Toscead betweox fadungum "Stæfford"

 

 

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The town boasts a [[castle]], a top-ranking house, a handful of historical and media notables, some exotic road traffic and an unusually soggy town centre.

 

''Stafford'' means ''[[ford (river)|ford]] by a landing place''. The original settlement was on an island in the middle of the marshes of the [[River Sow]], a tributary of the [[River Trent|Trent]]. There is still a large area of marshland adjacent to the town centre, which in both [[1947]] and [[2000]] saw floods. In the year [[913]] Stafford was [[fortification|fortified]] by [[Ethelfleda]], daughter of [[Alfred the Great]], to keep out the [[Danes]]. [[Stafford Castle]] was built on a nearby hilltop late in the [[11th century]]. It has been rebuilt twice since but now only [[19th century]] ruins remain atop the impressive earthworks. In the main shopping street, Greengate Street, lies the [[Elizabethan]] [[Ancient High House]], the largest [[Half-timbering|timber-framed]] town house in England.

Night-time illumination creates a landmark for motorists on the [[M6 motorway]], below.