Stretton Hall, Staffordshire

Stretton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lapley, Stretton and Wheaton Aston, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is just north of the A5 road. In 1961 the parish had a population of 176.The A5 is Watling Street, a notable Roman road, and another Roman road passes through Stretton from Mediolanum (Whitchurch), forming a junction with Watling Street near the bridge over the River Penk. On the other side of the river was the now-deserted Roman settlement of Pennocrucium. The village's position on the road from Mediolanum gives it its name, the Old English for "street town" ("street" meaning a paved or Roman road). Stretton Bridge today carries Watling Street over the Penk.Stretton Hall is in the village. The Church of England parish church of St John's Church, Stretton has a 12th-century chancel. The Shropshire Union Canal passes to the west of the village, and there is a Stretton Wharf. The Stretton Aqueduct carries the canal over the A5 road. Vernon Lodge Preparatory School was a small coeducational non-selective private school in Stretton for children aged 2 to 11. It was founded in 1981 and closed in March 2015.

St John's Church, Stretton is the Church of England parish church of Stretton, South Staffordshire.

Lapley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lapley, Stretton and Wheaton Aston, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is some 3.5 miles WSW of Penkridge, 1.5 miles east of Wheaton Aston, 0.5 miles northeast of the Shropshire Union Canal, 1.5 miles north of Watling Street, and 6 miles SSW of Stafford. In 1961 the parish had a population of 840. On 1 April 1986 the parish was abolished and merged with Stretton to form "Lapley and Stretton", part also went to Penkridge.

Stretton Aqueduct is a short cast iron canal aqueduct between Stretton and Brewood, and near to Belvide Reservoir, in south Staffordshire, England. Designed by Thomas Telford and bearing his name plus its date of construction, 1832, it carries the Shropshire Union Canal (formerly the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal) 30 feet (9.1 m) over the A5 road at a skewed angle.The aqueduct has five sections, each 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) long, held together by bolts and supported by six cast iron arch ribs, each in two sections and joined at the centre of the arch. It was cast by William Hazledine of Shrewsbury. The trough is 21 feet (6.4 m) wide with an 11 feet (3.4 m) wide channel of water and a towpath on either side. The Staffordshire blue brick abutments have stone dressings.During 1961–62, the road under the aqueduct was lowered by about 4 feet (1.2 m) to allow taller vehicles to pass underneath.It was one of Telford's last aqueducts and has been grade II listed since 1985.

Bickford is a village in Staffordshire, England. For population details taken at the 2011 census see Penkridge

Lapley Priory was a priory in Staffordshire, England. Founded at the very end of the Anglo-Saxon period, it was an alien priory, a satellite house of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Remi or Saint-Rémy at Reims in Northern France. After great fluctuations in fortune, resulting from changing relations between the rulers of England and France, it was finally dissolved in 1415 and its assets transferred to the collegiate church at Tong, Shropshire.

Whiston is a hamlet in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. Population details taken at the 2011 census can be found under Penkridge.

Pennocrucium was a Romano-British settlement and military complex located at present day Water Eaton, just south of Penkridge, Staffordshire, with evidence of occupation from the mid-1st century until the 4th century.The settlement was mentioned in the 2nd century Antonine Itinerary, which described it as lying 12 miles from Uxacona (near present-day Oakengates) and 12 miles from Letocetum (Wall, near Lichfield). The exact site of Pennocrucium was identified only after aerial photography revealed cropmarks in 1946, and excavations were conducted by Kenneth St Joseph over subsequent years.Pennocrucium was an important road junction on Watling Street – the main Roman road across the Midlands to Viroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter) – and was situated 700 metres east of its crossing of the River Penk, with roads leading north to Mediolanum (Whitchurch) and south in the direction of Greensforge near Kinver and Metchley Fort in Birmingham.The main civilian defensive site or burgi was a rectangular enclosure approximately 450 feet (140 m) from north to south and 700 feet (210 m) from east to west, lying astride Watling Street and surrounded by three ditches. There may have been a civilian vicus around the defended settlement, possibly forming a ribbon development along Watling Street. 800 metres (2,600 ft) to the north east of the civilian settlement lay a large double-ditched enclosure identified as a possible Vexillation fortress, with two smaller forts lying 700 feet (210 m) south east of the settlement and 200 feet (60 m) north of Watling Street on the opposite bank of the Penk. Five single-ditched enclosures in the vicinity have been identified as temporary marching camps.

