Description:Stretton is situated next to the River Dove. An aqueduct carries the Trent and Mersey Canal over the river. Stretton is now a large suburb of Burton-upon-Trent. It is situated two miles north-east of the town on the old Roman road of Ryknild Street. Despite its modern appearance, it has a long history.
The name Stretton means ‘a settlement on or by a Roman road’ The first documented reference to it occurs in the year 942, when Stretton formed part of a grant of lands from King Edmund. It was also one of the lands listed in the will of Wulfric Spot in 1004. In his will this Mercian nobleman bequeathed his estates to found the lands of Burton Abbey. In the Domesday Survey of 1086, Stretton is called Stratone and is recorded as part of the lands of the Abbey. At that time it had a population of 13 and was worth 40 shillings a year. Stretton remained part of the Burton Abbey lands until the Dissolution of the monasteries when the Abbey’s lands were purchased by Sir William Paget. The Paget family were later to become Marquesses of Anglesey.
In 1327 nine people were assessed for the payment of the poll tax. By the time of the Hearth Tax assessment of 1666, 24 households were assessed for the tax with an additional 13 households considered too poor to pay. At the first census in 1801, 330 people were recorded and 857 people 100 years later in 1901. Housing expansion in the 20th century increased the population to 7,329 in 1991.
Stretton’s parish church is dedicated to St Mary and was opened in 1838. It was designed by Henry Stevens of Derby and paid for by local subscription. It was rebuilt in 1895-1897, the whole cost being borne by John Gretton of Winshill, one of the proprietors of Bass, Ratcliffe and Gretton, brewers. The architects were JT Micklethwaite and Somers Clarke.
There were several attempts to establish nonconformity in Stretton with a Primitive Methodist Society there by 1825 and a Wesleyan Society in 1840. The Baptists had established a large Sunday School by 1837 and the vicar complained that nonconformists were ‘exceedingly active.’ The present Methodist chapel, built in 1894, stands on the site of a previous chapel built in 1873.
The development of Clay Mills was as a result of the conversion of a ruined corn mill to a blade mill and a forge for hammering and plating iron. This grew into a large iron works and slitting mills in the ownership of the Thornewell family. Eventually in the late 19th century the concern was to become Clay Mills Ironworks Company, by that time in the ownership of the Smith family. Production ceased there by 1925.
Educational provision in Stretton was provided in the 19th century first by Sunday schools and then by a National School, opened in 1842. A Board school was built there in 1874 and this continued to cater for all ages until 1937. In 1957 the primary school was renamed the William Shrewsbury Primary School after a former headmaster.
For more information about Stretton, see the Victoria County History Staffordshire, Volume IX pp 189- 196.