Chasetown is a village in the town of

Burntwood Burntwood is a former mining town and civil parish in the Lichfield District of Staffordshire, England. It is approximately west of Lichfield and north east of Brownhills, with a population of 26,049 and forming part of Lichfield district. T ...

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. It is split between the

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 ...

es of Burntwood and Hammerwich.

History

Chasetown developed in the mid 19th century as a coal mining village. At first the village was simply known as Cannock Chase due to its proximity to the nearby

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

, it was known as Chasetown by 1867. The first pit was sunk by the Marquess of Anglesey in 1849, when the Hammerwich Colliery opened at the base of Chasewater reservoir. Cannock Chase Collieries No.2 and No.9 opened in the 1850s to the west of the village where the Rugby club is sited today. As a result of the mining industry, housing for the miners began to be developed around High Street, Church Street and Queen Street. Three pairs of cottages were built on the north side of Church Street in 1854, and the adjoining Uxbridge Arms existed by 1856. By 1860 two shopkeepers, three beer retailers, The Miners'Rest and The Junction a builder, a drill owner, a shoemaker, and a market gardener were listed at the village of Cannock Chase. St Anne's Church was built by 1865 and by 1883 the village had spread as far north as Hill Street. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the village began to grow eastwards when the Oakdene estate began to be built. The estate was still expanding by 1958 when it became the largest council estate in

Lichfield district Lichfield District () is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district is named after its largest settlement, the city of Lichfield, which is where the district council is based. The district also c ...

. The last mine closed in 1959 but the village continued expanding as it became an overspill area for people from the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...

. The rural green spaces between

and Chasetown were developed by the early 1970s which effectively joined the two villages. There is today little evidence of the mining industry left in the area other than Chasewater reservoir which provided water for the canals that were used to transport coal to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and the

, and Chasewater Light Railway which has been restored for leisure use. St Anne's Church was said to be the first church in England to have electric lighting, with power supplied by the collliery in 1883. The church, built in 1865, is grade II* listed.

Sport

Chasetown Football Club, Burntwood Rugby Club, Chasewater Watersports Centre and Erasmus Darwin Academy are also based here.

References

External links

Villages in Staffordshire Cannock Chase Areas of Burntwood {{Staffordshire-geo-stub