Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Staffordshire borough of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border.
The town is from Burton upon Trent via the A50 and the A38, from Stafford via the A518, from Stoke-on-Trent via the A50, and from Derby via the A50 and the A38, and northeast of Rugeley via the A518 and the B5013.
The population was 14,014 at the 2021 Census.
The town's literary connections include Samuel Johnson and Mary Howitt.
History
Uttoxeter's name has been spelt at least 79 ways since it appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Wotocheshede":Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40/555, in 1399; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/bCP40no555dorses/IMG_0036.htm; ; sixth entry. where the Plaintiff John Passemor comes from, appearing as Uttoksather. it probably came from Anglo-Saxon Wuttuceshǣddre, meaning "Wuttuc's homestead on the heath". Some historians have pointed to pre-Roman settlement here; axes from the Bronze Age discovered in the town are now on display in the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent. It is possible that Uttoxeter was the location of some form of Roman activity, due to its strategic position on the River Dove and its closeness to the large garrison forts at Rocester between 69 and 400 AD, and the recently discovered fort at Stramshall. However, little corroborating archaeological evidence has been found.
Uttoxeter saw the last major royalist surrender of the English Civil War, on 25 August 1648, when James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton surrendered to Parliamentarian General John Lambert.
Perhaps the most famous historical event to have occurred in Uttoxeter is an act of penance by Samuel Johnson. Johnson's father ran a bookstall on Uttoxeter market, and young Samuel once refused to help out on the stall. When Johnson was older, he stood in the rain without a hat, as penance for his failure to assist his father. The event is commemorated by the Johnson Memorial, which stands in Market Place in the town centre. He is also remembered in the name of Johnson Road.
Mary Howitt, the Quaker writer of the poem "The Spider and the Fly", grew up in Uttoxeter. The town influenced some of her poems and novels and fuelled her love of natural history, which also featured in her books. Howitt Crescent, a residential road in the town, was named after her. The house where she lived, Howitt Place, is still standing in Balance Street.
Thomas Fradgley, Uttoxeter's own architect, designed Uttoxeter Town Hall (1854), the Johnson Memorial (1854), St Michael's Church, Stramshall, St Lawrence Church, Bramshall (1835), St Mary's Church, Uttoxeter, and Marchington Church. He was involved with Pugin and other architects in designs for the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury at Alton Towers including the figures of the Talbot Hounds at the entrance tower (1830), the Angel Corbels in the Lady chapel, 1833, Alton Towers Chapel with Joseph Potter (completed in 1833), Swiss Cottage, and Harper's Cottage, Farley. He was the architect who improved several local schools, including Uttoxeter National School, Hanbury Free School (enlarged in 1848), national schools at Oakamoor, Cauldon, Alton, and Draycott School, Hanbury. He married Clara Warner from Bramshall. Their only child Thomas died aged six. Thomas Fradgley died in 1883 aged 83.
Bunting's brewery had occupied a large area of the centre of the town since the Victorian era. It ceased production in the 1929 after being bought by Parkers Brewery of Burslem, later part of Ind Coope. The remains of the brewery were demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Maltings shopping precinct and car park. The turret clock from the brewery, which had been languishing in the basement of the town hall, was refurbished and installed above the entrance to what was the Costa Coffee shop (now St Giles charity shop) in the Carters Square Shopping Centre shortly before the centre opened in 2014.
In 2008, Uttoxeter marked the 700th anniversary of its market charter of 1308, which underpins the markets held on Saturdays and Wednesdays and on other festival days. The 1308 charter followed a more general Royal Charter granted to the town's burgesses in 1252.
Governance There are three tiers of local government covering Uttoxeter, at civil parish (town), district and county level: Uttoxeter Town Council, East Staffordshire Borough Council, and Staffordshire County Council. The town council is based at Uttoxeter Town Hall on the High Street.
Uttoxeter was an ancient parish. When elected parish and district councils were created in 1894 it was given a parish council and included in the Uttoxeter Rural District. Shortly afterwards it was decided to create an urban district covering the town, making it independent from the rural district council. It was concluded that the whole parish was not suitable to be an urban district, so the rural parts of the parish were made a separate parish called Uttoxeter Rural which stayed in the rural district, whilst the rest became the Uttoxeter Urban District in 1896. In 1899 the urban district council purchased the Town Hall, which had been built in 1854.
Uttoxeter Urban District was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the new district of East Staffordshire. A successor parish was created covering the former urban district, with its parish council taking the name Uttoxeter Town Council.
Economy In 1945, Joseph Cyril Bamford founded J C Bamford Excavators Limited in Uttoxeter, now known as JCB. The firm, based in the nearby village of Rocester, is the world's third-largest construction equipment manufacturer. The firm's first vehicle was a tipping trailer made from war-surplus materials, which J. C. Bamford built in a rented lock-up garage in Uttoxeter. The Bamford family had previously started Bamfords, later Bamford International Farm Machinery which was a large employer in the town from the end of the 19th century through to the early 1980s, when it gradually declined before closing in 1989. The land and former building were acquired by JCB for its "Special Products" division. This has now closed and the buildings have been demolished, but the site has yet to be redeveloped. JCB has other factories in Uttoxeter, Cheadle, Foston and Wrexham, and abroad in the United States and India.
