Sandstone on the ridge
Hollington
A small Staffordshire village shaped by distinctive stone, a landmark Victorian church and footpaths towards a ruined abbey.
- Best for
- Sandstone heritage and quiet country walking
- Give it
- A half-day, or longer with the six-mile circle
- Don't miss
- Croxden Abbey on foot from The Raddle Inn
The Fox verdict
A compact village with a long stone story
Hollington works best as a quiet walking and heritage stop, with a country inn, a richly detailed church and Croxden Abbey close by.
The village's distinctive sandstone links its quarry history to major buildings far beyond Staffordshire, while St John the Evangelist brings the work of George Edmund Street, Minton and William Morris into one small church. Pair those stories with the Hollington Circle, the free abbey ruins and time at The Raddle Inn.
Your picks, your pace
Make Hollington yours
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Local signatures
3 placesThe Raddle Inn
An 18th-century inn set into a bank, with locally supplied food, daily specials, real ales and views towards Croxden Abbey and the Moorlands.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 75 minutes
- Locality
- Quarry Bank, Hollington
- Access
- Dogs are welcome in the bar; the beer garden includes a children's play area.
St John the Evangelist
A Grade II Victorian Gothic Revival church by George Edmund Street, with his font and Minton tile pattern and a sedilia hanging designed by William Morris.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 30 minutes
- Locality
- Hollington village
- Access
- Confirm current opening and interior access before visiting.
Croxden Abbey
Substantial ruins of a 12th-century Cistercian abbey, reached by paths from The Raddle Inn and closely tied to Hollington's landscape.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Croxden, near Hollington
- Access
- The ruins are free to walk around, with paths and information boards.
Walks & outdoors
1 placeHollington Circle
A roughly six-mile Staffordshire LDWA circular walk around Hollington, timed to finish at The Raddle Inn.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 150 minutes
- Locality
- encircling Hollington
Things to do
1 placeAlton Towers
A major nearby theme park, around five minutes' drive from The Raddle Inn at Hollington.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 180 minutes
- Locality
- Alton
- Access
- Check the official site before travel.
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On the map
Hollington at a glance
Tap a marker to jump to its guide card.
Three ways to explore Hollington
Signature outings
Food with an abbey view
Set into the bank, The Raddle Inn pairs locally supplied food and real ales with views towards Croxden Abbey and the Moorlands.
Finish back at The Raddle
Follow the roughly six-mile Hollington Circle around the village, timed to finish back at The Raddle Inn.
Continue to Alton Towers
Alton Towers is about five minutes' drive from The Raddle Inn, giving Hollington a clear link to the area's major theme park.
The village story
Hollington Village Guide
Sandstone, a richly detailed Victorian church and an abbey walk give this small ridge-top village its character.
Hollington Stone and Getting There
Ground Hollow is the local name for the quarries at the edge of Hollington, and the pink-red sandstone that comes out of them — soft enough to cut, hardening once it meets the air — has gone into Coventry Cathedral, Warwick Castle, Trentham Hall and Alton Towers itself.
The Raddle Inn is built into the bank at Quarry Bank, looking over Croxden Abbey and the Moorlands, five minutes' drive from Alton Towers. Uttoxeter, under five miles off, has the nearest station. The 32 bus runs through toward Tean and Uttoxeter, and the demand-responsive 411 minibus links on to Denstone.
Food, Ale and Staying Over
It's an 18th-century pub with food made from local suppliers, a specials board that changes daily, and a pensioners' menu served 12 to 2pm, Monday to Saturday. Behind the bar: Brains Rev James, Marston's Pedigree, Timothy Taylor Landlord, and two rotating guest beers.
The beer garden holds a pool table and a bouncy castle, with a play area for smaller children, and dogs are welcome in the bar. CAMRA named the Raddle Pub of the Season twice, in 2017 and 2019. Stay longer and there are six log cabins with hot tubs, two cottages, and a function room for up to 44.
The Lost Shop and St John's
There's no shop in the village — it closed in 1992 and nothing has taken its place.
St John the Evangelist was built between 1859 and 1861, designed by George Edmund Street, the architect behind the Royal Courts of Justice in London. He also designed the font and the Minton tiles, laid to his own pattern. The east window, curving into the apse, shows the Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene and St John. A sedilia hanging inside was designed by William Morris, part of a set of altar frontals embroidered in 1861 by "Miss Hutchinson and friends" — said to be the largest surviving group of embroidery made to Street's own designs.
Abbey Paths and Quarry History
Croxden Abbey, a ruined 12th-century Cistercian abbey, is under a mile away and free to walk round, with paths heading there straight from the Raddle, whose own grounds look out towards it. The Hollington Circle, a six-mile loop kept up by the Staffordshire Long Distance Walkers Association, is timed to finish back at the Raddle Inn.
The quarry was reopened after years of dereliction by John Stevenson, who ran two workings — White Turn for the white stone, Red Quarry for the red — until his death in 1916, after which his widow Mary kept White Turn and his stepson George Stephenson kept Red Quarry. Thirty thousand tonnes of Hollington stone went into Coventry Cathedral alone, over the seven years it took to build it.
Ridge Views and The Star
Hollington sits on a ridge, the ground dropping into valleys to the north, with views wherever the land allows it — most of the village, home to 212 people at the last census.
The Star, the village's other pub, is older still — sandstone, built around 1700, converted into a pub in the 1870s, with exposed beams and a working fireplace, looking over the Tean Valley rather than the abbey. It's currently closed and up for sale — for now, past tense. Someone who drank there put it best: "Made fabulous friends with the landlord and his wonderful lady and return frequently throughout the year, every year."
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.
- The Raddle Inn — camra.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- St John the Evangelist — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Croxden Abbey — english-heritage.org.uk national body or asset manager
- Hollington Circle — ldwa.org.uk other published source
- Alton Towers — altontowers.com operator, sector body or destination organisation record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access