Crosses, cricket and quiet lanes
Checkley
A small Tean Valley village where early medieval carvings, traditional pubs and an easy-going local rhythm reward a closer look.
- Best for
- Early medieval history and an unhurried village pause
- Give it
- Half a day, or longer with Croxden Abbey
- Don't miss
- The three Anglo-Scandinavian churchyard crosses
The Fox verdict
A quiet village with an exceptional churchyard
Checkley is a compact base for old stonework, village food and low-key local recreation in the River Tean valley.
The church and its three Anglo-Scandinavian crosses provide the strongest reason to stop, while two characterful pubs, the playground and cricket ground make the village useful for a relaxed break. Nearby Croxden Abbey adds a substantial historic outing without turning Checkley into a list of distant attractions.
Where to go
Places in Checkley
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesSt Mary and All Saints' Church and Churchyard Crosses
A Grade I church with Norman fabric, a worn Norman font and three Anglo-Scandinavian high crosses standing in the churchyard to its south.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Church Lane, Checkley
The New Broom
A family-run pub and restaurant serving carvery, cooked breakfasts and pizza, with an attached campsite and a large beer garden with a children's play area.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Uttoxeter Road, on the village edge
- Access
- The campsite is beside a busy road and road noise can affect stays.
Checkley Play Area
A village playground behind the community hall, one of Checkley's simple family recreation amenities.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- behind the village hall in Checkley
Food & drink
1 placeRed Lion Checkley
A traditional village pub with a real fire, three regular cask ales, a rotating guest ale and a large beer garden known locally as the Bay; dogs are welcome.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Church Lane, opposite the church
- Access
- Food service varies; check the venue's current information before travel.
History & heritage
1 placeCroxden Abbey
Ruins of a 12th-century Cistercian abbey, with a 2.5-mile family-friendly field loop to Hollington and a hillier 7.25-mile circuit in the surrounding countryside.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 120 minutes
- Locality
- near Hollington in the Tean valley
Things to do
1 placeCheckley Cricket Club
The village cricket club at Four Trees provides Checkley's liveliest traditional recreation on a fine weekend when a match is under way.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Four Trees, Uttoxeter Road
- Access
- A useful stop when cricket is being played; check the club's current fixtures before travel.
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Three ways to explore Checkley
Signature outings
Three Crosses, Two Stories
Study the three Anglo-Scandinavian churchyard crosses, linked by local tradition to three slain bishops and by scholarship to an early preaching site.
The Red Lion's Village Welcome
Pause opposite the church for cask ale, a real fire and the large beer garden known locally as the Bay.
Croxden's Abbey Landscape
Pair the ruined 12th-century Cistercian abbey with the 2.5-mile family loop towards Hollington or the longer hillier circuit.
The village story
Checkley Village Guide
Crosses, old roads, village pubs and the quiet pleasures of the Tean valley.
Crosses, Carvings and Bells
Three stone crosses stand in the churchyard at Checkley, south of St Mary and All Saints', and nobody is entirely sure why. They are Anglo-Scandinavian, roughly 1,300 years old. The tallest, at 1.6 metres, and the smallest, at 1.35 metres, are carved on all four sides with full-length human figures and interlace patterns; the middle cross, at 1.43 metres, is left plain. Local tradition says they mark the spot where three bishops were killed in a battle nearby. The more sober explanation: a preaching site, possibly used by St Bertelin, the hermit of Stafford, for open-air instruction.
Inside, the Norman font is carved with the Lamb of God resting on an altar. Ten centuries of wear have not been kind to it. "The lamb looks more like a donkey!" runs the local description on the parish trail, and once you've seen it you can't unsee it. The six bells were cast in 1761 and hung in an Elizabethan oak frame until 2016, when it was finally replaced with steel.
The Old Road and the Red Lion
The village sits in the shallow valley of the River Tean, on what was once the main road between Cheadle and Uttoxeter — traffic ran through until a turnpike was built in 1822, and the A50 bypass in 1985 finished the job of quietening it down.
The Red Lion sits opposite the church on Church Lane, an old pub with a real fire near the door and a beer garden known locally as the Bay. Three regular cask ales are kept — Brains Rev James Original, Draught Bass, Timothy Taylor Landlord — plus a rotating guest. There's a Wednesday grill night, Sunday lunch, and weekend breakfasts, and dogs are welcome. It won Village Pub of the Year in 2013 and Pub of the Season later.
The New Broom and Village Essentials
The New Broom, on the edge of the village on Uttoxeter Road, has had three names — the Cock Inn, then the New Inn, then, in the 1970s, the New Broom — and runs a carvery, cooked breakfasts and pizza alongside an attached campsite with a free shower block. The beer garden has a children's play area, and the pub advertises itself as ten minutes from Alton Towers.
Beyond the two pubs, Checkley keeps things simple: a self-serve kiosk, a playground, a village hall, and a cricket club at Four Trees. No butcher, no bakery, no corner shop — for that you'd head to Cheadle or Uttoxeter.
Valley Walks and Domesday Roots
For walking, the Tean valley is the obvious start, and a few miles off, the ruined Cistercian abbey at Croxden offers a choice: a 2.5-mile family loop out to Hollington and back, or a hillier 7.25-mile circuit across open farmland.
The Domesday surveyors recorded the village as Cedla, held by a man called Otto, with three villans working land for three and a half ploughs, some woodland, two acres of meadow, and a value of five shillings — 25p today.
Connections and Quiet Weekends
Blythe Bridge station, on the Crewe–Derby line, is 5.2 miles away, and local buses run to Hanley, Cheadle and Uttoxeter.
On a fine weekend the loudest thing in Checkley is likely to be the cricket club at Four Trees, or a handful of children on the playground behind the village hall — about as far as the village goes for entertainment, and it seems entirely content with that.
Stay around Alton Towers
Make a longer stay of it
Travel Fox holiday homes around Alton Towers, linked directly to their property pages.
Oakamoor
Christina's House
- Sleeps 4
- 2 bedrooms
Alton
Angel Cottage - 5 mins drive to Alton Towers!
- Sleeps 10
- 4 bedrooms
Alton
Smithy Bank Cottage - with free parking!
- Sleeps 8
- 3 bedrooms
Alton
The Old Post Office: Alton Towers
- Sleeps 8
- 3 bedrooms
Croxden
Zoe's Cottage - 7 mins drive to Alton + Alpacas!
- Sleeps 6
- 2 bedrooms
A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- St Mary and All Saints' Church and Churchyard Crosses — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Red Lion Checkley — camra.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The New Broom — find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Checkley Play Area — checkleyparishcouncil.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Checkley Cricket Club — staffordshireccc.co.uk other published source
- Croxden Abbey — english-heritage.org.uk national body or asset manager