Uttoxeter

Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from Derby and north-east of Rugeley. The population was 13,089 at the 2011 Census. The town's literary connections include Samuel Johnson and Mary Howitt.

History

Uttoxeter's name has been spelt at least 79 ways since it appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Wotocheshede": it probably came from Anglo-Saxon ''Wuttuceshǣddre'', meaning "Wuttuc's homestead on the heath". Some historians have pointed to pre-Roman settlement here; axes from the Bronze Age discovered in the town are now on display in the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent. It is possible that Uttoxeter was the location of some form of Roman activity, due to its strategic position on the River Dove and its closeness to the large garrison forts at Rocester between 69 and 400 AD, and the recently discovered fort at Stramshall. However, little corroborating archaeological evidence has been found.

Uttoxeter saw the last major royalist surrender of the English Civil War, on 25 August 1648, when James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton surrendered to Parliamentarian General John Lambert.

Perhaps the most famous historical event to have occurred in Uttoxeter is an act of penance by Samuel Johnson. Johnson's father ran a bookstall on Uttoxeter market, and young Samuel once refused to help out on the stall. When Johnson was older, he stood in the rain without a hat, as penance for his failure to assist his father. The event is commemorated by the Johnson Memorial, which stands in the town-centre Market Place. He is also remembered in the name of Johnson Road.

Mary Howitt, the Quaker writer of the poem " The Spider and the Fly", lived in Uttoxeter for a long period of her life. The town influenced some of her poems and novels and fuelled her love of natural history, which also featured in her books. Howitt Crescent, a residential road in the town, was named after her. The house where she lived, Howitt Place, is still standing in Balance Street.

Thomas Fradgley, Uttoxeter's own architect designed Uttoxeter Town Hall (1854), the Johnson Memorial (1854), St Michael's Church, Stramshall, St Lawrence Church, Bramshall (1835), St Mary's Church, Uttoxeter, and Marchington Church. He was involved with Pugin and other architects in designs for the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury at Alton Towers including the figures of the Talbot Hounds at the entrance tower (1830), the Angel Corbels in the Lady chapel, 1833, Alton Towers Chapel with Joseph Potter (completed in 1833), Swiss Cottage, and Harper's Cottage, Farley. He was the architect who improved several local schools, including Uttoxeter National School, Hanbury Free School (enlarged in 1848), national schools at Oakamoor, Cauldon, Alton, and Draycott School, Hanbury. He married Clara Warner from Bramshall. Their only child Thomas died aged six. Thomas Fradgley died in 1883 aged 83.

Bunting's brewery had occupied a large area of the centre of the town since the Victorian era. It ceased production in the 1930s after being bought by Parkers Brewery of Burslem, later part of Ind Coope. The remains of the brewery were demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Maltings shopping precinct and car park. The turret clock from the brewery, which had been languishing in the basement of the town hall, was refurbished and installed above the entrance to the Costa Coffee shop in the Carters Square Shopping Centre shortly before the centre opened in 2014.

In 2008, Uttoxeter marked the 700th anniversary of its market charter of 1308, which underpins the markets held on Saturdays and Wednesdays and on other festival days. The 1308 charter followed a more general Royal Charter granted to the town's burgesses in 1252. The originals are held at The National Archives in Kew and the Deferrers Museum in Leicester.

Economy

In 1945, Joseph Cyril Bamford founded J C Bamford Excavators Limited in Uttoxeter, now known as JCB. The firm, based in the nearby village of Rocester, is the world's third-largest construction equipment manufacturer. The firm's first vehicle was a tipping trailer made from war-surplus materials, which J. C. Bamford built in a rented lock-up garage in Uttoxeter. The Bamford family had previously started Bamfords, later Bamford International Farm Machinery which was a large employer in the town from the end of the 19th century through to the early 1980s, when it gradually declined before closing in 1989. The land and former building were acquired by JCB for its "Special Products" division. This has now closed and the buildings have been demolished, but the site has yet to be redeveloped. JCB has other factories in Uttoxeter, Cheadle, Rugeley, Foston and Wrexham, and abroad in the United States and India.

Fox's Biscuits (previously Elkes and Adams) has a factory in Uttoxeter. Elkes was the creator of the malted milk biscuit. Glennans Crisps, specialising in vegetable crisps, is based in the town. It was bought by Tyrrells Crisps in 2012.

Proximity to the Alton Towers Theme Park and Resort, St. George's Park National Football Centre and the Peak District National Park means tourism is important to the local economy. Uttoxeter Racecourse, home to the Midlands Grand National, also brings visitors, as do the town centre shops and markets.

Agriculture remains important, as the town is set in rich dairy farming country. Uttoxeter previously housed a large dairy and was historically a major trader in butter and cheese. The farming cooperative Dairy Farmers of Britain had another large dairy in the nearby village of Fole, but this closed in 2008. The next year the firm went into administration. A new cattle market was due to be built in the town after the old one was demolished in 2004, but no progress was made and it is now unlikely after ten years that the town will regain one.

Recent development

Uttoxeter town centre underwent a development scheme in 2006–2007, with the Market Place, Market Street, Queens Street, Carter Street, and High Street receiving new stone paving and street furniture.

Phased development of Dovefields Retail Park began in 1998 with a Tesco supermarket on the edge of the town and expansion in 2002 with seven large retail outlets. In 2005 an entertainment development with a bowling alley, an ice rink, a cinema, a children's crèche, a fitness centre and business units was built.

The old Cattle Market closed in November 2005 in favour of a retail and housing development, Carter Square, opening in 2014. This features a supermarket, a range of smaller retail units and a medical surgery.

The replacement cattle market, granted planning permission on the outskirts of the town, failed to appear after several years. A municipal recycling depot has opened on part of the site.

The JCB site in the centre of Uttoxeter was demolished in 2009 after the firm moved to one of its sites on the edge of town. This is currently undergoing redevelopment: a Waitrose store opened there in 2016. Plans have been approved for hundreds of homes, a park and business units.

Demography

According to the 2011 census, the population for Uttoxeter Civil Parish was 13,089. White British make up by far the largest ethnicity at 96 per cent of the population, 493 people being from other ethnicities.

Transport

Uttoxeter has a railway station, opened originally by the North Staffordshire Railway on 2 October 1881 to replace earlier stations. It is served by trains on the Crewe-Derby Line, which generally operate hourly each way between Crewe and Newark Castle.

The bus stop next to the station runs an hourly service to Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent and Alton Towers. Buses to Stafford run every two hours, those to Burton upon Trent every hour.

The town is located is on the main A50 trunk road.

Uttoxeter was once the terminus of a branch of the Caldon Canal (the Uttoxeter Canal), but most signs of this, apart from an area of Uttoxeter called ''The Wharf'', have disappeared; this is because much of the canal bed was used in the 19th century for the North Staffordshire Railway main line from Uttoxeter to Macclesfield, which has now also disappeared.

The nearest airport is East Midlands, some 29 miles (47 km) away.

Public services

Policing in Uttoxeter is provided from the Staffordshire Police station in Balance Street. HM Prison Dovegate, in the nearby village of Marchington, is a Category B men's private prison operated by the Serco. HM Prison Sudbury, just over six miles away beyond the Derbyshire boundary, is operated by HM Prison Service as a Category D men's open prison.

The statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service. Uttoxeter Fire Station is in Cheadle Road in the north of the town.

Uttoxeter has no hospital. It is served by the nearby Queen's Hospital in Burton upon Trent, County Hospital in Stafford, University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent and Royal Derby Hospital. There is no ambulance station, but a team of Rapid Response Paramedics is based here and supported by volunteer Community first responders.

The utility firm South Staffordshire Water manages Uttoxeter's drinking water and Severn Trent its waste water.

Places of interest

St Mary's Catholic Church in Balance Street was Pugin's first church design. He later worked on Alton Towers and the Houses of Parliament. Three miles north-west of Uttoxeter are the remains of Croxden Abbey, founded in 1176 by Bertram de Verdun for monks of the Cistercian Order. Redfern's Cottage Museum of Uttoxeter Life is in Carter Street and run by volunteers. The restored timber-framed building houses local-history displays, a small gift shop and a cafe.

The town's refurbished Market Place contains the town's main war memorial, as well as the Millennium Monument and the Dr Johnson Memorial. The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday markets are held weekly in the Market Place. In addition there is a monthly Makers' Market.

Smallwood Manor, just over a mile outside the town, was built in 1886 as a country house and now houses Smallwood Manor Preparatory School. The National Trust's Museum of Childhood is located at nearby Sudbury Hall.

Bramshall Road Park is the town's recreation ground, with offers tennis courts, skate park, basketball court, football pitch, bowling green and two children's play areas, as well as floral arrangements and the Picknall Brook nature reserve, which can be followed through to the River Dove.

Alton Towers Resort is some from Uttoxeter. The Peak District National Park is about 20 miles away.

The Uttoxeter Casket or Dr Nelson's Casket is an Anglo-Saxon reliquary, probably from Croxden Abbey. It was rediscovered in a cottage in Croxden in the mid-19th century. It probably held a religious relic for display on an altar. It is currently held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, Ohio.

Media

Television

Uttoxeter lies within the BBC West Midlands and ITV Central both broadcast from the Sutton Coldfield transmitting station. It is also possible to receive BBC East Midlands from the Waltham transmitting station in Leicestershire.

Radio

Uttoxeter's local BBC station is BBC Radio Derby, based in Derby. Other local BBC stations that can be received include BBC Radio Stoke and BBC Radio Leicester.

Uttoxeter's commercial radio station is Imagine Radio, broadcasting on 101.8 FM locally. Other commercial stations that can be received include Gem, Capital Midlands and Signal 1.

Newspapers

Uttoxeter's newspapers are the ''Uttoxeter Advertiser'' (online only, part of the Burton Mail group of local papers), the ''Uttoxeter Echo'', and the community magazine the ''Shire Standard''.

Culture

Uttoxeter Civic Society was re-established in 2004 to act as a civic watchdog and to protect and promote the history and heritage of Uttoxeter.

Each year, Uttoxeter Lions run a beer festival in June, "Lark in the Park", at Bramshall Road Park on August bank holiday and on Bonfire and Fireworks Night in November, and an annual Christmas fair and market known as "Cracker Night".

Uttoxeter Choral Society was founded in 1881, as one of the earliest in the United Kingdom. Its continuity is matched by few other societies.

Uttoxeter is also the home of the Acoustic Festival of Britain.

Television appearances

Uttoxeter was the setting of a recurring comedy sketch by comedians Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in their BBC
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