1. The Acres
The Acres sits in the floodplain of the Doley Brook. Passing just below the historic centre of the village, the brook has long been a key feature of the local landscape.
When the village doubled in size in the 1970s, the river valley was too wet for houses. So the land was given to the parish council as a Public Open Space. Yet, despite extensive drainage, in most places the valley bottom proved too soggy for sports pitches and allotments. The solution was to move the pitches to higher ground and celebrate the floodplain as a natural river valley, with meadows, reedbeds and ponds alive with native plants and animals.
Today, the ‘Acres’ is a popular 25-acre communal recreational and wildlife area owned and managed by the local parish council — for everyone to enjoy.
History
The earliest reference of the Acres is from May 1593 (during the reign of Elizabeth I) and is from a set of manor court documents that refers to watercourse misdemeanors by Francis Chewnall “in a meadow called le Acres”. It is mentioned again in the 1646 Gnosall Manor survey of to the town, but this time called The Ackers. In documents it also appears to have been referred to as the ‘town meadows’.