Stafford services

Stone Rural District was a rural district in Staffordshire, England. It was created in 1894 and abolished by virtue of the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974. It was originally formed of the civil parishes of Barlaston, Chebsey, Cold Norton, Eccleshall, Milwich, Sandon, Standon, Stone Rural, Swynnerton and Trentham. In 1897 two new civil parishes were added, Fulford and Hilderstone. In 1922, Hanford and most of Trentham were transferred to Stoke-on-Trent County Borough. In 1932 Cold Norton was abolished with two changes to the district whereby parts of Swynnerton and Trentham were transferred to Newcastle-under-Lyme Rural District and parts of Stone Rural moved into Stone Urban District. In 1956 more of Stone Rural was transferred into Stone Urban District. Finally, in 1965 parts of Barlaston, Fulford and Swynnerton transferred into Stoke-on-Trent. On abolition the remaining areas became part of the Borough of Stafford.

Stone Dominoes Football Club is a football club based in Stone, Staffordshire. They play at Wellbeing Park.

Stone Old Alleynians Football Club is a football club based in the town of Stone, Staffordshire, England. The club plays in the Midland League Premier Division. The club is affiliated to the Staffordshire Football Association.

Dorlestone Hall was a manor house at Darlaston, a locality also known as Dorlestone, near Stone, Staffordshire, England, on the Trent. The Hall was built prior to the Reformation. Prior to 1503, the Hall was leased by Jacobus Colyar, who had probably fought in Spain during the Reconquista, as he was given a letters patent with symbols of prowess in the Crusades. In 1503, the Hall was leased by his son, Robert Colyar. He became a wool trader and married Agnes Venables de Kinderton. His son, Thurston, also leased the Hall. In 1537, its ownership passed from Burton Abbey to Thurston's son, James Collier. The abbey was dissolved two years later. In 1685, a descendant, James Collier, sold the Hall to William Jervis. The property is associated with Richard Barnfield, who is one of the candidates for Shakespeare's "Rival Poet". A "Richard Barnfield of Dorlestone in the Countie of Stafford Esquire" who died here in 1627, was formerly believed to be the poet, but current thinking is that the death recorded was that of his father whose name he shared.In 1880 the estate was acquired by the Meakin family from the Jervis family. The house was demolished after the Second World War.

Stone is a market town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) north of the county town of Stafford, 7 miles (11 km) south of Stoke-on-Trent, and 15 miles (24 km) north of Rugeley. As a notable canal town, Stone is recognised for its rich history, originating from the early Bronze Age and continuing through the Industrial Revolution, with the introduction of the Trent and Mersey Canal shaping the town's development and local industry. Originally governed as an urban district council and a rural district council, Stone became part of the Borough of Stafford in 1974. Over the years, the town has seen a steady growth in its population, which was recorded as 12,305 in the 1991 census, 14,555 in 2001, and 16,385 in 2011.

Norton Bridge railway station was a railway station located on the West Coast Main Line and served both the village of Norton Bridge and the town of Eccleshall in Staffordshire, England. The first station was opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1837. The station was resited southwards in 1876. Services were temporarily withdrawn in 2004 but never reinstated. The station formally closed in 2017. The main line platforms were removed before electrification in the 1960s when the current island platform was built for Manchester-via-Stoke-on-Trent services. Passenger services ceased in May 2004 when Central Trains services between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent were withdrawn and replaced by BakerBus route X1. In December 2004 the footbridge was removed in order to improve freight clearances.From 2007, the Office of Rail Regulation did not include it in its station usage figures.The nearby junction between the Crewe and Stoke routes is an important one on the West Coast Main Line; as such, during the 1960s modernisation of the line, the junction and some of the surrounding main lines were placed under the control of a new power signal box built to a design similar to that still standing at Wolverhampton. The Norton Bridge signal box was notable for its use of an experimental Westinghouse solid-state interlocking system for some years, which was later converted to a conventional relay-based interlocking; this signal box features briefly in the British Transport Films production Thirty Million Letters. It closed altogether in 2004, control passing instead to the signal control centre at Stoke-on-Trent, although the lower storey still remains in situ as a relay room. In March 2016, a flyover was opened to the north of the station to allow the Stoke branch to be fully grade-separated from the main line to Crewe. Services to/from Manchester now use the slow lines from Stafford, a new junction near Little Bridgeford and the new flyover instead of having to make potentially conflicting moves across the flat junction as before.In October 2016, the Department for Transport began a consultation process to formally close the station and withdraw its subsidy of the replacement bus service operated by D&G Bus. The notional closure took effect on 10 December 2017 coinciding with the transfer of the West Midlands franchise from London Midland to West Midlands Trains. However, the bus subsidy continued to give Staffordshire County Council time to decide on the future of the service. With the council electing not to take over the funding of the service, it ceased in March 2019.

