Staffordshire Places (3) : Stone

Stone is a market town located between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent. There have been people living in the area since at least the Bronze Age with some sites around the current town dating to Roman times. The name Stone may come from the Old English stān (stone). Legend has it that a pile of stones was built here for the graves of two Christian martyrs, princes killed by their pagan father for converting though this probably isn't true.

A church was built in Stone in 670 over the sites of stones but this was later destroyed by the invading Danes. A replacement Augustinian priory was built in 1135 which survived until the eighteenth century. Stone was granted a market charter in 1251 by Henry III.

Like many places Stone existed quietly until new transport links bought an increase in trade and population. Stone is in the Trent valley and sat on a turnpike road. The Trent & Mersey Canal flows through Stone and indeed was the headquarters of the canal from it's opening until the office moved to Stoke. Stone has a railway station on the West Coast Main Line.