Victoria County History of Staffordshire

The volumes are of importance to anyone concerned with the history of their village or town, and cover a range of topics: communications, settlement patterns, landowning, agriculture, industries, religious life, schools, and cultural activities.

A wide range of sources is used in the compilation of the volumes, from Anglo-Saxon charters and medieval manor court rolls to newspapers and government reports. Field work is also carried out, and expert advice is taken in writing architectural descriptions of houses and other buildings. Full details of the sources used are given in footnotes, which enable the reader to pursue a subject further.
 
The volumes are researched and written by specialist members of staff in the School of Humanities at Keele University, which manages the project in partnership with Staffordshire County Council. The present county editor is Dr Nigel Tringham, who for VCH purposes has an office in the William Salt Library.

There is a national website for the VCH (www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk) which provides details about progress both in Staffordshire and elsewhere in the country. The Staffordshire pages give information on the volumes so far published for the county and an index.

The Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service and the Victoria County History of Staffordshire provide a joint study day each autumn highlighting an aspect of Staffordshire's History.  These are advertised in the Archive Service's Events Programme.

The Archive Service also reprints popular sections of the Victoria County History of Staffordshire on behalf of the VCH.  For those reprints currently available please see our Publications list.