Elkes Biscuits, previously Fox's Biscuits, has a factory in Uttoxeter. Elkes was the creator of the malted milk biscuit. Glennans Crisps, specialising in vegetable crisps, is based in the town. It was bought by Tyrrells Crisps in 2012.
Uttoxeter Racecourse, home to the Midlands Grand National, brings visitors to the town centre shops and markets. Proximity to the Alton Towers Resort, St. George's Park National Football Centre and the Peak District National Park means tourism is important to the local economy.
Agriculture remains important, as the town is set in rich dairy farming country. Uttoxeter previously housed a large dairy and was historically a major trader in butter and cheese. The farming cooperative Dairy Farmers of Britain had another large dairy in the nearby village of Fole, but this closed in 2008 and the firm went into administration the next year. A new cattle market was due to be built in the town after the old one was demolished in 2004, having stood dormant since the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak. No progress was made and it is now unlikely that the town will regain one, the land now having been redeveloped into a pedestrianised shopping area, composed of an Asda store, GP surgery and retail outlets.
Recent development
Uttoxeter town centre underwent a development scheme in 2006–2007, with the Market Place, Market Street, Queens Street, Carter Street, and High Street receiving new stone paving and street furniture.
Phased development of Dovefields Retail Park began in 1998 with a Tesco supermarket on the edge of the town and expansion in 2002 with seven large retail outlets. In 2005 an entertainment development with a bowling alley, an ice rink, a cinema, a children's crèche, a fitness centre and business units was built.
The old Cattle Market closed in November 2005 in favour of a retail and housing development, Carter Square, opening in 2014. This features a supermarket, a range of smaller retail units and a medical surgery.
The replacement cattle market, granted planning permission on the outskirts of the town, failed to appear after several years. A municipal recycling depot has opened on part of the site.
The JCB site in the centre of Uttoxeter was demolished in 2009 after the firm moved to one of its sites on the edge of town. This site is currently undergoing redevelopment: a Waitrose store opened there in 2016 and an Aldi store opened there in 2022. The Lidl store, previously located between Dovefields Retail Park and the town centre relocated several hundred meters along the road to a new unit built on land previously used for light industry. Plans have been approved for hundreds of homes, a park and business units.
In 2019, the Uttoxeter Brewing Company began licensed operations in a purpose built property sharing the car park of the White Hart Hotel in the town centre, the first commercial brewing operations in the town since the closure of Bunting's Brewery in 1929.
Demography According to the 2021 census the population for Uttoxeter Civil Parish was 14,014. 96% of the population are White British and 95% are UK born. The population is relatively stable with an annual population growth of 0.38% between 2011 and 2021.
Transport
Uttoxeter has a railway station, opened originally by the North Staffordshire Railway on 2 October 1881 to replace earlier stations. It is served by trains on the Crewe-Derby Line, which generally operate hourly each way between Crewe and Newark Castle.
The bus station offers services operated by Diamond (formerly Midland Classic), Chaserider, D&G Bus, Trent Barton and Evolve Bus & Coach. Connections can be made to Cheadle, Burton upon Trent, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, Stafford, Cannock and Rugeley. Service 406 provides a circular service to surrounding estates. An Alton Towers service also operates during the summer season. The Tesco store acts as an interchange with most services using the bus stop outside the store.
The town is located on the main A50 trunk road between Stoke-on-Trent and Derby.
Uttoxeter was once the terminus of a branch of the Caldon Canal (the Uttoxeter Canal), but most signs of this, apart from an area of Uttoxeter called The Wharf, have been built on. Much of the canal bed was used in the 19th century for the North Staffordshire Railway main line from Uttoxeter to Macclesfield, which has now also disappeared. In 2017 the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust installed a milepost in the town to mark the former canal terminus. The Trust's website includes a milepost trail along the remains of the canal.
The nearest airport is East Midlands, some 29 miles (47 km) away.
Public services
Policing in Uttoxeter is provided from the Staffordshire Police station in Balance Street. HM Prison Dovegate, in the nearby village of Marchington, is a Category B men's private prison operated by the Serco. HM Prison Sudbury, just over six miles away beyond the Derbyshire boundary, is operated by HM Prison Service as a Category D men's open prison.
The statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service. Uttoxeter Fire Station is in Cheadle Road in the north of the town.
Uttoxeter has no hospital. It is served by the nearby Queen's Hospital in Burton upon Trent, County Hospital in Stafford, University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent and Royal Derby Hospital. There is no ambulance station, but a team of Rapid Response Paramedics is based here and supported by volunteer Community first responders.
The utility firm South Staffordshire Water manages Uttoxeter's drinking water and Severn Trent its waste water.