Cannock in 1872

CANNOCK, a village, a parish, a sub-district, an ancient forest, and two railways in Staffordshire. The village stands adjacent to the Walsall and Stafford railway, near Watling-street, 8 miles NNW of Walsall; and has a station on the railway, a post-office under Stafford, public rooms, a banking-office, and fairs on 8 May, 24 Aug., and 18 Oct. The public rooms were erected in 1862; and include a large hall for lectures or concerts, a room for magistrates' meetings, and a reading-room. The making of edge-tools is carried on. The parish includes also the townships of Cannock-Wood, Hednesford, Leacroft, Huntington, and Great Wyrley. Acres, 10,775. Real property, £12,158. Pop., 3,964. Houses, 749. The property is much subdivided. Much of the surface is part of the ancient forest; and partakes its character of moor and mineral.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £185. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. The church was repaired in 1859. Dr. Sacheverell was for some time incumbent The vicarage of Great Wyrley is a separate benefice. There are an Independent chapel, a Wesleyan chapel, and charities £30. The sub-district contains also two other parishes, parts of two more, and an extra-parochial tract; and is in the district of Penkridge. Acres, 22,583. Pop., 8,773. Houses, 1,674.

The ancient forest bears the name of Cannock Chase; extends to the vicinity of Bednal, Lichfield, and the Trent, with an area of about 25,000 acres; and was anciently a hunting-ground of the Mercian and the Norman kings. It long was covered with wood; but is now bleak, moorish, and wild; yet is so rich in coal and ironstone as to have been much encroached upon both for mining and for cultivation. Large portions of it present the attractions of a hill country; and some spots have ancient standing-stones, supposed to be Druidical. Castle Hill in it is crowned by an ancient, British, double-trenched camp of 8 or 10 acres; and commands a good view.

A place, called the Old Nunnery, at Radmore, near Castle Hill, was the site of a Cistertian abbey, founded in the time of Stephen, and soon transferred to Stoneleigh in Warwickshire. The two railways are called the Cannock Mineral and the Cannock Chase railways. The former was opened in 1859, and goes from the Walsall and Stafford at Cannock to the Trent Valley at Rugeley. The latter is in four parts, authorised in 1860, 1862, 1864, and 1866; is aggregately 21 miles long; and goes to Wolverhampton and Hednesford. 

An 1872 Gazetteer description of the following places in Cannock is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Cannock Wood
• Chasetown
• Gentleshawe
• Hednesford
• Huntington
• Leacroft
• Wyrley (Great)

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]