History of Adbaston

The History of Adbaston

This is a transcript of the booklet published by J Somner Billington in 1982

About Adbaston

The ancient Adbaldeston, situated on the Staffordshire County boundary, twelve miles west of Stafford.

by J Somner Billington

A search for the start of a community and other forgotten items.

The people, the manor, the church, the village and the parish.

 Chapter 1

In the beginning…..

It has been said that in the beginning ‘history is all geography’. This saying is most apt when applied to the country areas

    To start with the ice Age, we are told there were four invasions of deep ice during successive millennia, the last one retreating about 10,000 years ago. This is geological terms is no doubt quite recent and one is being constantly being reminded of this period by seeing some of the old granite boulders about the place, now collected off the land. There are a number of fine specimens in the garden and elsewhere which were brought down here by glaciers from as far north as Scotland and deposited when the ice melted following the Pleistocene period. The Ice Age was an important period when much of the existing contour and structure of the land was formed hereabout; land which from a farming viewpoint is equal to the best in the country. This mainly comprises a gentle undulating free-draining medium red loam, heavy enough to hold moisture in summer and light enough to be readily workable. It is the ‘honest’ land, responding well to good management and with any crop that can be grown commercially in the Midlands. It must be about the only thing that has not changed much since those very early days.

    There are several springs of pure water, which rise continuously near the farm premises and the church today. Some flow into the pool, which was artificially constructed to feed a water mill wheel, now alas done away with. This stream gave its name to the little stream, Mill Brook, flowing out of the pool and on to feed the Lonco brook. The remains of ancient earthworks still discernible suggest the original mill wheel was a little further downstream, in what is still called the Mill meadow, where it made use of two additional flows of rising water.

    The Lonco brook receiving this water rises near Ellenhall parish boundary, and serves as a boundary for its whole length, first between Eccleshall and Knightly with High Offley, and then between Adbaston and High Offley parishes whence it crosses the old Roman route. Here it forms the county boundary with Shropshire until it joins the River Meese flowing from Aqualate mere, a Roman name meaning ‘broad water’ which describes it perfectly.

Parish Boundary

    The parish boundary today is the same as that fixed over a thousand years ago. It embraces the surrounding hamlets

TO BE CONTINUED

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