Rocester

Steel Landmark and Village Pub

Walenty Pytel's 1979 steel sculpture beside JCB's Rocester headquarters rises 45 feet and weighs 36 tonnes. Built from JCB components, it is known as Fossor. JCB moved production to Rocester in 1950, and the site remains its world headquarters.

The Red Lion has a traditional three-room interior, with a flagged-floor main bar, wooden panelling and a comfortable snug. Marston's Pedigree and Ringwood Razorback have featured among its regular cask ales. There is also a beer garden and pool table.

Village History and Daily Essentials

The former Queens Arms Hotel stands on Ashbourne Road as a Grade II-listed late-18th-century red-brick building. A moulded inn-sign surround sits above the central doorway, with a separate blocked opening in the west gable.

For groceries, Rocester Village Stores is on Ashbourne Road. Rocester Post Office is a separate branch at 60 High Street.

Old Stone and Walking Lines

St Michael's Church retains its 13th-century west tower, while most of the building was rebuilt in 1870–72. In its churchyard, a 13th-century sandstone cross rises from circular steps; its quadrilobe shaft has dog-tooth ornament, and it is Grade II* listed.

The Staffordshire Way follows the Dove Valley from Rocester to Uttoxeter. Rocester is also the southern end of the 46-mile Limestone Way to Castleton. For a longer local outing, the 8.8-mile Denstone, Wootton Grange and Ellastone loop is rated moderate and calls for good fitness. The JCB Lakeside Walk offers a shorter, flat paved circuit around the lakes, with waterfowl and other birds.

From Fort and Abbey to the Romans

Rocester lies between the Churnet and the Dove. Remains of a Roman fort and later settlement survive here, and an Augustinian abbey was founded in the village in the 1140s before its surrender to the Crown in 1538. In the early 1780s, Richard Arkwright acquired existing mills beside the Dove and developed a cotton-spinning complex, including a new range beside the older corn mill. Tutbury Mill later became part of The JCB Academy. Domesday records Rocester under both King William and Henry of Ferrers.

Graeme Edge, drummer and songwriter with the Moody Blues, was born here, as was footballer Ryan Boot. Rocester F.C., known as the Romans, play at the Hillsfield ground on Mill Street — built on part of the old fort, next to Arkwright's mill.

Arriving and Looking Outward

The village's own railway station shut in 1965; the nearest working one is Uttoxeter, about four miles to the south. Alton Towers is about five miles the other way.