Colwich Parish
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Colwich Parish is 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 ...
in the
Borough of Stafford The Borough of Stafford is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England. It is named after Stafford, its largest town, which is where the council is based. The borough also includes the towns of Stone and Ecclesha ...
in
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 named after the village of of the same name. It covers a wider area of land and includes the villages and hamlets of Bishton,
Colwich Colwich may refer to: * Colwich, Kansas Colwich is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States, located northwest of Wichita. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,455. History Colwich was founded in 1887. The name i ...
,
Great Haywood Great Haywood is a village in the civil parish of Colwich, in the Borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England, just off the A51 and about northwest of Rugeley and southeast of the town of Stafford. Geography Haywood lies ...
,
Little Haywood Little Haywood is a village in the Borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. The population taken at the 2011 census was under Colwich. It lies beside the A51 road. Nearby is the West Coast Main Line, the Trent and Mersey C ...
, Moreton,
Shugborough Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England. The hall is situated on the edge of Cannock Chase, about east of Stafford and from Rugeley. The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissolutio ...
, and Wolseley Bridge.


Landmarks


Shugborough Hall

Shugborough Hall Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England. The hall is situated on the edge of Cannock Chase, about east of Stafford and from Rugeley. The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissol ...
was the ancestral home of the Ansons, earls of Lichfield, four miles (6 km) northwest of Rugeley. The estate was purchased by William Anson in the early 17th century and is now in the care of the
National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
. It is located close to the village of
Great Haywood Great Haywood is a village in the civil parish of Colwich, in the Borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England, just off the A51 and about northwest of Rugeley and southeast of the town of Stafford. Geography Haywood lies ...
and in the hamlet of
Shugborough Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England. The hall is situated on the edge of Cannock Chase, about east of Stafford and from Rugeley. The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissolutio ...
.


St Michael and All Angels

St Michael and All Angels serves as the parish church of
Colwich Colwich may refer to: * Colwich, Kansas Colwich is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States, located northwest of Wichita. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,455. History Colwich was founded in 1887. The name i ...
and belongs to the Diocese of Lichfield. It is a grade II* listed building and the centre of the old parish of Colwich, which was reduced in size twice when the parish of Hixon was established in 1848 and again when the parish of
Great Haywood Great Haywood is a village in the civil parish of Colwich, in the Borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England, just off the A51 and about northwest of Rugeley and southeast of the town of Stafford. Geography Haywood lies ...
was formed in 1854. The exact date when the church was first built is unknown, but from the style of the architecture it may have been sometime in the late 14th century. A major renovation was carried out by the Victorians between 1852 and 1857. The church has a fine set of choir stallsBristow, Wendy, A guide to the Church of Saint Michael and All Angels Colwich, Colwich 2011 and a
reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...
of angels by local sculptor
Samuel Peploe Wood Samuel Peploe Wood (17 February 1827 – 30 July 1873) was an English sculptor and painter. His sculpture can be seen on many churches and public buildings in England, and there are a number of his sketches and watercolours at Staffordshire Cou ...
. Inside the church are many tombs, wall tablets and other memorials connected with the landed gentry in the parish, including the Wolseley Baronets and the Ansons of Shugborough Hall, earls of Lichfield, many of whom are buried in the church. A tablet commemorates
Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...
Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (4 June 183325 March 1913) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential British generals after a series of victories in Canada, West Africa and E ...
, KP, GCB, OM,
GCMG The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...
, VD, PC (1833–1913), buried in the crypt of
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. The
Anson family The Anson family is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Anson family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Anson family include the earldom of Lichfield (since 1831) and the Anson baron ...
vault is located underneath the organ loft, formerly the private gallery of the owners of
Shugborough Hall Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England. The hall is situated on the edge of Cannock Chase, about east of Stafford and from Rugeley. The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissol ...
. It is accessed through an upright door that is normally concealed behind the panelling of the choir stalls, and neither visible nor accessible to the public. The vault itself is a small, almost square room. Inside there are three niches for coffins opposite the access door, and twelve openings for coffins in each side wall. 15 bodies are currently interred here, including the 1st Earl of Lichfield, Admiral Lord Anson, and his wife. After 1854, when the parish of
Great Haywood Great Haywood is a village in the civil parish of Colwich, in the Borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England, just off the A51 and about northwest of Rugeley and southeast of the town of Stafford. Geography Haywood lies ...
was formed, the Earls of Lichfield and other Ansons of Shugborough Hall were buried there at St Stephen's Church until the 5th Earl decided to return to the vault at St Michael and All Angels and whose lead-lined coffin was placed there after his death in 2005. In the churchyard is the grave of
Adelbert Anson Rev. Hon. Adelbert John Robert Anson Doctor of Divinity, DD (20 December 184027 May 1909) was a clergyman from the Anson family. He served as an Anglican bishop in late 19th century western Canada. Early life Anson was born in St James's Square ...
, first
Bishop of Qu’Appelle A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
, and also a large and elaborate memorial cross carved in 1866 by
Samuel Peploe Wood Samuel Peploe Wood (17 February 1827 – 30 July 1873) was an English sculptor and painter. His sculpture can be seen on many churches and public buildings in England, and there are a number of his sketches and watercolours at Staffordshire Cou ...
to his brother, painter Thomas Peploe Wood and other members of his family.


