Standon, Staffordshire

Bowers is a village in Staffordshire, England. For population details as taken in the 2011 census see Standon.

Standon Bridge railway station was a railway station in Standon, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Stone, Staffordshire. The station closed on 4 February 1952, the same day as Whitmore railway station 4 miles further north. The station is close to Mill Meece Pumping Station, an early 20th-century preserved steam-powered water pumping station built by Staffordshire Potteries Waterworks Company. During installation of a second steam engine in 1926–27, parts were delivered to Standon Bridge railway station and transferred by horse and cart to the pumping station. The station is also near to Swynnerton Army training camp, a large former Royal Ordnance Factory.

Coombesdale is a small settlement in Staffordshire, England. It is near the A51 road and is 6 kilometres (4 mi) southwest of the city of Stoke-on-Trent.

Mill Meece Pumping Station is a pumping station, located in the village of Mill Meece in Staffordshire, England. Its function, powered by steam engines, was to pump water from boreholes to a reservoir in Hanchurch, from which it flows by gravity to supply the Potteries area.

The A519 is a road in the Midlands, United Kingdom.

Eccleshall Football Club is a football club based in Eccleshall, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the North West Counties League Division One South and play at Pershall Park.

Maer Hall is a large Grade II listed 17th-century country house in Maer, Staffordshire, set in a park which is listed Grade II in Historic England's Register of Parks and GardensThe large stone-built country house and estate of Maer Hall dominate the village of Maer. Its location in the district of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, is attractively rural, but fairly close to the pottery manufacturing area around Stoke-on-Trent which attracted its most famous owner Josiah Wedgwood II. His nephew Charles Darwin often visited Maer, and married Josiah's daughter Emma. A manor house at Maer dates back to 1282, the owner then being William de Mere. The present stone house was built around 1680 on a slope above a small lake, or "mere", which gave the house its name. In the 18th century the landscape designer Capability Brown altered the lake in a scheme of pleasure grounds. The house could be approached from either the north entrance with its grade II listed lodge, or from the village of Maer to the south with its grade II* listed gatehouse. It lay only 7 miles (11 km) from the Etruria Works of the pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood II, and in 1802 he bought the estate, borrowing money his brother-in-law Robert to fund the purchase before the sale of his Dorset estates. He had the house prepared, with the park being laid out by the landscape designer John Webb, and in 1807 the family moved in. There was a pleasant freedom of speech in the family, with everyone speaking their mind without restraint. They frequently exchanged visits to and from their Darwin relatives only 20 miles (30 km) away, and the young Charles Darwin found it a welcome contrast to the stricter approach of his father. Charles gained much useful information from his relatives during the inception of Darwin's theory, and it was at Maer Hall that he first became interested in the effects of the burrowing of earthworms, which were the subject of an early paper presented to the Geological Society as well as of his last book. He proposed to Emma Wedgwood at Maer Hall, and they were married at St Peter’s Church, which stands close by on the hillside overlooking the Hall. After the death of Josiah Wedgwood II in 1843 the property was sold to William Davenport of the Davenport Pottery, who added a huge clock tower and more stables, but these were knocked down in the 1960s, restoring the appearance of the original 17th-century Hall. For most of the 20th century it was the home of the Harrison family, owners of the Harrison Shipping Line.

HMP Prison Drake Hall is a women's closed prison, located near the town of Eccleshall in Staffordshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.

Cop Mere is one of the largest natural bodies of water in Staffordshire, England, covering 42 acres (17 ha). It has been designated a SSSI as an oligotrophic mire rich in Sphagnum moss, and other plant and animal life are present in sufficient numbers and rarities for it to have been designated as a protected area since 1968. Cop Mere was created as a hollow in the Keuper marl of North Staffordshire/South Cheshire (which was laid down approx 200 million years ago, roughly) as a result of the retreat of the last ice age. It differs from other ponds and meres in the region because it sits on the route of the River Sow, the flow of which encourages the growth of algae necessary for the growth of freshwater mosses. The River Sow has been dammed upstream at Jackson's Coppice from around AD 1250, which altered the flow of water and created a unique albeit man-made environment that encourages birdlife and fishlife. There is evidence that fishing in Cop Mere dates back at least to the reign of Henry VIII. Entomologists have recorded the presence of two uncommon species each of beetle and fly. The SSSI also includes a number of plants currently rare in Staffordshire, specifically herb paris (Paris quadrifolia) and the thin-spiked wood sedge, Carex strigosa. Birds commonly found on the mere include the reed warbler and sedge warbler, the great crested grebe and the little grebe, the sparrowhawk, and three woodpecker, species including the lesser spotted woodpecker. Cop Mere is used for coarse fishing and the British record for rod caught common bream has twice been held by fish landed at Cop Mere, although today the main fish angled for is the tench while there are also perch, roach and pike in the mere's waters.

Maer is a rural village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, to the west of the pottery manufacturing town of Stoke-on-Trent. The parish church of St Peter dates from 1612. It has a funeral monument to Sir John and Lady Bowyer.Maer's main feature is the large 17th-century stone-built country house, Maer Hall, built on a slope above a small lake, or "mere", which gave the house and estate its name. The hall became the home of Josiah Wedgwood II and was frequently visited by his nephew Charles Darwin, who went on to marry Josiah's daughter Emma at St. Peter's Church, which stands higher on the hillside, close to the hall. When she was young, Emma helped her older sister Elizabeth with the Sunday School, which was held in Maer Hall laundry, giving sixty village children their only formal training in reading, writing and religion. The grave of Josiah Wedgwood II and his wife Elizabeth in the churchyard has a view down over the hall. Nearby is Berth Hill, an Iron Age hillfort.

Eccleshall Castle is located in Eccleshall, Staffordshire, England (grid reference SJ827295). It was originally built in the 13th century. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II* listed building.

Berth Hill is an Iron Age hillfort in Staffordshire, England, about 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and near the village of Maer. It is a scheduled monument. Other forms of its name have been Bryth, Bruff and Burgh Hill.