Description:Knighton is situated to the south - west of Eccleshall. It is in the parish of Adbaston. The name may mean ‘the boy’s (or servant’s) town. In the Domesday Book of 1086 Knighton appears as ‘Chnitestone’ and was then held by the Bishop of Chester, as were many manors in this particular part of Staffordshire.
Knighton’s main claim to fame historically was its exemption from local taxation or payment of rates. This arose in the 17th century when Knighton was acquired by William Adams. Adams subsequently gave land, some 1000 acres, in the manor of Knighton to the Haberdashers’ Company. They used this to found and support a free grammar school in Newport. After Adams’ death in 1660, a charity for the maintenance of the gifts and endowments, which Adams had granted, was created by Act of Parliament. By this act, Knighton was exempted from the payment of all civil and military taxes. In essence this meant an exemption from rates on property. It did not apply later to income tax. This exemption was a royal reward for Adams’ financial support of Charles II.
The exemption from rates for Knighton continued as late as the 1970s although this also meant that not all local public services were supplied to the village. Cadburys’, the chocolate manufacturers, built a milk processing factory at Knighton in 1911, attracted by the rates exemption. However despite vigorous appeals on the introduction of the new community charge in 1990, this payment was levied on Knighton residents.
Knighton Grange is said to have been the site of a former grange of Ranton Abbey. Only seven houses in Knighton were found to be chargeable for the payment of the hearth tax in 1666, suggesting a very small population at that time. In the early 20th century, with the exception of Cadburys’, farming was the major employer.