Community and countryside
Kingstone
A small East Staffordshire village anchored by its community-owned pub, Victorian church and routes into the Blithe countryside.
- Best for
- A pub meal, village history and a countryside walk
- Give it
- A few hours, or longer with golf or the Hixon–Uttoxeter walk
- Don't miss
- The community-owned Shrewsbury Arms
The Fox verdict
A village whose pub tells the story
Kingstone rewards a deliberately paced visit built around community enterprise, local history and open countryside.
Start with the community-owned Shrewsbury Arms and the Victorian parish church, then choose parkland golf or a walk. Blithfield Reservoir has a short blue woodland trail; the nine-mile Hixon–Uttoxeter Slow Way passes Kingstone. Denstone Hall Farm Shop & Café makes a food stop about 7.4 miles away in Denstone.
Where to go
Places in Kingstone
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesThe Shrewsbury Arms
A community-owned free house rescued after a two-year closure, with a real fire, pub games, a beer garden, onsite cooking and permanent and changing hand-pulled ales.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Uttoxeter Road, Kingstone
- Access
- Dogs are welcome in the bar and snug.
The Manor Golf Club
A family-run parkland course opened in 1991, extending 6,092 yards from the white tees across rolling East Staffordshire countryside.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 3 hours
- Locality
- Leese Hill, Kingstone
- Access
- Visitors are welcome.
Denstone Hall Farm Shop & Café
A farm shop and café in Denstone, offering local produce and a food-shopping stop about 7.4 miles from Kingstone in a straight line.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Denstone, about 7.4 miles from Kingstone
Walks & outdoors
1 placeBlithfield Reservoir Blue Trail
A 1.2-mile circular walk through broadleaf and coniferous woodland, with a bird hide at The Dell.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Blithfield Reservoir, Newton Hurst Lane
- Access
- Start at the Newton Hurst Lane car park. The blue trail is partly suitable for wheelchairs; dogs must stay on leads.
History & heritage
1 placeChurch of St. John, Kingstone
A Grade II church built in 1860–61 to David Brandon's design, with a later south aisle by G. E. Street. Three bells came from its predecessor, where Sir Simon Degge was buried.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Kingstone parish
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Three ways to explore Kingstone
Signature outings
Blithfield Reservoir Blue Trail
Follow the 1.2-mile blue trail from the Newton Hurst Lane car park through woodland to a bird hide.
The Rebuilt Parish Church
See the 1860–61 church, built in the Early English style, and three bells brought from its predecessor.
The Village-Owned Pub
Settle beside the real fireplace for onsite-cooked food, local ale and pub games in a free house owned by hundreds of people.
The village story
Kingstone Village Guide
The story of a village with medieval church roots, a rescued pub and paths into the Blithe countryside.
The Pub the Village Bought
The Shrewsbury Arms belongs to hundreds of shareholders in the Kingstone Community Society. The society bought the pub at auction in April 2019 after a two-year closure and reopened it that September. Registered as an Asset of Community Value, it remains a gathering place rescued by its own community. Its name recalls the Earls of Shrewsbury.
Inside are a real fire, cribbage and dominoes. The restaurant seats up to sixty; dogs are welcome in the bar and snug, and there is a beer garden.
From the Kitchen to the Bar
The kitchen makes its food on site apart from bread supplied by Buckley Bakehouse and ice cream from Needwoods. The bar serves permanent and changing hand-pulled ales.
Head chef Adam Bonner and general managers Emma Smith, Kay Hughes and Tracy Punchard took on the pub after reviving the Red Lion at Newborough. The pub received a Rising Star award in 2020 and was runner-up for Pub of the Year in 2022.
Food Stops and Footpaths
Denstone Hall Farm Shop & Café offers local produce, a butchery and a café in Denstone, about 7.4 miles from Kingstone in a straight line; the road journey is longer.
At Blithfield Reservoir, the 1.2-mile blue trail passes through woodland to a bird hide; a separate red trail crosses wetlands with varied plants and dragonflies. The nine-mile Hixon–Uttoxeter Slow Way passes Kingstone and includes overgrown stiles and boggy ground. Kingstone Wood is one of the woodlands in the Bagots Forest plan.
Fairways, Play Fields and Victorian Stone
The Manor Golf Club on Leese Hill is a family-run parkland course opened in 1991. Its white tees measure 6,092 yards across rolling East Staffordshire countryside. Kingstone Recreation Ground has a playing field, tennis court and children's play area.
The Church of St John the Baptist was built on a new site in 1860–61, replacing an earlier church recorded from at least 1175 and judged badly decayed in 1851. David Brandon designed the new church; G. E. Street added the south aisle. Built in the Early English style, it received three bells and their frame from the old church. Sir Simon Degge, a seventeenth-century Staffordshire judge and antiquarian, was buried in a chapel at the earlier church.
Earls, Roads and the Fireside Return
The 2011 census counted 629 Kingstone residents. Nearby Wanfield Hall is the Staffordshire seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury; their former seat at Alton Towers was sold in 1924.
Uttoxeter railway station is about 3.2 miles away, and Kingstone sits just off the A518. Chaserider route 841 connects the village with Uttoxeter and Stafford.
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
Checkley
The Old Stables
- Sleeps 4
- 2 bedrooms
For homeowners
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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 Shrewsbury Arms — shrewsburyarmskingstone.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Church of St. John, Kingstone — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Blithfield Reservoir Blue Trail — gps-routes.co.uk other published source
- The Manor Golf Club — manorgolfclub.net operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Denstone Hall Farm Shop & Café — denstonehall.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation