Creswell, Staffordshire
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Creswell is a small village on the north-western edge of
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
, the county town of
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, England situated on elevated ground above the wide floodplain and extensive marshes of the
River Sow The River Sow is a tributary of the River Trent in Staffordshire, England, and is the river that flows through Stafford. Course The river rises to the south of Loggerheads, near Broughton and flows south-east beside the villages of Fairoak, ...
. Population details taken at the 2011 census can be found under
Seighford Seighford ( ) is a village and civil parish about west of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,793. The ford across a small stream is the origin of the village's toponym. The village ...
. The village, just to the west of the
M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...
(junction 14), has a population of just a few hundred, although the parish boundary also incorporates the Primepoint business park on the other side of the motorway. The village also lies close to
Doxey Marshes Doxey Marshes is a nature reserve located within two miles of Stafford town centre, and is managed by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. Designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its wet grassland habitat and its breeding wading birds ...
. The name Creswell is thought to come from
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
Cærsewella referring to the plant watercress (cærse in
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
and wella meaning spring or stream), meaning 'the spring where watercress grows.' A
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
polished stone axehead was found in a garden in Creswell in 1960, and about a quarter of a mile to the north-west are the ruins of an ancient chapel, or meeting house.


Creswell Chapel

Most of the recorded history of the village centres on 'Creswell
Chapel of Ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...
,' which seems to date from c.1150. The only visible remains of this chapel is a partial ruin standing in fields to the northwest of the village proper. It had been in former times a subsidiary chapel of the Royal Free Chapel of
St. Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
in
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
since 1346. Only the two adjoining north and east walls of the chancel survive, the north window having Early English narrow lancet windows which are typical of the 13th century, while the east wall displays features typical of the 15th century. Extensive existing earthworks around the chapel ruin suggest other buildings were also present, but the claim that ''modern archaeological field investigations (have) uncovered no evidence of any buildings other than the chapel in the area...(and) that the antiquarian report mistook the remains of
Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
'
ridge and furrow Ridge and furrow is an archaeological pattern of ridges (Medieval Latin: ''sliones'') and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages, typical of the open-field system. It is also known as rig (or rigg) and fu ...
' farming as the overgrown walls and earthworks of another ruined building, '' lacks credibility to anyone making a visit and examining the earthworks present at the site, which by no means resemble the remains of
ridge and furrow Ridge and furrow is an archaeological pattern of ridges (Medieval Latin: ''sliones'') and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages, typical of the open-field system. It is also known as rig (or rigg) and fu ...
farming as stated. Alternatively, the marks could be of much more recent origin. No reference is given as to when the 'modern archaeological investigations' were undertaken or where the report was published. A 1428 inquisition stated that by ancient custom, the parishioners of Creswell buried their dead in the graveyard of the Church of Saint Bertelin in Stafford, since no burials are recorded at Creswell Chapel.


Wartime air crash

On 4 July 1944 a
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...
aircraft crashed at Creswell. The pilot, Captain John Pershing Perrin, DFC, age 25, on his first (and last) Mustang flight, was killed when his aircraft, belching smoke and flame, crashed into a Creswell Home Farm wheatfield. Captain Perrin ''chose to stay with the plane and attempt to land it at the nearest airfield, as he was flying over a populated area.... He was skimming over houses and schools, people - untold others in the town, going about their daily business, kids walking home from school, and this then-pilotless plane, fuel-laden, would be crashing among them.'' At the time Captain Perrin was flying the brand new aircraft - one of the first D-variants of the plane to arrive in the UK - from Base Air Depot AAF582 Warton near Preston, Lancashire to AAF122
355th Fighter Wing 355th may refer to: Aviation * 355th Fighter Squadron, an inactive United States Air Force unit * 355th Fighter Wing, a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force * 355th Tactical Airlift Squadron, a U.S. Ai ...
combat air station
Steeple Morden Steeple Morden is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, about south west of Cambridge and west of Royston, Hertfordshire, Royston. It is part of the South Cambridgeshire local government non-metropoli ...
in Cambridgeshire.


Perrin Memorial

On 4 July 2007, the 63rd anniversary of Captain
John Pershing Perrin John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
's death, a monolithic stone memorial was erected at the crash site to commemorate the pilot's supreme act of heroism. A joint Anglo-American dedication service was held that day with representatives of the Perrin family, the U.S. Air Force, the Assistant Air Attaché from the American Embassy, Creswell Parish Council, Vice
Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...
of Staffordshire and Mayor of Stafford in attendance. A bugler from the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Band performed ''Taps'' and other musical arrangements were performed by RAF Cosford Voluntary Band. The ceremony concluded with a flypast and aerobatic display by a lone 1944 vintage P-51D Mustang.


See also

*
Listed buildings in Creswell, Staffordshire Creswell is a civil parish in the Borough of Stafford, Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicest ...


References


External links

{{authority control Borough of Stafford Villages in Staffordshire