Staffordshire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It covers 1,047 square miles (2,713 km2) and had 1,135,910 residents at the 2021 census, counting the city of Stoke-on-Trent alongside the eight districts run by the county council.
Stafford is the county town, and Stoke-on-Trent is the largest settlement. The county runs from the Peak District moorlands in the north-east to the edge of the Black Country in the south.
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Region | West Midlands |
| Status | Ceremonial county; county council plus one unitary city |
| Area | 1,047 sq mi (2,713 km2) |
| Population (2021) | 1,135,910 |
| County council area (2021) | 877,808 |
| Stoke-on-Trent (2021) | 258,102 |
| County town | Stafford |
| Districts | Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, Tamworth |
| Highest point | Cheeks Hill, 520 m (1,706 ft) |
| Postcode areas | ST, WS and DE, with B, WV and TF at the edges |
Towns and Villages in Staffordshire
The gazetteer records 639 named settlements in Staffordshire, listed below by administration. The 253 largest in the county council area are shown, followed by the townships of Stoke-on-Trent.
Staffordshire (county council area) (621)
- Abbots Bromley
- Above Church
- Acton
- Acton Gate
- Acton Trussell
- Adbaston
- Admaston
- Alder Moor
- Alders
- Allimore Green
- Almington
- Alrewas
- Alsagers Bank
- Alstonefield
- Alton
- Amerton
- Anslow
- Apedale
- Apeton
- Armitage
- Ashley
- Ashmore Brook
- Aspley
- Aston
- Audley
- Bagnall
- Baldwin’s Gate
- Ball Haye Green
- Balterley
- Balterley Green
- Bank Top
- Bar Hill
- Barlaston
- Barton Gate
- Barton Turn
- Barton under Needwood
- Basford Green
- Basford, Stoke-on-Trent
- Beamhurst
- Bednall
- Bednall Head
- Beech
- Beechcliff
- Beffcote
- Betley
- Bickford
- Biddulph
- Biddulph Moor
- Bignall End
- Bilbrook
- Billington
- Birch Cross
- Birchall
- Bishops Offley
- Bishops Wood
- Bishton
- Blackbrook
- Blackshaw Moor
- Blackwood Hill
- Blakeley Lane
- Blakelow
- Blithbury
- Blithfield
- Blore
- Blymhill
- Blymhill Common
- Blymhill Lawn
- Blythe Bridge
- Bobbington
- Bottom House
- Boundary
- Bowers
- Bowsey Wood
- Bradley
- Bradley in the Moors
- Bradnop
- Bradshaw
- Bramshall
- Brereton Cross
- Breretonhill
- Brewood
- Brineton
- Brockton
- Brocton
- Bromley Wood
- Bromstead
- Bromstead Common
- Bromstead Heath
- Brookhay
- Broughton
- Brown Edge
- Brund
- Buddileigh
- Burnhill Green
- Burntwood
- Burston
- Burton upon Trent
- Butterton
- Calf Heath
- Calton
- Calwich
- Cannock
- Cannock Wood
- Carroway Head
- Cauldon
- Caverswall
- Chapel Chorlton
- Charnes
- Chasetown
- Chatcull
- Cheadle
- Chebsey
- Checkley
- Cheddleton
- Cheslyn Hay
- Chestall
- Chesterfield
- Chorley
- Church Eaton
- Church Leigh
- Clifton Campville
- Codsall
- Codsall Wood
- Cold Norton
- Cold Well
- Coldmeece
- Colshaw
- Colton
- Coltstone
- Colwich
- Comberford
- Combridge
- Common Side
- Commonside
- Compton
- Congleton Edge
- Congreve
- Consall
- Cookshill
- Coppenhall
- Cotes
- Cotes Heath
- Coton
- Coton Clanford
- Coton Hayes
- Coton in the Clay
- Cotonwood
- Cotton
- Cotwalton
- Coven
- Coven Heath
- Cowall Moor
- Cowley
- Coxgreen
- Crakemarsh
- Cranberry
- Crateford
- Cresswell
- Creswell Green
- Cross Green
- Crossgate
- Croxall
- Croxden
- Croxton
- Curborough
- Dagdale
- Dapple Heath
- Dayhills
- Denford
- Denstone
- Derrington
- Dilhorne
- Diocese of Lichfield
- Dods Leigh
- Doley
- Draycott in the Clay
- Draycott in the Moors
- Drayton Bassett
- Drointon
- Dunkirk
- Dunsley
- Dunstal
- Dunstall
- Dunston
- Eccleshall
- Edial
- Edingale
- Elford
- Elford Heath
- Ellastone
- Ellenhall
- Endon
- Enson
- Enville
- Essington
- Fairoak
- Farewell
- Farley
- Fauld
- Fawfieldhead
- Fazeley
- Featherstone
- Field
- Finney Green
- Fisherwick
- Flash
- Fole
- Footherley
- Ford
- Forsbrook
- Four Ashes
- Four Crosses
- Foxley
- Foxt
- Fradley
- Fradley South
- Fradswell
- Freehay
- Fulford
- Gnosall
- Great Haywood
- Great Wyrley
- Haughton
- Himley
- Hopwas
- Ipstones
- Keele
- Kidsgrove
- Kingsley
- Kinvere
- Leek
- Lichfield
- Madeley
- Marchington
- Mayfield
- Newcastle under Lyme
- Norton Canes
- Pattingham
- Penkridge
- Rugeley
- Seisdon
- Shareshill
- Shenstone
- Stafford
- Standon
- Stone
- Swynnerton
- Tamworth
- Uttoxeter
- Wheaton Aston
- Whittington
- Wombourne
- Yoxall
Stoke-on-Trent (18)
- Bemersley Green
- Bucknall
- Burslem
- Chatterley
- Cobridge
- Etruria
- Fenton
- Ford Green
- Longport
- Longton
- Middleport
- Milton
- Ridgeway
- Sideway
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Trent Vale
- Trentham
- Tunstall
Geography
The Trent rises at Biddulph Moor in the north of the county and runs south through Stoke-on-Trent, then east past Rugeley and Burton upon Trent. The Sow, Penk, Blithe, Churnet, Dove and Manifold are its Staffordshire tributaries; the Dove forms much of the Derbyshire boundary.
