Rocester is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district 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 ...

, England. Its name is spelt ''Rowcestre'' in the Domesday Book. It is located on the Derbyshire border.

Geography

The village is about north of Uttoxeter and southwest of Ashbourne, situated on the county border with Derbyshire. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,431. The village lies on a triangle of land between the River Churnet and River Dove, which join to the south. The parish borders, from the south going clockwise, the parishes of Uttoxeter Rural,

Croxden Croxden is a village in the county of Staffordshire, England, south of Alton and north of Uttoxeter. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 255. The village is the site of Croxden Abbey, founded in 1176 by the Cist ...

, Denstone, Ellastone, all in East Staffordshire, and then

Norbury and Roston Norbury with Roston is a civil parish in west Derbyshire incorporating the villages of Norbury and Roston. See also *Listed buildings in Norbury and Roston Norbury and Roston is a civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire ...

Marston Montgomery Marston Montgomery is a small village and civil parish in western Derbyshire. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was at least 3. It is four miles from the town of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. The Church of Saint Giles dates ba ...

and Doveridge, all in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire.

History

A Roman fort was founded on the site in about 69 AD, as an intermediate point between

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

and Newcastle-under-Lyme on a route later known as Long Lane. The remains of the earthworks can still be seen. After the Romans departed in about 400 AD, the village remained in use by the

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

throughout the

Middle Ages 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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. In 1141 the St Mary's Augustinian Abbey was built on the site now known as Abbey Fields. The order was disbanded in 1538; the abbey and its chapel were demolished and a manor house was built on the site. The village church, St Michael's, was constructed in the 13th century. It was mostly rebuilt in 1873, although the tower is the original. In 1781 Richard Arkwright bought an old corn mill on the River Dove and converted it to a water-powered cotton mill. This introduced industry to a predominantly agricultural community. With industry came the canal and railway networks, and Rocester became an important trading point. The mill was a great driving force in the expansion of the village; its owners were responsible for much building in the village. The mill has now been converted into the JCB Academy. On 1 August 1849 Rocester railway station was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway.

Modern times

The mill remained the primary employer until the 1950s, and finally closed in 1985. By this time another major employer had arrived in the village,

JCB JCB may refer to: * JCB (company), a British manufacturer of heavy industrial and agricultural vehicles * JCB Co., Ltd., originally Japan Credit Bureau, a credit card company based in Tokyo, Japan * JCB Prize, a literary award sponsored by the c ...

. The present factory, on the site of the original 1950s factory, was opened in 1970 and is the world headquarters for the company. There are a number of sculptures around the JCB site and landscaped parkland nearby. Most significant of these is The Fossor, which takes its name from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

''fossor'' i.e. digger. The steel sculpture, created by Walenty Pytel, is made entirely of digger parts and is a powerful representation of JCB.''Public Sculpture of Staffordshire and the Black Country'', George T. Noszlopy and Fiona Waterhouse, 2005, It weighs 36 tonnes, stands high and was the largest steel sculpture in Europe at the time of its creation in 1979. It can be seen from the B5030 road that passes it. The village has several businesses, a school, a pre-school and a church. Rocester is home to the football team

Rocester F.C. Rocester Football Club is a football club based in Rocester, near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England, currently playing in the . History Rocester Football Club was formed in 1876 and for over a century played in various local leagues including th ...

Rocester lies on the

Staffordshire Way The Staffordshire Way is a long-distance walk in Staffordshire, England. The path links with the Cheshire Gritstone Trail, the Heart of England Way and the North Worcestershire Path. The Way was opened in three stages by Staffordshire Cou ...

, and is the southern terminus of the Limestone Way, a footpath which runs north to Castleton in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorl ...

Notable people

* Elizabeth Trentham, Countess of Oxford (born in Rocester, died 1612) the second wife of the Elizabethan courtier and poet Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford * Winifred, Lady Strickland (1645–1725) a member of the Jacobite court in exile, baptized at Rocester *

M. J. B. Baddeley Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1843–1906) was a distinguished English guidebook writer of the late 19th and early 20th century. His guides appeared in the 'Thorough Guide' series, edited by Baddeley and his colleague, Charles Slegg Ward, and ...

(1843 in Rocester – 1906) a distinguished English guidebook writer, his guide to the Lake District was first published in 1880 and continued to be revised and reissued, and remained in print into at least a 26th edition in 1978. * George Harris (born 1877 in Rocester) an English professional footballer, played 23 games for Stoke City. * Brigadier-General

Charles Lyon Brigadier-General Charles Harry Lyon, (18 March 1878 – 3 December 1959) was an English soldier who also played first-class cricket for Derbyshire in 1902. Early life Lyon was born at The Lodge, Rocester, Staffordshire, the eldest son of Char ...

CB CMG DSO (1878 at The Lodge, Rocester – 1959) an English soldier who also played first-class cricket for Derbyshire in 1902. * Graeme Edge (born 1941 in Rocester – 2021) an English musician, songwriter, poet and the drummer and one of the songwriters for the English band the Moody Blues * John Hall (born 1941) Vicar of Rocester 1988–1998, then Archdeacon of Salop 1998-2011 * Peter Swanwick (born 1945 in Rocester) a former English cricketer, played for Staffordshire * Ryan Boot (born 1994 in Rocester) an English professional footballer, played 23 pro games for Port Vale

References

External links

Rocester Photography
A Rocester photo site
Rocester
The community website

{{authority control Villages in Staffordshire Borough of East Staffordshire