Rolleston on Dove

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Rolleston on Dove
Staffordshire

Spread Eagle and St Mary's
Location
Grid reference: SK235275
Location: 52°50’40"N, 1°39’9"W
Data
Population: 3,267  (2011[1])
Post town: Burton-on-Trent
Postcode: DE13
Dialling code: 01283
Local Government
Council: East Staffordshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Burton

Rolleston on Dove, also known simply as Rolleston, is a village and parish in Staffordshire, adjacent to the border with Derbyshire. Some parts of the civil parish extend into the latter county where the the parish boundary has been realigned to the new course of the Dove. It is probably best known for its one-time resident Sir Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Union of Fascists. His coat of arms are still displayed in the local working men's club. Rolleston Hall, where Mosley lived, was sold by auction on 2 August 1923 but later burnt down and all that remains are the lake and gatehouse.

Rolleston on Dove was served by a railway station which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on 1 November 1894.

Rolleston is also home to the Jinnie Trail, a former railway line in a man-made valley which was closed completely in 1968. In 1972 it was created into a rural walk stretching just over a mile. Along the walk today, parts of the remaining stations are still visible under the wild growth of trees, nettles and brambles.

Rolleston was previously built around its lasting monuments and buildings. The oldest area of the village is the Spread Eagle Inn, which is thought to date back as far as the 11th century. Around the inn, one can find Rolleston's Church, St Mary's, The Brookhouse Hotel and Restaurant and the brook which runs through the village and alongside Brookside and Burnside.

Notable residents

  • Michael Sadler, child labour reformer, was a rector here in the early nineteenth century
  • Sir Oswald Mosley, Politician who started in the Conservative Party migrated through the Labour Party via a party of his own creation to become English Fascist leader in the 1930s

References

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Rolleston on Dove)

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