Description:The name Mayfield originates from the Domesday name of Madevelde, later known as Matherfield meaning council or meeting field. The parish of Mayfield covers Church Mayfield, Middle Mayfield and Upper Mayfield. Most of the area belonged to the Priory of Tutbury until the dissolution of the lands by Henry VIII in 1538.
The church of St. John the Baptist has Norman features. The doors of the tower contain bullet holes made during the Rebellion of 1745 when supporters of the Young Pretender fired shots through the doors at the villagers who had locked themselves in the church. In the churchyard can be found the grave of Olivia Byron Moore, daughter of the poet Thomas Moore, who was living in Mayfield when he wrote “Lalla Rookh” and “Those Evening Bells”.
The stone arches of Hanging Bridge probably date back to the fifteenth century, the packhorse bridge linking the two counties of Staffordshire and Derbyshire. It has been widened to accomodate more modern traffic but the five stone arches still remain.
Mills have been a feature of Mayfield from at least the thirteenth century and have included cornmills, fulling mills, leather, cotton and silk mills at various times. Cotton spinning is an important part of the industrial heritage of the village.