Stone Meadows is a local nature reserve adjacent to Stone, in Staffordshire, England. There are three separate meadows by the River Trent. Goodall Meadow and Southern Meadow are reserves of Stafford Borough Council; Crown Meadow is a reserve of Stone Town Council.

Stone railway station serves the market town of Stone, Staffordshire, England. The station is located on a junction of the Colwich to Manchester spur of the West Coast Main Line, but has platforms only on the branch from Stafford to Stoke-on-Trent.

The Izaak Walton Cottage is a seventeenth-century timber framed building in Shallowford, Chebsey, Staffordshire, England. It belonged to the writer Izaak Walton, best known for The Compleat Angler. The building is designated grade II, and is managed as a museum.

Yarnfield is a village in Staffordshire, England. Population details as taken in the 2011 census can be found under Swynnerton It is considered part of historic Stone, and is near to other historic locations such as Eccleshall and Swynnerton. Yarnfield and Cold Meece civil parish and parish council came into being in April 2019, with two wards, Yarnfield and Cold Meece. It is included in the Borough of Stafford, and was previously the southern part of Swynnerton parish. The village has performed very well in the Staffordshire Best Kept Village competition in recent years.

Stone Priory was a priory founded at Stone in Staffordshire, England, in about 670 AD. The priory's church was dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Wulfad, a local seventh-century martyr and supposedly a son of King Wulfhere of Mercia, who ruled from 658 until his death in 675. The mid-15th century Rimed Chronicle of Stone Priory, found at the Priory at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, records the founding legend and the names of the Stafford family patrons up to 1403, and the places of their burials.

Meaford Hall in Staffordshire, England is a 17th-century country house at Meaford, near Stone, Staffordshire. The River Trent runs through the estate's meadow. On the river was one round and one three-sided half-turret. It is a Grade II* listed building that reached as much as 156 feet long by 45 feet wide with a basement, ground floor and second floor. The hall consisted of two buildings with a chamber, work room and bedroom. The basement included a deeds room, wine cellar, two beer cellars and dispense cellar. The estate was founded in the 8th century and acquired by William Jervis of Chatcull in the late 17th century and remained the seat of the Jervis family for almost 250 years. It played a role in The 'Forty-Five' rebellion by the Young Pretender, Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Swinfen Jervis received 70 soldiers and awaited an engagement that never occurred. It was the birthplace of Admiral John Jervis, later 1st Earl St Vincent, hero of the defeat of the Spanish at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. The hall was much extended and modernised by Lady Forester, daughter of Edward Jervis Jervis, 2nd Viscount St Vincent in the late 19th century but was sold in 1943. Thereafter it was variously occupied by the United States forces, and by a school and latterly it served as the headquarters of the building company Percy Bilton Ltd. Following a period of unoccupation and neglect the hall – much reduced in size – was restored by a new owner and was reopened on 14 February 1997, the bicentenary of the Battle of Cape St Vincent. At some point it was acquired by Craig Johnson, who undertook a number of developments, including addition of a leisure suite.In April 2008 Johnson was one of 21 people to be jailed in connection with a £138 million VAT carousel fraud, with the defendants sentenced to a total of 133 years – one of the largest thefts from public funds that has been brought to court after a Customs investigation. In November 2008, Johnson was ordered to repay HMRC £26 m, with £8 m due within 12 months from the sale of Meaford Hall.