Rugeley in 1872

RUGELEY, a town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Lichfield district, Staffordshire. The town stands on the river Trent, on the Grand Trunk canal, and on the Trent Valley railway, at the junction of the railway to Cannock and Walsall, near Cannock Chase, 9 miles SE by E of Stafford; is a seat of petty-sessions; comprises several good streets; and has a head post-office, a railway station with telegraph, two banking offices, a hotel, a town hall, a church built in 1822, part of an old church, chapels for Independents, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics, a mechanics' institute, an endowed grammar-school with £315 a year, an endowed national school, and charities £181.

A weekly market is held on Thursday; monthly markets for fat stock, at Smithfield; and fairs on 15 April, 16 June, 21 Oct., and the second Tuesday of Dec. Hat-making was formerly carried on, but has entirely declined; and there are iron and brass foundries, corn mills, and a brewery. Much business is done also in connexion with neighbouring collieries. A celebrated horse fair is held here every year at the beginning of June. The town and the parish are regarded as mutually conterminate. Acres, 3,411. Real property, £19,073; of which £4,015 are in mines, and £120 in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 4,188; in 1861, 4,362. Houses, 898.

The manor was held by the Rudgeleys and the Bishops of Lichfield; went, in the time of Henry VIII., to the Pagets; and belongs now to the Marquis of Anglesey. Hagley Park is a chief residence. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £315. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. The perpetual curacy of Brereton is a separate benefice. The sub-district contains also three other parishes. Acres, 13,508. Pop., 7,148. Houses, 1, 535.

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

• Brereton

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