Coordinates: 52°45′36″N 1°56′20″W / 52.7599°N 1.9388°W
| Rugeley | |
  Rugeley shown within Staffordshire |
|
| Population | 16,465 (2001 census) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Cannock Chase |
| Shire county | Staffordshire |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | RUGELEY |
| Postcode district | WS15 |
| Dialling code | 01889 |
| Police | Staffordshire |
| Fire | Staffordshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| European Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Cannock Chase |
| List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire | |
Rugeley is a historic market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District 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 at the 2001 census was 16,465. [1]
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 where a Flue Gas Desulfurization plant has recently been constructed. This will allow it to continue to generate electricity and comply with environmental legislation. The former Rugeley A station took its fuel directly from the neighbouring mine by conveyor belt. This was the first such arrangement in Britain.
Rugeley is twinned with the town of Western Springs, Illinois.
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History
The town, historically known as Rudgeley, is listed in the Domesday Book. This name is thought to be derived from 'Ridge lee', or 'the hill over the field'. In the mediaeval period, it thrived on iron workings and was also a site of glass manufacturing. Rugeley has recently had some new, modern pubs including the Glass Works (Brewery St) and Wetherspoons. There is a charter fair that occurs during the first weekend in June, which is a huge attraction with most people from the town joining in-a fireworks display follows. There is a Christmas lights switchon during December, which also includes a market and late night opening of shops.
St. Augustine Church in Rugeley has memorials to the Levett family, who live at nearby Milford Hall and who established the Rugeley Home and Cottage Hospital on Church Street in 1866.[2][3]
Demographics
Rugeley is a former mining town and, as such, suffers from a moderate level of social deprivation. Parts of the town consist of council or ex council house stock. However, on the fringes of Rugeley housing can be considerably more expensive, particularly in Etchinghill. A large number of new houses have been built recently, notably along Hednesford Road and there are concerns that these estates represent unwanted incursions into greenbelt land.
The officially defined Rugeley Urban Area has a total population of 22,724,[4] including the adjacent parish of Brereton and Ravenhill, but excluding the village of Slitting Mill from Rugeley parish.
Amenities
For many years, residents of Rugeley have felt the town is a poor relation to Cannock and there has been a widespread perception that the public spending of Cannock Chase Council was Cannock centric. However, Rugeley has the Rose Theatre which has drawn teenagers into Rugeley from far and wide to see gigs. Rugeley has also recently benefitted from a new sports centre being built next to Hagley Park Sports College which has state of the art sports facilities. Rugeley has also benefitted from a skate park being built opposite Elmore Park.
Rugeley has a reasonably sized town centre which boasts an outdoor market 3 days per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It also has an indoor market and a shopping centre called the Brewery Street Arcade. Rugeley has a number of well known high street names such as Boots, Wilkinsons and Argos. It has a Morrisons, Iceland and Aldi although Tesco, despite applying for planning permission to build a supermarket in the Springfields area of the town, was previously denied. However, in March 2009 the company were granted permission to build a multi-million pound supermarket in the Leathermill Lane area of Rugeley.
Residents of the town benefit from their proximity to Cannock Chase and indeed there is now a heritage trail funded by the National Lottery linking the town to Hednesford and Cannock with excellent disabled access. The trail is now complete and contains numerous notice boards highlighting the town's history.
Rugeley also has a state of the art health centre off Sandy Lane, a replacement for its somewhat dilapidated predecessor on Horsefair. Technically, two separate surgeries coexist there with chairs in the waiting room oriented one of two ways towards the plasma screen that informs patients of their appointment.
Geography
Climate
It is well known in the Rugeley area that snowfall amounts can vary considerably between the town and nearby Cannock Chase. Generally speaking, Cannock Chase and Cannock receives significantly more snowfall than Rugeley. One culprit is elevation, much of the Chase is above 150m with a peak at Castle Ring of 244m. Another culprit is the power station, which can warm snowfall sufficiently to create a significant snow free zone where snow is on the threshold of sticking. Rugeley also lies in Trent Valley which can exhibit noticeable temperature inversions on cold, clear nights. It is not uncommon for lower Etchinghill and the town to be under frost and fog and for the estates at elevation, such as the Pear Tree Estate, to be frost free. However, like most of the United Kingdom, Rugeley has an oceanic climate.
 Weather averages for Rugeley  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 6 (42.8) |
6 (43.2) |
9 (48.0) |
12 (53.4) |
15 (59.5) |
19 (65.8) |
21 (69.1) |
20 (68.2) |
18 (63.7) |
14 (56.8) |
9 (48.6) |
7 (44.8) |
13 (55.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 0 (32.5) |
0 (32.2) |
2 (34.7) |
3 (37.9) |
6 (42.8) |
9 (48.6) |
11 (52.0) |
11 (51.4) |
9 (47.8) |
6 (43.2) |
3 (37.2) |
1 (34.3) |
5 (41.2) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 55.9 (2.2) |
48.3 (1.9) |
50.8 (2.0) |
48.3 (1.9) |
55.9 (2.2) |
55.9 (2.2) |
45.7 (1.8) |
66 (2.6) |
53.3 (2.1) |
53.3 (2.1) |
58.4 (2.3) |
66 (2.6) |
657.9 (25.9) |
| Source: [5] 2009-03-27 | |||||||||||||
Transport
Rugeley has two railway stations, Rugeley Town and Rugeley Trent Valley, which lie on the Chase Line connecting Rugeley with Walsall, and Birmingham. This line has not yet been electrified and as such the service, whilst functional, is not speedy. Rugeley Trent Valley also lies on the West Coast Main Line, and is served by semi-fast trains operated by London Midland between London Euston and Crewe. There are no trains operated by the main West Coast Franchise (currently run by Virgin Trains) that stop at Rugeley.
