Description:The small and remote village of Gratwich is situated four miles south-west of Uttoxeter in the valley of the river Blythe. It formed part of the Uttoxeter Poor Law Union. In 1934 the parish was added to the civil parish of Kingstone. Historically the area has been mainly pasture land for dairy farming.
The name Gratwich comes from the Old English, ‘greot’, meaning gravel and ‘wic’ meaning “lying on”, so Gratwich means lying on gravel. An alternative possibility may be “a dairy farm by the gravelly stream”.
In the Domesday Book of 1086 Gratwich is recorded as Crotewiche. At that time the manor was part of the extensive lands of Robert de Stafford and tenanted to Ulfac. There was sufficient arable land for three ploughs. The recorded population was four villeins (an unfree tenant who held his land by performing agricultural services), five bordars ( a small holder of land who farmed on the edge of the settlement) and one serf (an unfree tenant who held land in return for rent and service). A mill is recorded which brought in four shillings per year. The manor was worth 24 shillings per year. There was one acre of meadow and a wood half league in length and half a league in breadth.
In the Hearth Tax assessment of 1666 a total of 14 households were assessed as liable for the payment of tax on a total of 18 hearths. Mr Orton Clearke, Vicar of Gratwich and Kingston, paid tax on two hearths, as did Lewis Bayley, Thomas Harries and Anthony Thurker. Five households were recorded as being too poor to pay the hearth tax.
St. Mary’s Church was rebuilt in 1775, although the small chancel probably dates from the early 17th century. It is built of brick with a bellcote. It was repaired in about 1845 and several times during the 20th century. A new house was built for the rector in about 1830.
In the 19th century the main landowners were Earl Talbot, Earl Ferrars and T.S. Kinnersley. The village was a dairy farming one and in 1932, the principal residents consisted of six farmers. At Church Farm there were six sluices using water from the River Blythe to irrigate King’s Field.
The main post office was at Uttoxeter but by 1880 letters could be posted in the village at the letter box near the blacksmith’s shop with a collection late afternoon. A small tenement was also provided for the visiting rural postman for his use during the daytime only.
Notable people associated with the tiny village included the Reverend John Palmer, rector from 1905, who was a poet and novelist, and Wilmot Martin (1875 – 1963), the “Staffordshire Harry Lauder”. He farmed at Gratwich in about 1900 before moving to Hixon.