A Benedictine abbey was founded around 1000. The domesday book mentions Burton Abbey, the monastery becoming the richest and most important in Staffordshire.
Burton became a market town in 1200 with the granting of a charter by King John. Burton's location on the river Trent, and it's bridge over the river, made it a destination for many traders and travellers. Pilgrims also came to see claimed relics of St Modwen in the abbey church. It was the Trent which helped make Burton a brewing centre as it allowed for beer to be easily transported even for export. Burton was at it's height producing a quarter of all beer sold in the country, with over thirty breweries by 1880. However a hundred years later this had been reduced to just three.
