Stafford: a road for pedestrians

The Frank Jordan Centre has a car park. There is plenty of car parking space available elsewhere in Stone.

Stone is also served by local buses 1,2 and 3 which are at the time of writing run by DG Coach and Bennetts Travel  Cranberry. 

Bus routes X1, 101, 249, 250 and 490 operate from Stoke to Stafford via Stone.

[1]  Standing with your back to the main entrance door of the Frank Jordan Centre, ensure that the road is clear and cross it carefully to the pavement on the other side. Turn right and walk along the pavement and past the church (A) to reach house number 34 at the far end of a row of terraced houses.

[2]  At the end of the terrace, turn left and walk up the passage to reach a road (the Hempbutts). Carefully cross the road and turn right to follow the pavement as it swings to the left along The Hempbutts to meet Church Street at a staggered crossroads with St Georges Street opposite.

[3]  At the crossroads turn left and follow the pavement along Church Street to reach a T-junction with a level-crossing on the right,

[4]  At the T-junction turn left for 20 metres and then, when it is safe to do so, cross the road and go down the pedestrian passageway to the right of  number 104. Follow the passageway, ignoring the pedestrian access on the left that leads to the supermarket. Cross the footbridge over the stream at the side of the railway arches. The passageway ends at a road, Mill Street.

[5]  Carefully cross the road to the footpath on the other side and follow it to the left. Carefully cross the end of Millstone Court. Continue along the footpath. Just before the roundabout you will find a pedestrian passageway on the right.

[6]  Follow this passageway as it passes the left-hand side of a car park to bring you to the pavement  at the side of Christ Church Way, near to Christ Church, where there is a pedestrian-controlled crossing.

[7]  Using this crossing, cross the road and then turn right to follow the pavement round to the left to reach a road junction where there is a war memorial and the Crown and Anchor pub. The pedestrianised High Street continues on the left.

[8]  Wander down High Street  (B) to the road at the far end (Christchurch Way) where there are traffic lights.

[9]  Keep to the right and turn right. With the railings on your left, walk down to the pedestrian-controlled crossing at the road junction. 

[10]  Use the traffic lights to cross safely over the busy road to the footpath on the other side. Turn left, carefully go across Abbey Street and turn right on the other side. Follow the pavement at the side of Abbey Street to the next corner.

[11]  At the corner, turn left and follow the pavement along another branch of Abbey Street. At the top of the road, where it meets Lichfield Street, turn right and taking care, cross Abbey Street to follow the pavement to the Frank Jordan Centre.

A. Church of St Michael and St Wulfad

Stone was named after the pile of stones that were placed on the graves of King Wulfhere's 2 sons, who were killed by their father in 665 AD because of their conversion to Christianity.

The church built over these stones, in 670 AD, was replaced in 1135 by an Augustine Priory, which survived until the dissolution, in the reign of Henry VIII. The building collapsed in 1749, to be replaced by the church of St. Michael and St. Wulfrad.

William Robinson built the present parish church of St. Michael in 1753 partly on the site of the old Priory church. See www.stonestaffordshire.co.uk

The site of the old church is marked by the tomb of the Cromptons which has their effigies on top.

Behind the church is the mausoleum of Sir John Jervis (Baron Jervis of Meaford and Lord St Vincent) who as Admiral Jervis won the battle of St Vincent with HMS VIctory as his flagship and Nelson as a subordinate. See Wikipedia etc. for more details.

B. Stone High Street

At 54-60 is the old frontage of the Joules Stone Brewery offices.

On the market square is the library, a modest yellow brick building with a stone outside connected with the Jervis family.

Normally, on the first Saturday in the month, a Farmers' market occupies the Market Square and much of the High Street.

At number 38 the Crown Hotel, an old coaching inn. Stone was on the coaching route between London and Holyhead and was a very busy staging point for the coaching trade. There were several coaching inns to cater for, reportedly, as many as thirty-five coaches that called each day. One of the coaching inns was the Crown Hotel in the High Street. The present Crown Hotel was built in 1779 to replace an earlier one that occupied the same position.

Next to number 28, down Adie's Alley there is an old malthouse.

www.britishlisted buildings.co.uk gives a full list of listed buildings in Stone, of which there are very many!

The section between waypoints four and five is not very wheelchair friendly, being sloped and overgrown in summer. There is a significant slope up from waypoint six.