Staffordshire

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Staffordshire
Geography
Status	Ceremonial & (smaller) Non-metropolitan county
Origin	Historic
Region	West Midlands
Area - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area	Ranked 18th 2,713 km² Ranked 18th 2,620 km ²
Admin HQ	Stafford
ISO 3166-2	GB-STS
ONS code	41
NUTS 3	UKG24
Demographics
Population - Total (2005 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 14th 1,055,000 388 / km² Ranked 8th 816,700
Ethnicity	97.0% White 1.7% S.Asian
Politics
Staffordshire County Council http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk
Executive	Labour
Members of Parliament	Charlotte Atkins William Cash Patrick Cormack Janet Dean Michael Fabricant Paul Farrelly Mark Fisher Robert Flello Brian Jenkins David Kidney Joan Walley Tony Wright
Districts
Tamworth Lichfield Cannock Chase South Staffordshire Stafford Newcastle-under-Lyme Staffordshire Moorlands East Staffordshire Stoke-on-Trent (Unitary)

Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Stafford. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders. It adjoins the ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire, and Shropshire.

The largest city in ceremonial Staffordshire is Stoke-on-Trent. Lichfield also has city status, though is considerably smaller. Wolverhampton and Walsall used to be in Staffordshire but are now within the West Midlands. Major towns include Burton upon Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Cannock, Tamworth, and Stafford itself.

Staffordshire is divided into a number of districts. These are Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, the Borough of Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, and Tamworth. Stoke-on-Trent is administered as an independent unitary authority.

Contents 1 History 2 Economy 3 Geography 4 Government 4.1 Boundary changes 5 Towns and villages 6 Education 7 Dogs 8 Transport 8.1 Canals 8.2 Railways 8.3 Roads 9 Places of interest 10 Local groups 11 See also 12 External links

[edit] History

Main article: History of Staffordshire

Historically, Staffordshire was divided into the five hundreds of Cuttlestone, Offlow, Pirehill, Seisdon, and Totmonslow.

The historic boundaries of Staffordshire cover much of what is now the metropolitan county of West Midlands. An administrative county of Staffordshire was set up in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 covering the county except the county boroughs of Wolverhampton, Walsall, and West Bromwich in the south (the area known as the Black Country), and Hanley in the north. The Act also saw the towns of Tamworth (partly in Warwickshire) and Burton upon Trent (partly in Derbyshire) united entirely in Staffordshire.

Handsworth and Perry Barr became part of the county borough of Birmingham in the early 20th century, and thus associated with Warwickshire. Burton, in the east of the county, became a county borough in 1901, and was followed by Smethwick, another Black Country town in 1907. In 1910 the six towns of the Staffordshire Potteries, including Hanley, became the single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent.

A major reorganisation in the Black Country in 1966, under the recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England led to the creation of an area of contiguous county boroughs. The County Borough of Warley was formed by the merger of the county borough of Smethwick and municipal borough of Rowley Regis with the Worcestershire borough of Oldbury : the resulting county borough was associated with Worcestershire. Meanwhile, the county borough of Dudley, historically a detached part of Worcestershire, expanded and became associated with Staffordshire instead. This reorganisation led to the administrative county of Staffordshire having a thin protusion passing between the county boroughs (to the east) and Shropshire, to the west, to form a short border with Worcestershire.

Under the Local Government Act 1972, on April 1, 1974 the county boroughs of the Black Country and the Staffordshire urban district of Aldridge-Brownhills became, along with Birmingham, Solihull, and Coventry and other districts, a new metropolitan county of West Midlands. County boroughs were abolished, with Stoke becoming a non-metropolitan district in Staffordshire, and Burton forming an unparished area in the district of East Staffordshire. On April 1, 1997, under a recommendation of the Banham Commission, Stoke-on-Trent became a unitary authority independent of Staffordshire once more.

[edit] Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[1]	Agriculture[2]	Industry[3]	Services[4]
1995	6,447	209	2,349	3,889
2000	8,621	150	2,986	5,485
2003	10,169	169	3,164	6,835

1. ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
2. ^ includes hunting and forestry
3. ^ includes energy and construction
4. ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

[edit] Geography

In the north and in the south the county is hilly, with wild moorlands in the far north and Cannock Chase an area of natural beauty in the south. In the middle regions the surface is low and undulating. Throughout the entire county there are vast and important coal fields. In the southern part there are also rich iron ore deposits. The largest river is the Trent. The soil is chiefly clay and agriculture was not highly developed until the mechanisation of farms.

