A Brief History of Marchington & Marchington Woodlands
Marchington is a small, attractive village in East Staffordshire, England. It lies between the towns of Burton upon Trent and Uttoxeter, not far from the banks of the River Dove. In many ways it is an idyllic English village.Marchington village was settled by the Saxons and is recorded in the Doomsday Book. An even older settlement lay at the top of Marchington Cliff. Though originally closely aligned with the Brook, the present road pattern can be traced back to the 13th century, their antiquity marked by their deeply sunken character. The oldest surviving houses possibly date back to the 15th century, although it is difficult to be precise because of the custom of continuously building on and around older buildings. Marchington Hall is probably evidence of this as, although bricked over and restored in the late 17th century,
it is thought to be mentioned in a reference dated 1297 as the "chief messuage" and again in 1615 as "utterly decayed".
What is now Marchington Woodlands was literally woodland at the time of Doomsday, but was steadily cleared over the next two or three centuries, including a number of substantial estates now marked by abandoned moats. It remained essentially open woodland pasture held in common by the parishioners. In late Elizabethan times it was enclosed, establishing the field pattern which has largely remained unaltered to the present day. The prosperity of Marchington and The Woodlands has been based from earliest recorded history on dairy farming and today's landscape is rooted deep in the past.
Marchington Woodlands is spread out of an area of around 3 miles. There are two areas called Scounslow Green and Gorsty Hill. The area around Marchington Woodlands is undulating and there are large wooded areas and forests. The area extends SW from Marchington to the distance of three miles. It has a church and a village hall. The local first school was closed in the 1990s and the building was converted into a private home. Marchington Woodlands consists mostly of farms and cottages. It is often referred to by locals as The Woodlands. Marchington Woodlands became a village in 1859 with the opening of the Parish church. It is also the location of Smallwood Manor, formerly the seat of Thomas Webb, Esq, now a Prep school for Denstone College.