Harlaston - a village steeped in history

To many people who do not live in the county, Staffordshire often conjures up visions of the Potteries and the Black Country. Of course we know that these two areas comprise only a fraction of the county, for the eastern half, particularly, is as rural as one might find anywhere in England.

THIS WEEK'S FEATURE ON HARLASTON, THEREFORE,  WILL BE AS INTERESTING FOR THOSE OUTSIDE THE AREA AND THOSE WHO HAVE JUST COME TO LIVE HERE, AS IT IS FOR THE PEOPLE OF HARLASTON.

 The importance in the agriculturally-orientated Middle Ages was assured because it had its own mill. The two nearest competitors were at Burton Abbey and Alrewas. We can assume, then, it must have been quite a well populated village in Saxon times, for neighbouring farmers and landowners certainly would have brought their grain to be ground at the Harlaston mill and small village businesses - an inn, saddlery, ostlery and so forth - would have sprung up from the proceeds of trade bought from these visitors.

Because the village lies just under five miles from Tamworth, it would have fallen within the orbit of the Lords of Tamworth - the great feudal barons at the time of the  Conquest. The town was one of the Mercian seats, belonging to the Godwine Earls, of whom the most well known was Leofric, famous for the request he made of Lady Godiva.

The construction of Tamworth Castle began sometime in the reign of King Alfred, partly as the centre of the north Wessex 'march' but principally as a bulwark against the Danes, first of Guthrum and later Hardrada and the Canutes. 

Until the final subjugation of England by the Danes, toward the end of the tenth century, Harlaston, since it lay across the Danish advance on Tamworth - a formidable stone fortress by the standards of the time - would very probably have been the scene of many a bloody skirmish and any continuity of village life would have been difficult.

Domesday book refers to an 'Algarus Comes" as being the feudal lord of Tamworth and Lichfield and makes mention of the mill at Harlaston in the time of Edward the Confessor. Count Algar, the son of Earl Morcar of Northumbria, first aquiesced under Norman rule and then rebelled with dire consequences in 1069. William I confiscated his lands and when the count was finally slain at Shrewsbury, his territories were handed over to the de Ferrers, who were based in Derby.

The first local lord of Harlaston was Gilbertus Franceys, but as early as 1157 a Walter Vernon - a collateral branch of the Vernons who were to live at Sudbury Hall near Uttoxeter - is recorded as being the lord of the manor. 

In the reign of King Edward III - the English monarch responsible for the victories at Crecy, Calais and Poittiers and the king who subdued most of France - a Sir Richard Vernon was captain of the royal fortress of Roanne in Normandy. This same Vernon was also Lord of Harlaston. The Vernons rose further in the government of the kingdom in the reign of Henry VI for William Vernon was the constable of England just before the civil wars which began with St. Albans in 1455.

In 1603 - the year of Queen Elizabeth's death - the manor of Harlaston fell into the hands of Edward Brabazon, Earl of Meath and during the 17th-century was exchanged on a number of occasions.

"Then came the green bus from Clifton but the most reliable transport was the Midland Railway. It used to have a station at Elford until just after the war. I remember using it when I taught at Wiggington.

Harlaston people consider themselves pretty well served nowadays with transport.

"Midland 'Red runs through the village," the landlord of the White Lion, Mr. Daniel Latham, told me. "The 804 comes in four times a day, except on Sundays. It's handy for shopping in Tamworth. The only trouble, although it doesn't bother me since I have my own car, is the expense. Its 13p each way. I can remember when it was 10 old pence return! "

The Midland 'Red took over the route through Clifton and Harlaston in 1947, when Elford station was closed. Just outside the pub there used to be an old toll gate bar but none of the residents I have met in the village could remember it. 

The White Lion is the centre of village life and forms an 'island' being completely surrounded by roads.

The pub sponsors three men's and one ladies' darts teams in the Tamworth and District League. In the Clifton League, the four teams, for reasons best known to the members, are known as the Gilts. The White Lion dominoes team is also top of the Mercian League. Indeed, dominoes is the past-time for many villagers - when I called in at the pub, Daniel Latham, the landlord, Reg Ramsell, Oswald Walker and others were involved in a tense game.

"There used to be a football and a cricket team," said Reg Ramsall, inbetween games of dominoes, "but they all ended after the war."

Why after the war I wondered? But no-one seemed to know. The effect of the war on the community is something I have noticed in many villages. There seems to be no direct link between people and events but, somehow, things which were done before 1939 were not done after 1945.

"A lot of men went abroad to fight," the landlord suggested, "and then when they came back things didn't seem as important. They had seen foreign places and this country was changing too. Television was making its first appearance but before that, we we used to have films in the old village hall."

Perhaps, people after the war didn't want to be bothered with arranging sports and activities, when it was so much easier to sit in front of the screen and be entertained. If this was the case, then it is easy to see how fixtures against Bass's and other local firms and villages - once a local focal point - were no longer relevant. With the increased manufacture of radios, televisions and record players, the tendancy, everywhere, to rely on others for amusement is not perculiar to Harlaston.

"We are, however, designated a conservation area, though this has raised a few eyebrows as Manor Lane isn't included in Staffordshire County Council's Conservation proposals. We held a public meeting to discuss this last year and decided to apply to the county asking them to rethink their Manor Lane policy. So far, we don't know what has been decided, but we hope they will amend their conservation boundary."

Villagers feel that not to include the lane in the conservation area could lead to future building problems, since the lane juts out just opposite the old church of St. Matthews. Clearly, unrestricted building within the. limits of this arrow shaped land, which isn't included, could completely ruin the rural look of the village.

Among the residents of Harlaston are Dr. B. C. Kilkenny, a director of Allied Breweries and his wife.

"It's the perfect village," said Mrs. Kilkenny, unreservedly. "It is such a friendly community with its church and pub and it's ideally placed, as far is my husband is concerned for Burton, London and Birmingham. I think more than anything, though, that it was the countryside that bought us to Harlaston and not somewhere else."

Two avid village historians are Major and Mrs R.C. Conningham, of the Tudor manor house on the Main Street. 

The Conninghams have acquired a number of books on Harlaston and are trying to piece together its past. In practical terms, Major Conningham have mad massive improvements to his half timbered home. Joists and dragon-beams, once encased in plaster, have been bought to light again by his own efforts and the alterations have been sufficiently successful to attract the attention of a house and interior decoration magazine.

Harlaston, a relatively late-comer to the modern way of life, is now experiencing the type of change which has become commonplace in other Staffordshire villages, some of which have been covered by this weekly series. 

Electricity and water came only 40 years ago, the saddler's shop only disappeared after the war, a sewer has been in for three years and now there is controversy about the conservation plan. Some of these points may bring back memories for already-developing villages.

At present development is "limited" and to keep it in hand - not easy in an area which is growing more popular with commuters - is going to demand a single-mindedness among villagers to support their parish council and its chairman.