Ashley, Staffordshire
Ashley is a village and
civil parish in the
Newcastle-Under-Lyme of
Staffordshire,
England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 508. The village is close to the border of
Shropshire, adjacent to
Loggerheads, Staffordshire, and is four miles (6 km) WNW of Market Drayton.
The name means "the forest clearing by the ash tree" the old village is in evidence in the lanes of Hookgate, Ashley Dale and Jugbank. Mainly sandstone cottages now mixed in with modern housing. From medieval times men have indiscriminately hacked clearings in the forests. Then linked them with tracks and lanes following no specific pattern.
The church of St John the Baptist possess a 17th century tower with the remainder built in 1860-62 by J. Ashdown of London in a style representative of the13th-14th century. The church is on a raised mound which would leave one to think originally of Saxon or pre-Christian times. It is worth a visit for the spectacular tomb of Sir Gilbert Gerard (d. 1592) and his wife (d. 1608). Near to the church is a mound as yet unexcavated but thought to a burial ground from the time of the
Black Death.
The Roman Catholic chapel of Our Lady and St John a rather unimposing building not far from St John the Baptist. The church and rectory are just one building with a hint of gothic like adornments an a colour washed stucco.
#http://home.clara.net/mcchopper/history.htm
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Loggerheads and Ashley Community website
