Wigginton, Staffordshire


Wigginton is a village in the district of Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England. The population was included in the 2011 census with that of Tamworth, about to the north.

History

The name Wigginton is believed to come from Old English, and to mean Wicga's farm. The name was also sometimes written as Wiggington. The village lies on a medieval trade route, the Portway, possibly used for transporting salt from the River Mease at Edingale to Tamworth.
Ecclesiastically, Wigginton had been a chapelry attached to the parish of St Editha in Tamworth. For civil government it had been a township – the township was more than just the village, and included the hamlets of Comberford and Coton, the latter now part of the borough of Tamworth. In 1866 the township became a civil parish, and in 1894 part of Tamworth Rural District. In 1934 the civil parish was extended to become Wigginton and Hopwas, and became part of Lichfield Rural District.
In 1861 the population of Wigginton township was 670, on. This figure included inmates of the Tamworth workhouse, which at that time lay within the township. The population of the chapelry alone was 466.

Landmarks

buildings in Wigginton village include two or three houses and the former Anglican chapel, now a church. Dedicated to St Leonard, it was rebuilt in 1777, extended in 1830, and altered again in 1861 to a design by Nicholas Joyce.
Situated within the modern village is a shrunken medieval village, visible as a series of pronounced earthworks to the northern end of the village, and medieval ridge and furrow still to be seen in surrounding fields. To the south-west of the village is the former site, now ploughed out, of a likely Bronze Age barrow formerly known as "Robin Hood's Butt". Several finds of archaeological interest have been made in the area around the village. To the north-west is a flat area formerly called the "Money Lands", where human bones and ancient coins, thought to be Roman, were recovered in a find made in the 18th century.

Amenities

The village contains a pub, the Old Crown, and a Church of England primary school, St Leonards. The pub called The Wigginton is over the border in Tamworth, as is Wigginton Park, the home of Tamworth RUFC.

Notable people