STAFFORD, market town, county town, municipal borough, Stafford parliamentary division, Staffordshire, England, on the river Sow, a tributary of the Trent. Pop. (1931) 29,485. An important junction on the L.M.S. railway and 1334 m. N.W. from London, it is also served by the L.N.E. and G.W. railways. The town, while largely modernized, contains a number of picturesque half timbered houses. The church of St. Mary, once collegiate, with its canons mentioned in Domesday, shows transitional Norman, Early English and Decorated styles. The complete foundation is attributed to King John. It contains a memorial to Izaak Walton (q.v.), a native. The older St. Chad's (much restored) has good Norman details. Since 1909 Stafford has been the seat of a suf fragan bishopric in the diocese of Lichfield. The William Salt library, presented in 1872, has many local books and mss.
Stafford (Stadford, Staffort, Stafforde) is said to have originally been called Betheney from Berthelin, a hermit who lived here. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle it is stated that Aethelflead, lady of the Mercians, in 913 built a fort at Stafford, and a mint existed here in later Anglo-Saxon times. Stafford is a borough in Domes day Book, and the chief place in the county. The king received all dues, two-thirds as king, the other third as earl of Stafford. From the Domesday Survey it appears that the Conqueror built a castle at Stafford; this was destroyed in the wars of the 17th century. The existing ruin of Stafford Castle is that of an unfin ished mansion ( i8I o), which replaced the old stronghold. Beyond it is an early encampment, Bury Ring. A charter from John (1206) constituted Stafford a free borough.