[edit] Government

[edit] Boundary changes

• 1844: The Counties (Detached Parts) Act transferred two parishes from, and part of a township to, the county.
• 1888: Those parts of the town of Tamworth lying in Warwickshire were ceded to Staffordshire.
• 1891: Harborne became part of the county borough of Birmingham and thus transferred from Staffordshire to Warwickshire by the Local Govt. Bd.'s Prov. Orders Conf. (No. 13) Act, 54 & 55 Vic. c. 161 (local act).
• 1911: Handsworth became part of Birmingham, then in Warwickshire.
• 1928: Perry Barr was ceded to Warwickshire, also as part of Birmingham.
• 1966: Smethwick and Rowley Regis became part of Worcestershire, as components of the newly-formed borough of Warley. Dudley was ceded from Worcestershire.
• 1974: Under The Local Government Act 1972, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall and West Bromwich (plus Warley and Birmingham) became part of the newly-formed West Midlands County.
• circa 1994: The western/southern shores of Chasewater, were acquired from the West Midlands.

[edit] Towns and villages

See the list of places in Staffordshire and the List of civil parishes in Staffordshire

[edit] Education

Two major universities are located in the county. Keele University is located in Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is a research-intensive university with particular strengths in health and law. Staffordshire University is located in Stoke-on-Trent and in Stafford. It has strengths in Aerospace & Aeronautics.

[edit] Dogs

A type of bull terrier called the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was bred for hunting purposes in this county. They are known affectionately as "Staffies", and "Nanny-dogs" for their good disposition with children. Staffies should not be confused with the considerably larger American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, and (English) Bull Terrier.

[edit] Transport

[edit] Canals

Staffordshire has an extensive network of canals including the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, Caldon Canal, Coventry Canal, Shropshire Union Canal and Trent and Mersey Canal.

[edit] Railways

See Railways in Staffordshire

[edit] Roads

The county has relatively good links to the national roads network. Several major roads intersect the county, making it a popular location for commuters working in Birmingham.

The M42 has a junction in Tamworth at the south-east of the county, and heads south-west towards Birmingham. The M6 runs north through the county and junctions 10A-16 are in the county. The M6 Toll, the UK's first toll motorway, runs through the county with junctions in Weeford near Lichfield, Cannock and joins the M6 heading north towards Stafford.

The A5 and A34 run through the county. The former has been significantly widened to a dual carriageway at several sections, although much of it remains single carriageway.

[edit] Places of interest

Alton Towers Ancient High House Belvide Reservoir Biddulph Grange Blithfield Hall Blithfield Reservoir Brindley Water Mill Broad Eye Windmill Cannock Chase Chasewater Railway Cheddleton Flint Mill Churnet Valley Railway Croxden Abbey Dovecliff Hall Downs Banks Drayton Manor Theme Park Eccleshall Castle Festival Park Ford Green Hall Foxfield Steam Railway Heart of England Way

Ilam Park Izaak Walton Cottage Museum "The Manifold way" following the route of the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway Lichfield Cathedral Madeley Old Hall Moseley Old Hall Mow Cop Castle National Memorial Arboretum RSPB Coombes Valley Rudyard Lake Steam Railway Sandon Hall Shugborough Hall Stafford Castle Staffordshire Way Tamworth Castle Trentham Gardens Tutbury Castle Victoria Park Weston Park Whitmore Hall

Key National Trust English Heritage Forestry Commission Country Park Accessible open space Museums (free/not free) Heritage railway Historic House

[edit] Local groups

• Stafford Rangers F.C.
• Lichfield Cricket Club
• Port Vale F.C.
• Stoke City F.C.
• Tipton Harriers
• West Midland Bird Club
• Abbots Bromley School for Girls
• Staffordshire Girl Guides Association

[edit] See also

• The Stafford knot - as on the coat of arms above
• Tamworth Pig

[edit] External links

• Staffordshire County Council
• Staffordshire Past Track - Historical archive about the county
• The story of a Staffordshire Home Guard Battalion, 1940-1944
• Staffordshire Photographs
• Staffordshire Tourism website