Rugeley
Rugeley is a historic
market town in the county of
Staffordshire,
England. It lies on the northern edge of
Cannock Chase, and is situated roughly midway between the towns of
Stafford,
Cannock,
Lichfield, and
Uttoxeter. The population as at the 2001 census was 22,950 (including the
Brereton and
Etchinghill wards).
[Rugeley Online - Statistics]The town was a centre of
coal mining until
1991, when the Lea Hall colliery was demolished. The Rugeley B coal-fired
power station dominates the skyline, and originally took its fuel directly from the neighbouring mine by conveyor belt, the first such arrangement in Britain.
Rugeley is twinned with the town of
Western Springs, Illinois.
Rugeley has two
railway stations,
Rugeley Town and
Rugeley Trent Valley, which lie on the
Chase Line connecting
Stafford,
Walsall, and
Birmingham. Rugeley Trent Valley also lies on the
West Coast Main Line, although very few trains stop there.
The major roads into Rugeley are the
A460 from Cannock, and the
A51 Lichfield to
Stone. A new northern
bypass is currently being built to take the A51 through traffic out of the congested town centre.
The
River Trent and the
Trent and Mersey Canal both pass through the town.
The town, historically known as Rudgeley, is listed in the
Domesday Book. In the
mediaeval period, it thrived on
iron workings and was also a site of
glass manufacturing.
William Palmer
In
1855, the town gained notoriety when a local doctor,
William Palmer, was accused of murdering an acquaintance, John Parsons Cook. It was claimed that Cook had been poisoned, and in the months that followed, Palmer was implicated in the deaths of several other persons, including his own wife and brother. He was put on trial for the murder of Cook in 1856, and an
Act of Parliament was passed to allow the trial to be held at the
Old Bailey,
London, as it was felt that a fair jury could not be found in Staffordshire. Palmer was found guilty of murder, and hanged publicly outside
Stafford gaol on
June 14,
1856.
Towns and cities
*
Cannock*
Stafford*
LichfieldVillages
*
Abbots Bromley*
Admaston*
Armitage*
Blithbury*
Brereton*
Colton*
Colwich*
Etchinghill*
Great Haywood*
Hamstall Ridware*
Handsacre*
Hill Ridware*
Kings Bromley*
Little Haywood*
Longdon*
Mavesyn Ridware*
Slitting Mill*
Upper LongdonOther
*
Aelfgar Centre*
Blithfield Reservoir*
Brindley Heath*
Shugborough*
Rugeley Online*
Rugeley Bypass*
Aelfgar Centre Website*
Fair Oak High School - aka 'Business and Enterprise College'
*
Hagley Park High School aka 'Sports College'
