St Mary's Church, Stafford

The Ancient High House is an Elizabethan town house located on the main street in Stafford. The house was constructed in 1595 by the Dorrington family, from local oak, which anecdotally came from the nearby Doxey Wood, and is the largest timber framed town house in England.Many of the original timbers bear carpenter's marks indicating that the frame was pre-assembled on the ground and the joints numbered to aid the on-site construction. Some timbers have additional joint housings cut into them, which would suggest that they have been reused from an even earlier structure. It was not unheard of for a building to be dismantled and rebuilt at a different location - hence the expression to 'up-sticks', which means to move house. At the time of the outbreak of the English Civil War, a member of the Sneed family of Keele Hall, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, was renting the building. Charles I visited Stafford and stayed at the Ancient High House on 17 and 18 September 1643, not long after raising the Royal Standard at Nottingham, the feudal signal to call his loyal subjects to arms - this act was seen as the start of the English Civil War. Having made the High House his temporary headquarters, the King talked to his advisers and dictating letters and military orders for the forthcoming campaign (some of these have been preserved in the nearby William Salt Library). While in Stafford the King attended St Mary's Collegiate Church, an account being made by a local woman for the strewing of flowers along his route to the church. There is a story that while walking in the garden of the High House with the King, Prince Rupert fired two shots through the tail of the weather vane of St Mary's in order to demonstrate the accuracy of a continental Horse Pistol. The weather vane was removed several centuries ago, and so the story cannot be verified, although the pistol Prince Rupert is said to have fired was far more accurate than most of the weapons then in use. In May 1643, the King's enemies, the Parliamentarians, captured the town and in the following January, the newly established Committee of Stafford ordered: that the High House of Mr Dorringtons in tenure of Mr Lees shall be forthwith assigned to Mr Roberts the Provost Marshal to habite in for the securing of the better sort of prisoners... These prisoners were Royalists. The main room of the house would have been the central room on the first floor, and it is here that guests, including King Charles I and Prince Rupert, would have been entertained. Today a tableau represents the scene during the visit of the King who stayed as a guest of Captain Richard Sneed. The King was accompanied by his nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine (and his Standard Poodle called 'Boy'), who was already an accomplished military commander. The structure was weakened by renovations to the ground floor in the 19th century. This work included the knocking-through of a stone fireplace to create a corridor and the removal of one of the corner posts, which lead to a splaying of the overhanging upper storeys. A second chimney was demolished to create more space, this taking place following the advent of electricity when the rooms were presumably kept warm in winter by portable heaters. There were rumours that the High house was going to have to be demolished due to the amount of work that was needed. It was then that the townsfolk got together and a group was formed to raise funds to "save the Ancient High House". At weekends people would have stalls selling souvenirs and encouraging people to donate. Local band "the Climax Blues Band" held an event at a local night club and raised a substantial amount towards the cause. There was talk of a "Blue Plaque" to commemorate the band's efforts, sadly this never transpired. The Ancient High House is now largely a historic house museum with a collection of period room furnishings and displays, including the English Civil War, Edwardian and Victorian eras. Three galleries feature changing art, photography and history exhibitions. The museum is operated by the Stafford Borough Council and entry is free of charge. The Staffordshire Yeomanry Museum is housed in the attic floor, and features uniforms and artefacts of the Staffordshire Yeomanry. The Ancient High House adjoins 'Shaw's House' and the 'Swan', both of which have Elizabethan origins, while close by may be found St Chad's Church and the Collegiate Church of St Mary's, Stafford.

St Chad's Church, on Greengate Street in the centre of Stafford, is a Grade II* listed Anglican church. Saint Chad, who died in 672, was the first Bishop of Lichfield. The church was built in the 12th century, and is the oldest building in Stafford. The church was neglected in the 17th and 18th centuries, and much of the Norman architecture was obscured; there was much restoration work in the mid 19th century, particularly by George Gilbert Scott.

The Stafford Combined Court Centre is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in Victoria Square, Stafford, England.

Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about 15 miles (24 km) north of Wolverhampton, 15 miles (24 km) south of Stoke-on-Trent and 24 miles (39 km) northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 in the 2021 census, It is the main settlement within the larger borough of Stafford which had a population of 136,837 (2021).

The Borough of Stafford is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England. It is named after Stafford, its largest town, which is where the council is based. The borough also includes the towns of Stone and Eccleshall, as well as numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The neighbouring districts are Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Moorlands, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Cannock Chase, South Staffordshire, Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire.

