High Offley
Coordinates: 52°49′57″N 2°19′20″W / 52.8325°N 2.32231°W
| High Offley | |
 The Anchor Inn by the canal |
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 High Offley
High Offley shown within Staffordshire |
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| District | Stafford |
|---|---|
| Shire county | Staffordshire |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | STAFFORD |
| Postcode district | ST20 |
| Dialling code | 01785 |
| Police | Staffordshire |
| Fire | Staffordshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Stone |
| List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire | |
High Offley is a small village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It lies 3 miles southwest of the small town of Eccleshall and about 1 mile west of the village of Woodseaves, both on the A519. Woodseaves is the largest settlement in the parish, which also includes the hamlet of Shebdon to the WSW of High Offley, as well as a number of scattered houses and small farms (such as on Grub Street).
The Shropshire Union Canal runs through the parish, to the southwest of the villages of High Offley and Woodseaves, with the Shebdon aqueduct and wharf in the west of the parish, from Shebdon towards Knighton.
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[edit] Church
There is a church dedicated to St Mary: "High Offley Church, St Mary, is an ancient Gothic fabric, neatly pewed with oak. It has an excellent organ, which was given by John Salmon, Esq, of London, a native of this parish. It has several monuments of the Skrymsher and other families, and a handsome one was erected in 1851 in memory of the late Bishop Ryder, at the expense of the present vicar."[1] Pevsner dates most of the church to the 13th century with some earlier Norman features and some from later periods.[2]
[edit] Public houses
High Offley also once had a pub called the Royal Oak, which has now been converted into a private residence. In the parish, near to the village on Peggs Lane, and lying by the Shropshire Union Canal, is the popular Anchor Inn.[3] Being a simple, traditional public house that has changed little in fifty years, it is very highly rated by the canal boating fraternity and many locals.[4] It is regularly featured in the annual CAMRA Good Beer Guide and has a small gift shop. It also gives its name to the adjacent bridge, which takes Peggs Lane over the canal.[5]
Also within the parish are two pubs in Woodseaves (the Plough and Cock Inn) and one in the Shebdon area, which is also by the canal, called the Wharf Inn.
[edit] In literature
In Douglas Adams's Meaning of Liff, a High Offley is defined as a "Goosnargh three weeks later".
[edit] References
- ^ William White, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, Sheffield, 1851, quoted by High Offley at Genealogy UK
- ^ Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire, London: Penguin, 1974, p.145
- ^ Beer in the Evening Anchor, High Offley
- ^ Anchor Inn, High Offley, Pubs U Like
- ^ CanalPlan Anchor Bridge
[edit] External links
Media related to High Offley at Wikimedia Commons
