miles (3 km) in breadth, extending along the borders of the counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. Five of traditional townships, Aston, Knighton, Mucklestone, Oakley and Winnington are in Staffordshire and the other four, Dorrington, Woore, Bearstone, and Gravenhunger, are in Shropshire. Bearstone and Gravenhunger are very small and have been redirected to Woore.

This parish originally comprised 8,120 acres (33 km2), of which 4,362 acres (18 km2) were in Staffordshire. The parish contains five townships:

  • Mucklestone township contains about 1,100 acres (4 km2);
  • Aston (Newcastle-under-Lyme) is a village and township, three and a half miles north-east of Mucklestone, and eight miles (13 km) south-west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, contains 912 acres (3.7 km2) in an almost detached section of the parish. There are two other Astons in Staffordshire; the closest one is near Stone.
  • Knighton is a small township, one mile (1.6 km) south-west of Aston, bounded on three sides by Shropshire;
  • Oakley township is at the south end of the parish, two miles (3 km) south-west of Mucklestone, contains Oakley Hall, in a beautiful park of 300 acres (1.2 km2), on the east bank of the River Tern, which locally divides Staffordshire from Shropshire. There is another Knighton in Staffordshire in the parish of Adbaston as well as a town in Shropshire.
  • Winnington is a small village one mile (1.6 km) north of Mucklestone.

All these small places have been redirected here.

The church of Saint Mary at Mucklestone, which originally served the whole of the ancient parish, is in the decorated style. Except for the tower, it was rebuilt according to church records in 1789 and again in 1883 by Lynam and Rickman in keeping with the surviving medieval tower. It contains stained glass windows, designed by Charles Kempe in the 19th century including commemorations of the Battle of Blore Heath.

Staffordshire Research Tips

Reminder: Staffordshire today covers a much smaller area than formerly. The West Midlands now governs the southeastern corner of pre-1974 Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, although ceremonially still part of Staffordshire, is a unitary authority covering a large well-populated part of the north of the county.

  • The William Salt Library is the reference library in Stafford and is adjacent to the county archive offices. They have an online catalogue of their holdings.
  • GENUKI lists other large libraries in Staffordshire for Wolverhampton, Burton-upon-Trent, Dudley, Walsall, and Sandwell. The last three of these places are now in the West Midlands and may hold items of local interest which are no longer housed in Staffordshire libraries and archives. For example, The Walsall Archives Centre keeps local census records and local church records.
  • The Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry includes Staffordshire in its remit. It has branches in Stoke-on-Trent, Burton-on-Trent and Wolverhampton. Publications are available through the BMSGH shop. Payments accepted by debit and credit card and by Paypal. Other family history and local history societies situated around Staffordshire are listed by GENUKI.
  • The Midlands Historical Data project produces searchable facsimile copies of old local history books and directories of interest to genealogists. It specialises in the three counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire, working closely with libraries, archives and family history societies in the area. Digital images are made freely available to participating organisations to improve public access. Free search index on its web-site to all its books. In many cases payment will be required to see the extract.
  • GENUKI makes a great many suggestions as to other websites with worthwhile information about Staffordshire as well as leading to a collection of 19th century descriptions of each of the ecclesiastical parishes.
  • The FamilySearch Wiki provides a similar information service to GENUKI which may be more up-to-date. An index of parishes leads to notes and references for each parish. The auxiliary website English Jurisdictions can also be helpful.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time has
  1. organization charts of the hierarchies of parishes within hundreds, registration districts (1837 onwards) and the rural and urban districts of the 20th century. They have just announced (August 2015) a future expansion to their data including 2011 census population data and links to post-1974 county organization.
  2. excerpts from a gazetteer of circa 1870 outlining individual towns and parishes
  3. reviews of population through the time period 1800-1960
  • Brett Langston's list of Staffordshire Registration Districts and parishes within each registration district from 1837 to the present can indicate where to find details of civil registration entries since the process began in England.
  • More local sources can often be found by referring to "What Links Here" in the column on the left.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Mucklestone. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.