Stafford College is a large provider of further and higher education based in Stafford, England. The college campus is on Earl Street in Stafford Town Centre. Qualifications taught include a wide range of A-levels, with additional choice offered through the Stafford Collegiate, which is a collaboration between Stafford College and other local education providers. The College also offers vocational subjects, often in industry-standard facilities. Music technology students learn in a suite of recording studios; beauty therapists gain skills in the Stafford Beauty Academy, which is a working salon open to the public. Workshops exist for students of Motor Vehicle, Trowel Occupations, Construction Plant, Plumbing and on-campus restaurants provide experience for students training in hospitality subjects. Since 2016 Stafford College and Newcastle Under-Lyme College have merged into Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group. In 2004 the College built a new sports hall providing teaching facilities for students on sports-related subjects and recreational opportunities for other students. The following year it opened the Broad Eye building (named after the Broad Eye Windmill, located just across the road from the college), a dedicated centre with studio facilities for art and design subjects. Stafford College offers higher education courses in partnership with Staffordshire University. Subjects offered at HND and Foundation Degree-level are increasing and current information can be obtained from the College prospectus or its website. At present, Foundation Degrees include subjects such as: Fine Art, Illustration, 3D Design, Graphics & Digital Design, Photography, Fashion, Computing, Sustainable Communities, Small Business & Salon Management, Early Childhood Studies, Education (Teaching Assistants), Leadership & Management and Social Science.

The Shire Hall is a public building in Stafford, England, completed in 1798 to a design by John Harvey. Formerly a courthouse, it housed an art gallery which closed to the public in July 2017. The court rooms and cells are preserved. The building, its interiors, and the associated street furniture were grade II* listed on 17 December 1971, when it was described as "One of the finest public buildings in Stafford".

County Buildings is a municipal facility at Martin Street in Stafford, Staffordshire. The building, which is the meeting place for both Staffordshire County Council and Stafford Borough Council, is a Grade II* listed building.

Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked ceremonial and historic county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the south-east, the West Midlands county and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Stoke-on-Trent; the county town is Stafford. The county has an area of 1,713 square kilometres (661 sq mi) and a population of 1,131,052. After Stoke-on-Trent (258,366), the largest settlements are Tamworth (78,646), Newcastle-under-Lyme (75,082) and Burton upon Trent (72,299); the city of Lichfield has a population of 33,816. For local government purposes Staffordshire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with nine districts, and the unitary authority area of Stoke-on-Trent. The county historically included the north-west of the West Midlands county, including Walsall, West Bromwich, and Wolverhampton. Staffordshire is hilly to the north and south. The southern end of the Pennines is in the north, containing part of the Peak District National Park, while the Cannock Chase AONB and part of the National Forest are in the south. The River Trent and its tributaries drain most of the county. The river has its source near Biddulph and flows through Staffordshire in a southwesterly direction, meeting the Sow just east of Stafford before turning north-east at its confluence with the River Tame and exiting into Derbyshire immediately after Burton-upon-Trent. Staffordshire contains a number of Iron Age tumuli and Roman camps, and was settled by the Angles in the sixth century; the oldest Stafford knot, the county's symbol, can be seen on an Anglian cross in the churchyard of Stoke Minster. The county was formed in the early tenth century, when Stafford became the capital of Mercia. The county was relatively settled in the following centuries, and rapidly industrialised during the Industrial Revolution, when the North Staffordshire coalfield was exploited and fuelled the iron and automobilie industries in the south of the county. Pottery is the county's most famous export; a limited amount is still produced in Stoke-on-Trent.

The Picture House is a pub and former cinema in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. It was built in 1913, and is a Grade II listed building; it is described in the listing as "A good example of an early cinema retaining interior features."

The Borough Hall is a municipal building in Eastgate Street, Stafford, Staffordshire, England. The borough hall, which formed the headquarters of Stafford Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.

The Chetwynd Centre is an extension of the six Stafford high schools and Stafford College. The Centre provides a range of courses not otherwise offered by the Stafford Collegiate. Students who study at the Centre still belong to their School Sixth Form or Stafford College. The Chetwynd Centre is part of the Stafford CollegiateThe Chetwynd Centre is located in Stafford Town Centre in the old King Edward VI Grammar School building, on the Newport Road which therefore facilitates easy access to both main libraries and close proximity to local businesses/organisations that are useful to students' studies. The Chetwynd Centre building, the War Memorial at the Chetwynd Centre and the Gates at the Chetwynd Centre are each Grade-II listed structures.The Chetwynd Centre is now closed and has been offered for sale.