Colwich Abbey

The village of
Little Haywood Little Haywood is a village in the Borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. The population taken at the 2011 census was under Colwich. It lies beside the A51 road. Nearby is the West Coast Main Line, the Trent and Mersey C ...
is home to Saint Mary's Abbey, a community of
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
nuns of the
English Benedictine Congregation The English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) is a congregation of autonomous Abbey, abbatial and Priory, prioral monastic communities of Catholic Church, Catholic Benedictine monks, nuns, and oblate (religion), lay oblates. It is technically the o ...
founded in 1623 at
Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...
in the
Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...
. In 1836 the community, having been expelled from France during the French Revolution, finally settled at The Mount, Colwich, where they established the present house, raised to the rank of an abbey in 1928.


Wolseley Centre

The Wolseley Centre is located in the village of Wolseley Bridge. The centre is the headquarters of the
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust (SWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Staffordshire, England. Organisation and activities It is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts; each is a registered charity and is a member of the Royal Society of Wildlife ...
. There is a
visitor centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic c ...
, and a
nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
of . The site of the nature reserve was formerly the grounds of Wolseley Hall, demolished in 1966. The estate was the home of the Wolseley family from the 11th century.


Bishton Hall

Bishton Hall is an 18th-century Grade II* listed manor house in the hamlet of Bishton. Formerly used as a school, it is now an auction house.


Railways

The
Trent Valley Line The Trent Valley line is a railway line between Rugby and Stafford in England, forming part of the West Coast Main Line. The line is long and is named after the River Trent which it follows. It was built to provide a direct route from London ...
to , a part of 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, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
, runs through the parish; the Stone to Colwich Line, a spur for trains to and , diverges at
Colwich Junction Colwich Junction is a rail junction near the village of Little Haywood, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is the junction between two routes of the West Coast Main Line: the Trent Valley line and the Stone to Colwich cutoff line. T ...
. The junction was the location of the Colwich rail crash in 1986, where two
InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
services collided. There were formerly two railway stations in the parish: , at the location of the junction, and on the line to Stone.


Notable people

In addition to the members of the aristocracy referred to in earlier sections, the following are known to have connections with Colwich: * George Hodson (1788–1855): Archdeacon of Stafford 1829-1855 and vicar of St Michael & All Angels, Colwich 1828–51 *
Samuel Peploe Wood Samuel Peploe Wood (17 February 1827 – 30 July 1873) was an English sculptor and painter. His sculpture can be seen on many churches and public buildings in England, and there are a number of his sketches and watercolours at Staffordshire Cou ...
(1827 in Gt Haywood – 1873 in Colwich): an English sculptor and painter * Thomas Peploe Wood (1817-1845): an English painter *
Edward Pereira The Revd Edward Thomas Pereira (26 September 1866 – 25 February 1939) was an English Catholic priest and schoolmaster, who played first-class cricket between 1895 and 1900 for Warwickshire and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Life Born a ...
(1866 in Colwich – 1939): an English priest and schoolmaster, and a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Warwickshire and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) * Dennis Izon (1907 in Colwich – 1967): an English footballer who played professionally for Port Vale between 1928 and 1932


Twin towns

For over 30 years, Colwich and the Haywoods have been twinned with:


See also

* Listed buildings in Colwich, Staffordshire


References


External links


Colwich Parish Council
{{authority control Civil parishes in Staffordshire