Branston, Staffordshire

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 52.787
longitude= -1.659
official_name= Branston
shire_district= East Staffordshire
shire_county=Staffordshire
region= West Midlands
constituency_westminster= Burton
post_town= BURTON-ON-TRENT
postcode_district = DE14
postcode_area= DE
dial_code= 01283
os_grid_reference= SK230212
population=

Branston is a village in Staffordshire, England.

Branston was originally a small village beside the River Trent, which has been brewing pickle for several years with many different flavours,and lies to the south of Burton upon Trent. It spread in the 19th century along the main Burton to Lichfield road, which is now the dual carriageway A38. There is much 19th- and 20th-century housing along Clays Lane, north of the village, and along Burton Road to the east. Elsewhere, the land is mainly farmland, with the former Sinai Park in the northern part of the township.

Nowadays, Branston has seen many housing developments such as Regents Park and Fairway estate next to Branston Golf Course.

There are two schools in Branston, Rykneld Primary School and Paget High School.

Also a major part of Branston these days is the Centrum 100 Retail/Business Park, home to business such as Bison UK, Punch Pubs and shops like Morrisons and the Bannatyne Health Club.

Branston was the original home of Branston Pickle, before production moved to Bury St. Edmunds in 2004.

The parish church in Branston is St Saviour's, part of the Diocese of Lichfield.

The name Branston is Old English and means an estate belonging to a man called Brant, a personal name of Scandinavian origin. The medieval village stood near the river, its position decided by it's proximity to a ford

In 942 King Edmund granted an estate at Branston to Wulfsige the Black, possibly an ancestor of Wulfric Spot, the founder of Burton abbey, and in 1066 it was held by Godgifu (Godiva), the widow of Leofric, earl of Mercia.

By the later 18th century the village stood at the east end of Old Road, which with Warren Lane formed the line of the medieval road between Burton and Lichfieldbefore Main Street was laid out to the north in the early 19th century. A new villagecentre then developed along Main Street. A Congregational chapel was opened in 1834, and there was a post office by 1871.

A public house mentioned in 1789 was by 1818 called the Gate inn. It presumably stood on the site of the present inn of that name at the southern end of the modernvillage, and took its name from the nearby tollgate set up after the Burton-Lichfield road was turnpiked in 1729. By 1818 there was another inn a short distance to the north. Then called the White Hart, it was known as the Anglesey Arms by the earlier 1830s and still existed in 1918. A third inn, the present Blacksmiths Arms at thejunction of Main Street and Old Road, existed as a beerhouse called the Smiths Arms in 1851.

Famous residents

*Brent Warren- Master Diving Instructor and golfer once lived in Branston

External links

* [http://www.burtonontrentgolfclub.co.uk/ Branston Golf Club]