Brewood (listen) is an ancient market town in the civil parish of Brewood and Coven, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Located around grid reference SJ883088, Brewood lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton city centre and eleven miles south of the county town of Stafford. A few miles to the west of Brewood is the border with the county of Shropshire.

Speedwell Castle is a mid-18th-century house at the centre of Brewood, Staffordshire, between Wolverhampton and Stafford. Described by Pevsner as a "peach" and a "delectable folly", it stands beside the village market place, at the head of a T-junction on Bargate Street, facing onto Stafford Street. The house is an interesting combination of "Gothick" and Classical architecture: the symmetrical brick façade has two canted bays, each of three storeys, either side of a pillared entrance with ogee portico and octagonal-panelled door. There are five windows around each bay on each floor, and a single window on the two floors above the entrance, with decorative plasterwork arranged in tiers of round-headed arches with keystones and ogee arches rising to pinnacles surmounted by acorns. The glazing is arranged in a delicate tracery, originally of hexagons (although the glazing bars are not original on the ground and first floors). The façade is finished by a modillion cornice and parapet, concealing a hipped slate roof with brick chimney stacks. The interior includes one surviving decorative plaster ceiling and a Chinese Chippendale staircase with fretted balustrade. The house became a grade II listed building in 1953. The designer is unknown but some sources suggest Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, who worked nearby in Shropshire. The house has some similarities with Sandhurst House in Stourbridge, and Shenstone Hall near Lichfield. The design may have been inspired by the books published in the 1740s by Batty Langley, who attempted to improve Gothic forms by giving them classical proportions. Speedwell Castle was reputedly built by a local apothecary William Rock, using the winnings from betting on the Duke of Bolton's racehorse, Speedwell. (An alternate story is that the builder owned an unsuccessful racehorse, and said that he would build a castle to celebrate if it ever won). After a period as the home of the classics master at Brewood Grammar School in the second half of the 19th century, it became a reading room in the late 19th century. It was then used as shops and storage until the 1930s, when it was converted to residential flats.

St Dominic's Grammar School (formerly St Dominic's Brewood and St Dominic's High School For Girls and boys ) is a private day school for girls and boys aged 4 to 18 in the village of Brewood, Staffordshire, England. The school is centered on a large Victorian brick building in rural Staffordshire, just north of Wolverhampton. Founded in 1920 by the Dominican Order resident in Staffordshire, it is now an inter-denominational school but retains its Christian ethos and the historic logo featuring the cross from the order's seal.

Brewood Grammar School was a boys' school in the village of Brewood in South Staffordshire, England. Founded in the mid 15th century by the Bishop of Lichfield as a chantry school it was closed by the Dissolution of Chantries Act 1547. It was re-founded by Matthew Knightley and Sir Thomas Gifford in 1553 and survived as a grammar school until 1975 when its last headmaster, Roy Leafe, retired. It then became a mixed-sex middle school in 1977. As a 20th-century grammar school it took a number of boarders who lived at Wheaton Aston Hall, and taught agricultural science. The school had a small attached farm with cattle and poultry. The original building does not survive. The earliest part of the remaining buildings, originally two houses donated to the school, dates from 1778. In 1799 these were enclosed in the school grounds by moving the road. They were rebuilt in 1856 as Rushall House (now Grade II listed) and used as a schoolroom and dormitories. In 1863 the headmaster's house was rebuilt, and further extensions to the school were made in 1898, 1926, 1935, and 1952. The school is commemorated in a recent memorial window in the nearby parish church, St Mary and St Chad.