LANDSCAPE
Landscape History
Originally this was a heavily wooded area.
By the time of a Survey in 1298 the Bishop of Lichfield had let many of the surrounding townships out to local gentry. Recorded in the survey are the assarts or recent clearances of the woodland for agriculture. The process of deforestation was ongoing and by the late medieval period much land had been cleared for agriculture.
Medieval settlement within Horseley, first mentioned in documentary sources in the late 13th century, would also have had an influence in forming the landscape through agricultural practices. Open field agriculture dominated at this period, and was probably in place by the late Saxon period.
This was a system of arable agriculture, where two or three large fields were divided into individual strips. The local people held scattered strips among them, with shared common land for grazing.
Enclosure in this area occurred around 1795 and established many property and field boundaries. To the north of the area, early irregular enclosure, typical of medieval field systems, can be identified. More regular, planned enclosure to the south, happened during the 19th century.
A newspaper announcement in the Staffordshire Advertiser 05 December 1840 publicised a meeting of Landowners and Others, interested in the Enclosure of the Common Lands and Waste called Offley Hay. This was to be held at The Royal Oak Eccleshall on Friday 11th December, to consider and approve the Draft Enclosure Biill.
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Much of the old field pattern and road network can be identified on modern maps.
Eccleshall parish covers 7,404 ha in area. The parish is the second largest in Staffordshire and contains a large number of settlements of varying sizes. In the 19th century the parish was said to contain 21 townships, one of which was Horseley township, which included Offley Hay.
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The parish remains today largely rural and agricultural
The River Sow
The River Sow is a tributary of the River Trent in Staffordshire, England, and is the river that flows through Stafford. The river rises to the south of Loggerheads, near to Broughton and flows south-east beside the small settlements of Fairoak, Bishop’s Offley and Walk Mill until it reaches Cop Mere.
Cop Mere is one of the largest natural bodies of water in Staffordshire, England. It has been designated an SSSI since 1968. Cop Mere was formed in a glacial hollow when the last ice age retreated. This was scoured out of the Keuper marl of North Staffordshire/South Cheshire, which was laid down approximately 200 million years ago. It differs from other ponds and meres in the region because it sits on the route of the River Sow, the flow of which encourages the growth of algae necessary for the development of freshwater mosses. The River Sow has been dammed upstream at Jackson's coppice from around AD 1250, which altered the flow of water and created a unique albeit man-made environment that encourages birdlife and fish-life. There is evidence that fishing in Cop Mere dates back at least to the reign of Henry VIII.
To the east of the Mere the river is joined by the Brockton Brook before it flows past Eccleshall and its castle. The Sow continues in a south-easterly direction, passing Chebsey, it is then joined by the Meece Brook before it reaches the mill at Worston and then Little and Great Bridgeford. The river then flows through the nature reserve of Doxey Marshes until it reaches Stafford, where it flows through Victoria Park. Beyond the town at Baswich the Sow is joined by its largest tributary, the River Penk, it then continues beneath the bridge between Milford and Tixall until it flows through the grounds of Shugborough Hall to meet the Trent near Essex Bridge.
The Built Landscape
Houses
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Red bricks and sandstone are the vernacular building materials. Staffordshire blue bricks are used as decoration round chimney stacks and lintels; roofs are tiled.
The stone came from small local quarries, an example of which is just to the western edge of Copmere. The 25 inch to a mile O.S. map of 1880, shows numerous marl pits where clay for bricks would have been extracted and a Brick and Tile Works near Platt Bridge.
We tend today to think of brickyards as large factories belching out smoke from many chimneys. However, in the early 19th century, many brickyards were temporary structures, consisting of a brick clamp in the corner of a field near to the construction site. Clay was dug locally and these small pits have now flooded and often provide the only clue to the location of a brickyard. The clay was formed into bricks by hand, then lined up in a long low clamp. This was built on a base of inferior quality coal which was then set alight. The whole clamp was then covered with earth and left to burn for several days; a very similar process to charcoal making. Although rather Heath Robinson in appearance, the process was surprisingly effective, producing poorer quality bricks on the outside where temperatures varied, with better quality bricks in the centre of the clamp. This inconsistency was not a disadvantage in this small-scale process; poor bricks were used on unimportant, less visible parts of the building, leaving the good, more expensive bricks for the facade. Many rural clamps only had one layer of coal and were long and low.
James Hitchin, father of John Hitchin who built several houses in the area, is described in the 1861 census as a brickmaker.
The brick buildings in the area, generally use Flemish bond, a strong combination of alternate headers and stretchers, with smaller outbuildings sometimes using simple running bond. Many old cottages are rendered and painted.
A range of more modern houses have infilled the area over the years. They are in a variety of styles reflecting their date of construction.
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Roads
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The area still retains its historic road layout. Generally, they are narrow and lined with hedges. An example of the local style of hedge-laying can be seen on Mere Rise.
Walk Mill Road (now Dorley Road) forms part of the old route across the Offley Hay between Eccleshall and Bishop’s Offley. This came into existence some time after 1775. Mere Rise curves round to the south from Copmere End, but is linked back to Dorley Road by Vinegar Hill. This comes out just opposite Walk Mill Pool. Sugnall Road goes northwards from Dorley Road between the Mill and the Mill Pool, passing Walk Mill House on the left above the Pool.
Features
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A fence around the Woods along Dorley Road, south of Copmere is constructed from chains. This was built by Walter Williams, an owner of Sugnall Estate in the 1880’s. He was an iron manufacturer from Dudley, where his factory made chains. In the true spirit of recycling, he obviously found a good use for surplus production.
One of the village water pumps remains opposite the Star Inn at Copmere End. There are several marked throughout the village on the old maps.
The village letterbox is Edwardian. Set into an old outbuilding on the south side of Walk Mill Road, it is inscribed with Edward VII.