The north-east corner lies in the Peak District, where the gritstone edges of the Roaches and Ramshaw Rocks stand above Leek and the county reaches 520 metres at Cheeks Hill. In the middle sits Cannock Chase, 26 square miles of heath and forest designated a National Landscape, and the south flattens towards Lichfield and Tamworth.
Staffordshire borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire to the north-east and east, Leicestershire and Warwickshire to the south-east, the West Midlands to the south, Worcestershire to the south-west and Shropshire to the west.
Demographics
The 2021 census counted 877,808 people in the county council area and 258,102 in Stoke-on-Trent. Growth over the decade was modest, around 3%.
The main towns outside the city are Newcastle-under-Lyme, Burton upon Trent, Tamworth, Cannock, Stafford, Lichfield, Kidsgrove, Burntwood, Rugeley, Leek, Biddulph, Stone and Uttoxeter. Stafford town holds roughly 70,000 people, Tamworth about 78,000 across its borough and Burton about 75,000.
Stoke-on-Trent is polycentric by origin: it federated six towns in 1910, and Hanley, Burslem, Tunstall, Longton, Fenton and Stoke still function as separate centres. The Staffordshire Moorlands and South Staffordshire are rural and older; Tamworth and Cannock Chase are younger and function partly as commuter districts for Birmingham.
Economy and Local Life
Pottery gave the north of the county its name. The Potteries around Stoke-on-Trent still produce ceramics at Wedgwood in Barlaston, Portmeirion, Steelite, Churchill China and Emma Bridgewater, though employment is a fraction of its twentieth-century peak.
Burton upon Trent remains Britain’s brewing capital, thanks to hard well water high in gypsum, which suits pale ale; Molson Coors and Marston’s brew there and the town produces a large share of British beer. JCB has built excavators at Rocester since 1950 and is one of the county’s biggest private employers.
Distribution and warehousing line the M6 and A50, and Alton Towers near Cheadle is one of the most visited theme parks in Britain. Farming is dairy and stock in the Moorlands, arable in the Trent valley.
History
Staffordshire sat at the centre of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, with a royal seat at Tamworth and a bishopric at Lichfield from 669. The Staffordshire Hoard, the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork ever found, was unearthed in a field at Hammerwich near Lichfield in 2009.
Lichfield Cathedral is the only English cathedral with three spires, and Samuel Johnson was born in the city in 1709. Josiah Wedgwood opened his Etruria works in 1769 and pushed for the Trent and Mersey Canal, engineered by James Brindley and completed in 1777, which carried clay in and finished ware out.
The six Potteries towns federated as the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910 and gained city status in 1925. Stoke-on-Trent became a unitary authority separate from the county council in 1997.
Getting There
The M6 runs the length of the county past Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford and Cannock, with the M6 Toll bypassing the congested southern stretch. The A50 links Stoke to Uttoxeter and Derby, and the A38, A5, A34 and A500 handle the rest.
Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, Lichfield Trent Valley and Tamworth are all on the West Coast Main Line, putting London Euston within about 90 minutes of Stoke. Regional lines serve Rugeley, Burton upon Trent, Uttoxeter and Kidsgrove.
Birmingham Airport is about 25 miles from Lichfield; Manchester Airport is roughly 40 miles north of Stoke-on-Trent. East Midlands Airport lies close to Burton upon Trent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the population of Staffordshire?
1,135,910 at the 2021 census: 877,808 in the county council area and 258,102 in the city of Stoke-on-Trent.
What is the largest town in Staffordshire?
Stoke-on-Trent is the largest settlement. Newcastle-under-Lyme, Burton upon Trent, Tamworth, Cannock and Stafford are the largest towns after it.
How many towns and villages are there in Staffordshire?
The gazetteer lists 639 named settlements across the county and the city.
Which councils cover Staffordshire?
Staffordshire County Council and eight district and borough councils cover most of the county. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been a separate unitary authority since 1997.
Why is Stoke-on-Trent called the Potteries?
Local clay, coal and marl supported hundreds of pottery works from the seventeenth century onwards. Six pottery towns merged into the single city of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, and ceramics are still made there.
Where is Staffordshire?
In the West Midlands, between Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire to the east, the West Midlands conurbation to the south and Shropshire to the west.