Description:Burton-upon-Trent is Staffordshire’s famous brewing town, situated in the east of the County on the border with Derbyshire and on the River Trent. The town has a long history from Anglo-Saxon times. A borough was established at Burton in the Middle Ages which grew up around the important Benedictine abbey.
The meaning of the place name is a settlement at a fortified place and the suffix ‘upon Trent’ was certainly used from the early 14th century.
Burton’s early history is associated with St Modwen, an Anglo-Saxon Irish abbess. She established a chapel dedicated to St Andrew on an island in the River Trent at Burton and lived there as an anchorite. On her death she is said to have been buried there and her remains later transferred to a shrine in Burton Abbey. Burton’s early importance was due to the foundation of its abbey. The abbey was re-founded as the successor to an earlier Anglo-Saxon minster by Wulfric Spot, a Mercian nobleman, who left his estates in his will to endow the abbey. The royal confirmation of Wulfric Spot’s will of 1004 can be seen at the Staffordshire Record Office.
Following the dissolution of Burton Abbey in 1549, the monastic estates were granted to Sir William Paget, secretary of state to Henry VIII. So began the long association of the Paget family, later Marquesses of Anglesey, with the town.
Early industry in Burton was represented by the production of woollen cloth. It was also noted in the 16th century for alabaster carving. Although there is evidence of brewing in the town in the Middle Ages, it was not until the later 18th century that it became the principal industry. This had been aided by the fact that the Trent was made navigable in the early 18th century, so providing cheap transport by water to and from the east coast. This enabled exports of beer to the Baltic countries and imports of timber to support the brewing industry. By the 1730s, Burton ale was already famous for its paleness. Following the decline in trade with the Baltic in the early 19th century, Burton brewers turned their attention to the market in India. The later 19th century saw a huge rise in production of beer in the town. In 1861, 3,086 men and boys were employed at Burton breweries; by 1888 this had increased to 8,215. Sadly the 20th century has seen a major decline in the production of beer in the town.
In 1779, a body of improvement commissioners was established to be responsible for the streets, lighting and drains in the town. This was effectively the forerunner of what was to become the municipal borough of Burton in 1878. In 1901 Burton became a county borough and remained so until 1974, when, with local government reorganisation, it then became part of East Staffordshire District Council, with representation on the County Council through four county councillors. The splendid Victorian town hall was built at the expense of the Bass family.
The parish church is dedicated to St Modwen. The building dates from the early 18th century and was built to the design of Richard and William Smith of Tettenhall. It was finally completed in 1728 by their brother, Francis Smith of Warwick. With the growth of the population in the town in the 19th century, new churches were built, Holy Trinity, opened in 1824, Christ Church in 1844, St Paul’s in 1874 and All Saints in 1905. There was a large Baptist congregation in Burton from the 17th century. A number of nonconformist chapels were also erected in the town in the 19th century.
There is evidence of educational provision in the town in the Middle Ages. In the 18th century a charity school for boys was established by the will of Richard Allsopp. This was supplemented by the many Sunday Schools in the town and a number of dame and private schools. National (Anglican) schools were opened between 1827 and 1846. However the education received in the many private schools in the town was considered to be of poor quality and so in 1873 a school board was established to make better provision for schooling. In 1902 responsibility for education in the town passed to the new county borough. Progress in educational provision and achievement in the 20th century led to great pride in Burton’s education authority which claimed in 1960 to be’ more progressive’ than other education authorities despite its small size. In 1974 the responsibility for educational provision in the town passed to the County Council, leading to further educational re-organisation.
For more information about Burton, see the Victoria County History Staffordshire, Volume IX, pp1-162.