Yoxall

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Yoxall is a large village in Staffordshire, England.

It is on the banks of the River Swarbourn on the A515 road north of Lichfield and south west of Burton upon Trent. South of the village, Yoxall bridge crosses the River Trent.

The name Yoxall probably comes from Anglo-Saxon geoces halh = "yoke's nook" = "secluded piece of land small enough to be ploughed by one team of oxen, or providing feed for a yoke of oxen".

In October 2004, Yoxall became nationally known across the UK after an extremist group of animal rights campaigners stole Gladys Hammond's body from the village's graveyard. A group called the Animal Rights Militia took credit for the act as an attempt to force the closure of the nearby Darley Oaks farm, owned and run by family members, where guinea-pigs were bred for medical research. On 23 August 2005 the farm's owners announced that they would be ceasing breeding of animals in the hope that Mrs Hammond's remains would be returned.[1]. Following a police investigation, arrests were made and on 10 April 2006 three men pleaded guilty to blackmail. They were subsequently given substantial prison terms.[2].

[edit] Famous Residents

James Thompson (1829 - 1891). Recipient of the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. A native of the village of Hadley, near Yoxall[3].