Featherstone is a village in the district of

South Staffordshire South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of the West Midlands county, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains notable settle ...

, England, near to the border with

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

History

Originally a farming community consisting of a few scattered farms, it is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 and was owned by the clergy of Wolverhampton Church. It is possible that the population numbers were fairly static until the opening of a new mine, Hilton Main, in the 1920s, it closed in 1969. The

Duke of Cleveland Duke of Cleveland was a title that was created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The dukedoms were named after Cleveland in northern England. The first creation in 1670 (along with the barony ...

was lord of the manor of this small township of 550 acres and just 34 souls in 1851. This was once the residence of John Huntbach, the noted antiquary. The principal inhabitants were Joshua Price and Edward Tunycliffe, farmers, John Perry the lock manufacturer and Thomas Hill a vermin killer. The village's population at the time of the 1851 census was 35. By 1921 this had risen to 39. By the time of the 2001 census it was 3,948.

Today

The village has one primary school, Featherstone Academy and a pub, the Red, White and Blue. Recently controversy was sparked over the proposed building of 1,500 houses on green belt land, although many people believed the extra facilities proposed would make the village a better place to live. After much public opposition, this plan was rejected in early 2009. Featherstone also has a Methodist church and some small shops. There are three off licences (Featherstone Supermarket, Featherstone Wine Lodge and Costcutter) a hairdresser and a chemist. In 2008 there was some concern over the future of the post office, but it was not one of those closed. On the outskirts of the village are three prisons;

HM Prison Featherstone HM Prison Featherstone is a Category C men's prison, located in the village of Featherstone (near Wolverhampton), in Staffordshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Featherstone Prison was constructed on ...

HM Prison Oakwood HM Prison Oakwood is a Category C prison in Featherstone, Staffordshire, England. First opened in April 2012, the prison is operated by G4S and was primed to be in full operation by autumn 2012. Originally called Featherstone 2 and designed to ...

and HM Prison Brinsford, which is also a Youth Offender Institution (YOI). Nearby is the site of the former Brinsford Lodge Teachers' Training College and Polytechnic Hall of Residence. The site of the old college, which stood near Oakwood Prison, is rich in history. There are traces of several old

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

shelters and tiles from the kitchens.

Schools

Featherstone Academy, the Avenue (formerly Whitgreave Primary School)

Churches

Featherstone is part of the ecclesiastical Parish of Shareshill, where the Parish Church of St Mary & St Luke is situated. There is a Methodist chapel sited at the junction of the Avenue and the A460.

Shops and pubs

The Red, White and Blue public house was built in the 1920s to replace a much older building nearby.

Transport links

The village has a regular bus service (service 70, Mon-Sat) to

and

Cannock Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the nearby towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolverh ...

. All journeys serve

New Cross Hospital New Cross Hospital is a hospital in the Heath Town district of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is located to the east of the city centre in Wednesfield and is managed by the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. History The hospital has ...

before continuing to Wolverhampton. The bus frequency then is hourly both ways. The bus service is run by

D&G Bus D&G Bus is a local bus operator owned by Centrebus Group and is based in Adderley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. History D&G Bus was formed by David Reeves and Gerald Henderson in April 1998 initially operating four buses on two routes ...

trading as Chaserider. In addition

Select Bus Select or SELECT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Select'' (album), an album by Kim Wilde * ''Select'' (magazine), a British music magazine * ''MTV Select'', a television program * ''Select Live'', New Zealand's C4 music program ...

service 67 runs three times daily Mon-Fri between

and

via Wedge Mills and

Bushbury Bushbury is a suburban village and ward in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, England. It lies two miles north-east of Wolverhampton city centre, divided between the Bushbury North and Bushbury South and Low Hill wards. Bushbury ...

. This service also serves Featherstone Prison. The nearest active railway station to Featherstone is

Landywood Landywood is a small village in Staffordshire, England. Landywood forms part of the parish and village of Great Wyrley, and together with Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay, forms a community with a combined population in 2001 of almost 20,000. For ...

on the

Chase Line The Chase Line is a suburban railway line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs from its southern terminus, Birmingham New Street, to Walsall, and then Rugeley in Staffordshire, where it joins the Trent Valley Line. The name of the ...

and

on the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

Political representation

Featherstone has a parish council with two wards. *Brinsford Ward, two councillors. *Featherstone Ward, nine councillors. Featherstone is represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Gavin Williamson Sir Gavin Alexander Williamson (born 25 June 1976) is a British politician who most recently served as Minister of State without Portfolio from 25 October to 8 November 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Staffordshire s ...

, Conservative member for

Notable people

* Andy Thompson (born 1967 in Featherstone) an English former footballer, played 533 professional games, of which 376 were for

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

SoccerBase Database
retrieved 12 August 2018

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Featherstone Villages in Staffordshire South Staffordshire District