The church of St Michael in Penkridge, Staffordshire may have been founded by the Saxon King Eadred in in the mid tenth century, it certainly was in existance by 1000CE and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. However the oldest parts of the current church are thought to date from the 13th century with the bases of piers dating from about 1225. A tower was added in the 14th century and raised in the 16th.
St Michael was an important collegiate church, served by a community of priests under the authority of a Dean, and a chapel royal (containing a place reserved for the monarch to use if he was passing). The church, which is made from local sandstone, was restored in 1881.
