Stafford, United Kingdom

Others then settled in the area and named it Stafford. There may have been a settlement near the river crossing in 913, when Æthelflæd, Lady of Mercia founded a burh (fortified settlement) at Stafford; one of many founded across Mercia as part of her campaign against the Danes (Vikings). A mint was founded at Stafford by King Æthelstan (924-39) which continued in operation until the reign of Henry II (1154–89). Stafford also provided an industrial area for centralised production of Roman-style pottery (Stafford Ware), which was supplied to a chain of West Midlands burhs.

The county of Staffordshire was formed at about this time, with Stafford as its county town. Stafford lay within the Pirehill hundred.

In the autumn of 1069, a rebellion led by Eadric the Wild against the Norman Conquest culminated in the Battle of Stafford, during which the Anglo-Welsh rebel army was decisively defeated by Norman forces led by Brian of Brittany and William I. Two years later another rebellion, led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, ended in Edwin's assassination and distribution of his lands among the followers of William the Conqueror, who granted Robert de Tosny (later known as Robert de Stafford) the manor of Bradley and one third of the king's rents in Stafford. The estate became the seat of the powerful Stafford family.

Following the Battle of Stafford, and the subsequent Harrying of the North, Stafford underwent an extensive period of depopulation and urban decay. Archaeological evidence has revealed that much of the town had been abandoned following the battle, and when the Doomsday Book was completed in 1086, seventeen years after the battle, the town was declared to still be "partially waste" with almost a third of the messuages uninhabited.

Stafford Castle, was first built by Robert de Stafford on a nearby hilltop to the west in the wake of the Norman Invasion, where the motte, moat and baily remain visible to this day. It was first made of wood and later rebuilt in stone around 1348. It has been rebuilt since. A wooden castle had been built in 1070 much closer to the town centre, however this had fallen into ruin by the recording of the Doomsday Book and its precise location remains unknown.

Stafford was a walled town by 1086. The town walls were probably wooden originally, but later rebuilt in stone. There were four gates on the roads into the town from the north, south, east and west. By around 1670 the walls were in ruin, and their remnants were gradually demolished.

Stafford became an important market town during the Middle Ages, which had a particular focus of trading cloth and wool. By the 1280s there were various trades such as tanning, glove making and shoe making being practised in the town. A guild of shoemakers was founded in 1476.

Medieval Stafford was served by two churches: St Chad's, which is the oldest building in Stafford, dating from the mid-12th century, and St Mary's which dates from the early-13th century.

King Richard II was paraded through the town's streets as a prisoner in 1399, by troops loyal to Henry Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV).

In 1521, Stafford was described as 'a proper and fair town', although it went into decline during the Tudor period, and in 1540, many of the houses were described as being in a state of disrepair. Elizabeth I visited Stafford in 1575, at this time the town was still in a state of decay.

The Ancient High House, believed to be the largest timber-framed town house in England, was built in 1595 for John Dorrington; it was extensively restored during 1976-86.

When James I visited Stafford in 1617, he was said to be so impressed by the Shire Hall and other buildings that he called it "Little London".

During the English Civil War, Stafford was initially held by the Royalists; King Charles I visited Stafford shortly after the outbreak of the war in September 1642, staying for three days at the Ancient High House. The town resisted two assaults by the Parliamentarians in February 1643, but was later taken by them in May 1643, when a force led by Sir William Brereton captured the town by stealth. Stafford then became the seat of the parliamentary county committee. Stafford Castle was defended by a garrison led by Lady Isabel Stafford, but the Parliamentarians finally won control in 1643. A few months later an order was given for the demolition of the castle. However, Stafford's famous son Izaak Walton, author of The Compleat Angler, was a staunch Royalist.

In 1658, Stafford elected John Bradshaw, who had been judge at the trial of King Charles I, to represent the town in Parliament. During the reign of Charles II, William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford became implicated in the Popish Plot, in which Titus Oates whipped up anti-Catholic feeling with claims of a plot to have the king killed. Lord Stafford was among those accused; he was unfortunate to be the first to be tried and was beheaded in 1680. The charge was false and on 4 June 1685, the bill of attainder against him was reversed.