__NOTOC__ Brindley Heath is an area of heath land on

Cannock Chase Cannock Chase, often referred to locally as The Chase, is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase National Landscape, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and muc ...

situated between Hednesford and Rugeley in the

Cannock Chase District Cannock Chase is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Staffordshire, England. It is named after and covers a large part of Cannock Chase, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Landscape. The council is b ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England. The area also forms a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, which at the 2001 census, had a population of 862, decreasing to 827 at the 2011 Census.

History

There are remains of disused coal mines in a number of areas of Cannock Chase, including Brindley Heath. The area has been used for many things including RAF Hednesford which was set up in 1938 as home to the 6th Technical Training School. In 1957 the camp was used to house around 900 Hungarian refugees. The camp was then demolished in 1960. The area was also used a tank training ground, leading to much soil disturbance. A military hospital was built on the heath during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the hospital was closed in the 1920s, local miners moved onto the site and dubbed it Brindley Village. It was finally demolished around 1951, and the occupants moved to Hednesford. The parish electoral ward for the southern part of Brindley Heath parish is also named Brindley Village. Brindley Heath railway station served Brindley Heath from 1939 to 1959 on the Chase Line There was also a POW camp at Flaxley Green near Rugeley where the foundations can still be seen to this day.

Flora

Brindley Heath is home to a high concentration of the relatively rare hybrid

bilberry Bilberries () are Eurasian low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae that bear edible, dark blue berries. They resemble but are distinct from North American blueberries. The species most often referre ...

References

External links

00090002 Summary information about Brindley Heath
Villages in Staffordshire Cannock Chase Civil parishes in Staffordshire {{Staffordshire-geo-stub

History

Flora

See also

References

External links