The fifth largest county in England and Wales, Staffordshire is home to more than one million people. It is bordered by South Cheshire and the Peak District in the north, the West Midlands conurbation in the south, Shropshire in the west and Derbyshire in the east. Agriculture is the county’s biggest employer but in the north the area around Stoke-on-Trent is heavily industrialised as the centre of the world-famous ceramics industry. Staffordshire’s history dates from before the last Ice Age. In the Manifold Valley, in North Staffordshire, flint and bone tools estimated to have been produced around 9000 BC have been discovered.
In AD 48 the Romans marched into the county, establishing a base at Lecocetum, now known as Wall, near Lichfield. Another important Roman base was also established at Rocester in North Staffordshire. Shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066, William I came to Staffordshire to put down a revolt, in the process designating huge areas, including Cannock Chase, for royal hunting. During the Middle Ages, meant fine churches were built in the county, including the three-spire Lichfield Cathedral. In the 17th Century, the nonconformist movement spread rapidly with huge congregations at open-air services at Mow Cop in the north of the county.
The Industrial Revolution brought fame to Staffordshire, led by figures such as Josiah Wedgwood, Josiah Spode and Henry Doulton, founding fathers of the modern-day pottery industry. Wedgwood’s enterprise in developing the canal system opened up the county’s trade to the world. In 1910, the six towns of the Potteries federated to form the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent, which became a city in 1925. Local government re-organisation in 1974 saw Stoke-on-Trent absorbed by the county council but in 1997 the city was awarded unitary status, regaining control of such important matters as education and social services.
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