Spire, river and village pub
Clifton Campville
A small Mease Valley village where a soaring medieval church, waterside walking and a revived country pub reward an unhurried visit.
- Best for
- Medieval church detail and quiet country walking
- Give it
- A relaxed half day, or longer with a nearby stop
- Don't miss
- St Andrew's spire and the River Mease by Stones Bridge
Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped
The Fox verdict
A village defined by one remarkable spire
Clifton Campville is strongest as a slow church-and-river visit, rounded off at its historic pub.
St Andrew's is the compelling centrepiece: a Grade I medieval church whose tall spire is visible across the Mease Valley farmland. The river then gives the village a natural walking line towards Haunton and Harlaston, while The Green Man adds food, real ale and the texture of a revived country pub.
Where to go
Places in Clifton Campville
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesRiver Mease Walk
A flexible waterside outing following the River Mease under Stones Bridge, past the old mill and towards the linked villages of Haunton and Harlaston.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Stones Bridge to the western Mease Valley
- Access
- Follow a distance suited to the conditions.
The Green Man
A mainly 18th-century country pub with a 15th-century core, stone flags, low beams, a solid-fuel stove, Draught Bass, pub games and a restaurant-led menu.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Clifton Campville
- Access
- Dogs are welcome, with a front terrace and rear beer garden.
Twycross Zoo
A major primate-focused zoo with more than 500 animals, nearly 150 species and Britain's only bonobo group.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 3 hours
- Locality
- Twycross
Walks & outdoors
1 placeNational Forest Way
A 75-mile route through the National Forest's wider network of walking and cycling trails.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 2 hours for a chosen section
- Locality
- The National Forest
- Access
- Choose a section suited to your visit.
History & heritage
3 places
St Andrew's Church
A Grade I medieval parish church with a landmark spire, early-14th-century wall-painting traces, misericords, a medieval priest's room and the Vernon alabaster tomb.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Clifton Campville
- Access
- The church welcomes visitors.
Tamworth Castle
A Grade I listed Norman castle overlooking the meeting of the Rivers Anker and Tame.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 2 hours
- Locality
- Tamworth
National Memorial Arboretum
A centre for remembrance and military history near Alrewas.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 2 hours 30 minutes
- Locality
- Near Alrewas
Things to do
1 placeConeyberry Millennium Green
A charitable-trust community green used for Clifton Campville's annual Country Fair.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 30 minutes
- Locality
- Clifton Campville
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Three ways to explore Clifton Campville
Signature outings
Look beyond the spire
Inside St Andrew's, seek out the wall-painting traces, medieval misericords, single-trunk parish chest and the Vernon tomb.
Explore Tamworth Castle
Pair the village with Tamworth's Grade I Norman castle above the Rivers Anker and Tame.
Walk the arboretum
Make time for the National Memorial Arboretum's remembrance and military-history landscape near Alrewas.
The village story
Clifton Campville Village Guide
A revived country pub, a far-seen spire and the River Mease give this small Staffordshire village its shape.
The Green Man
The Green Man shut its doors for two years and reopened in November 2023. The building is mainly 18th century, with a 15th-century core, while the food has a polished restaurant-style character.
Traditional details continue at the bar: Draught Bass is the regular real ale, and the low-beamed bar keeps its solid-fuel stove at the heart of the pub.
Dogs are welcome, there's a terrace at the front and a beer garden out back, and if you'd rather play than eat there's a pool table and a table game called devil among the tailors.
The Spire and the Mease
What Clifton Campville does have is the spire. St Andrew's Church is Grade I listed, and its spire, supported by four flying buttresses, is visible for miles across the surrounding countryside. Inside, the south aisle carries traces of early-14th-century wall painting showing the Coronation of the Virgin, and the Lady Chapel holds the alabaster tomb of John Vernon of Harlaston, who died in 1545, and his wife Ellen, shown in recumbent effigy. There are 14th-century misericords behind the choir stalls, a parish chest carved from a single, likely elm, trunk, and, up a stair in the north transept, a priest's room with its own fireplace and garderobe. The church appears in England's Thousand Best Churches and welcomes visitors.
The River Mease runs along the northern edge of the village, under Stones Bridge and past the old mill under Mill Bridge, on to Haunton a mile west and Harlaston a mile and a half beyond that — a walkable string of villages along the water. Coneyberry Millennium Green is the village's main outdoor amenity and hosts the annual Country Fair.
From Clistone to the Road Out
Domesday knew the place as Clistone: 33 villagers and a priest, eleven plough teams, two mills. The de Camville family added their name to the farm after 1200 and held it until 1338, when the last male heir died leaving five daughters and no sons.
Tamworth station is south of Clifton Campville on the West Coast line. Tamworth Castle is about 5.3 miles from the village in a straight line, and Twycross Zoo is about 5.1 miles away; road journeys are longer. The zoo is home to Britain's only bonobo group.
The Churchwarden's Spire
Mrs Sarah Ennis is the churchwarden.
Stay around Staffordshire
Make a longer stay of it
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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.
Photography credits & licences
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- File:St Andrew's Church, Clifton Campville.jpg — photograph by Michael Garlick; Michael Garlick. Source record on Wikimedia Commons. Declared source image. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. File changes: Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons, resized to a maximum 1920px edge and encoded as an optimised JPEG. Display changes: Displayed with responsive CSS cropping.
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 Andrew's Church — heritage.churchofengland.org other published source
- River Mease Walk — lichfielddc.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- The Green Man — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Coneyberry Millennium Green — register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Tamworth Castle — tamworthcastle.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Twycross Zoo — twycrosszoo.org operator, sector body or destination organisation
- National Memorial Arboretum — thenma.org.uk other published source
- National Forest Way — nationalforest.org operator, sector body or destination organisation