The major roads into Rugeley are the A460 from Cannock, and the A51 Lichfield to Stone. A new eastern bypass was opened in 2007 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.
Lea Hall Colliery
The former Lea Hall Colliery was once the largest employer in Rugeley. It was the first completely new Coalmine to be commissioned by the National Coal Board,sinking comenced in 1954 and full production commenced in 1960. The Colliery was a record breaking mine during its existence,becoming the first in the UK to mine 1.5million tonnes, and in 1977 set a UK production record for then of 1.8 million tonnes.[6]
During the 1984 Miners strike Rugeley was the scene of violent picketing and confrontation between Miners and Police.After the strike the Colliery remained a highly productive Mine but in 1991 it was closed by British Coal with the loss of 1,000 jobs.
Rugeley suffered a lack of employment when Lea Hall Colliery closed. However, a number of large industrial units have, and are still being built on the Towers Business park, a brownfield site situated on the former ground of the colliery.
Famous people
William Palmer
In 1855, the town gained notoriety when a local doctor, William Palmer, was accused of murdering an acquaintance, John Parsons Cook (who is buried in a still visible grave in the local St Augustine's churchyard). 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, and possibly even some of his own children. 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. Local legend has is that, on being instructed to step on to the gallows trap-door he asked the now famous question "Is it safe?". Furthermore, following the uproar surrounding the discovery of Palmer's activities, the town put in a special request to the Prime Minister requesting that they be permitted to change the name of the town to disassociate themselves from the murders. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister at the time was Lord Palmerston , who agreed to the request only on the condition that the town be named after him. For obvious reasons the locals declined this offer.
The story of Palmer was told in 'The life and crimes of William Palmer' (1998), starring Keith Allen in the role of the infamous doctor. It is also thought that the phrase 'What's your poison?' originated from the Palmer murders.[citation needed]
George Edalji
George Ernest Thompson Edalji (March 1876 – June 17, 1953) was famously and wrongly convicted of the 'Great Wyrley Outrages', but cleared as the result of an investigation by Arthur Conan Doyle. Julian Barnes' 2005 novel Arthur & George recounts the entire episode in great detail. He was educated at a Rugeley school in the 1880s.
Christina Collins
The body of Christina Collins was discovered in the Trent and Mersey canal in Rugeley on 17 June 1839. She was believed to have been raped and murdered by (?) Shale who had agreed to transport her from Liverpool to London to join her husband. The steps which she was carried up are still known as the 'bloody steps' to this day. Although, as they are made from sandstone, the steps have no doubt been replaced several times, local legend has it that they sometimes ooze blood and her ghost appears upon them. Christina's grave can still be seen today in the churchyard at St Augustine's church. Three of the four bargemen were charged with her murder. The story of her murder was the inspiration for an Inspector Morse mystery first broadcast in 1998, entitled 'The Wench is Dead'.
John Partridge
John Partridge is reputed to have invented the Donkey jacket in 1870. Originally worn by workers on the Donkey engines on the Manchester ship canal, this jacket became a working man's coat all over the world, renowned for being tough and warm the Donkey jacket is still being worn by workmen to this day. John Partridge is also credited with inventing the Duffle coat and the Waxed jacket.
Nearby places
Towns and cities
Villages
- Abbots Bromley
- Admaston
- Armitage
- Blithbury
- Brereton
- Cannock Wood
- Colton
- Colwich
- Cheslyn Hay
- Etchinghill
- Great Haywood
- Hamstall Ridware
- Handsacre
- Hill Ridware
- Kings Bromley
- Little Haywood
- Longdon
- Mavesyn Ridware
- Slitting Mill
- Upper Longdon
Other
References
- ^ Census 2001
- ^ Rugeley, A History of the County of Stafford, Victoria County History, L. Margaret Midgley, British History Online, 1959
- ^ Rugeley, Churches, A History of the County of Stafford, Victoria County History, L. Margaret Midgeley, 1959, British History Online
- ^ National Statistics - KS01 Usual resident population: Census 2001, Key Statistics for urban areas
- ^ "Rugeley historic weather averages in the United Kingdom". Intellicast. http://www.intellicast.com/local/history.aspx?location=UKXX1323. Retrieved on 27 March 2009.
- ^ Coal in the Western Area. National Coal Board Public Relations. 1982.
External links
- Brereton and Rugeley Parish Website
- Rugeley Bypass
- Rugeley Power Station
"Rugeley". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
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