Stone, United Kingdom

The church built over the stones marking the graves of Wulfad and Rufin in 670 lasted until the 9th century, before being destroyed by invading Danes. It was replaced in 1135 by the Augustinian Stone Priory, which survived until its dissolution in the reign of Henry VIII. The building collapsed in 1749 and the present church of St. Michael's was built in 1758. All that remains of the original priory is the rib-vaulted undercroft which forms the foundations beneath Priory House, which is located on Lichfield Street opposite the Frank Jordan Community Centre.

Stone lay within the Pirehill hundred of Staffordshire named after nearby Pire Hill. In 1251 Henry III granted Stone a market charter.

The Common Plot (also known as Mudley Pits) is a large area of open and wooded common land, sited just to the north of the town of Stone. It was reserved as an area of common land for the inhabitants of the town when the previous strip-farmed fields were enclosed by the Stone Inclosure Act 1798 (38 Geo. 3. c. 78 Pr.). The Duke of Cumberland built extensive winter fortifications and a camp here; traces of which can still be seen, during the winter of 1745/46. The purpose of the camp was to bring the Duke's army down from the freezing Staffordshire Moorlands and Peak District, where they had been seeking to stop an advance on London by a force of 6,000 Jacobite rebels. The rebels were thought to be using pack-horse routes over the high country, with the aim of reaching Derby. Stone was also strategic in preventing any break-away Jacobite group going across to Wales to recruit more men there but, with winter coming on, the Jacobites decided to retreat back to Scotland.

Stone Urban District was an urban district, based on the Stone civil parish which equates to the town of Stone. There were two amendments in parts of the Stone Rural parish in Stone Rural District were transferred in. The district was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 and replaced with Stafford Borough Council and Stone Town Council. The latter publishes a history of Stone.

Stone stands in the valley of the River Trent, and was an important stopping-off point for stagecoaches on one of the roads turnpiked in the 18th century. A directory for 1851 says that "Stone was a very lively town and a great thoroughfare for coaches, carriers and travellers. No fewer than 38 stage coaches passed through the town daily." The main coaching route was the London to Holyhead route, via Watling Street as far as Lichfield and then the A51.

To support the coaching trade, Stone was a principal stopping point with many coaching inns to refresh both horses and travellers. Notable hostelries include the Crown Hotel, Crown & Anchor, Red Lion and the Black Horse Inn.

The River Trent, which runs through the town, had been used for cargo-carrying vessels since Roman times, but further inland smaller boats could only be used. Seasonal fluctuations in water depth proved insurmountable, although cargo could be carried from the sea as far south as Wilden Ferry (south-east of Derby), where the River Derwent joins the Trent and increases the quantity of water, then onwards by road. Prior to tarmac roads, journeys overland by roads were slow and delicate wares were prone to breakages over the rough terrain.

James Brindley, the canal builder, put forward the scheme to build what he called the Grand Trunk Canal to connect the two rivers, Mersey and Trent in 1766. It was backed by Josiah Wedgwood, who saw that it offered an efficient way to bring raw materials to the potteries and to transport finished wares to his customers.

By 29 September 1772, two days after Brindley's death, 48 miles of the Grand Trunk Canal (now known as the Trent and Mersey Canal) from Wilden Ferry to Stone was navigable; the length past Burton-on-Trent was completed in 1770.

On completion of the Star Lock, a grand opening was held and during this opening a cannon was fired in celebration; however, disaster struck and the cannon damaged the new lock, requiring a rebuild.

Stone became the headquarters of the canal company with its office at Westbridge House, sited then below Star Lock on what is now Westbridge Park. The offices were moved later to Stoke-on-Trent.

Due to the quality of the local water beneath Stone, two brewers were located here carrying on the Augustinian monks' tradition of beer making. The most notable was John Joule & Sons Ltd, established in 1780. The company was acquired by Bass Charrington in 1968 and ceased brewing at the end of October 1974. The brewery was demolished in the autumn of 1977; the adjacent bottling plant was closed some years before. The canal played a great part in the export of beer. Joules once owned a pair of boats that delivered coal to the brewery and, as late as the 1950s, had the telephone number Stone 1. Joules' draught beer stores and bottling plant remains an imposing building on the canal and can be clearly identified by the red cross logo of John Joules in the brickwork.