Cannock is the largest of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England.

Cannock lies to the north of the West Midlands conurbation on the M6, A34 and A5 roads, and to the south of Cannock Chase, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Cannock is served by a railway station on the Chase Line.

Population

In mid-2007, Cannock had an estimated population of 28,148 (from the estimated headcounts of its four electoral wards). The Cannock South electoral ward includes the civil parish of Bridgtown, but the rest of Cannock is unparished.

Cannock is part of Cannock Chase District's largest built-up area. The area is covered by nine electoral wards and part of another ward whose estimated population in 2001 was 60,814.

Cannock is also part of a wider built-up area which includes parts of South Staffordshire District. This is the Cannock urban subdivision of the Cannock/Great Wyrley Urban Area. Its population in the 2001 census was 65,022.

History

Cannock was called Chenet in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was called Chnoc c.1130, Cnot in 1156, Canot in 1157, and Canoc in 1198. Cannock is probably Old English cnocc meaning 'hillock', modified by Norman pronunciation by the insertion of a vowel to Canoc. The name may refer to Shoal Hill, north-west of the town.

The town was small until coal mining increased heavily during the mid to late nineteenth century The area then continued to grow rapidly with many industries coming to the area because of its proximity to the Black Country and because of its coal reserves. After the Second World War the town's population again increased and has kept on increasing ever since as many new residential developments are built as commuting areas for Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Stafford.

Cannock Chase German war cemetery is located nearby containing 4,885 German military dead from the First and Second World Wars. It is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Geography

Cannock is on a south-west facing slope, falling from the highest point on Cannock Chase (244m) at Castle Ring, to about 148m in the town centre and 111m near Wedges Mills. The soil is light with a gravel and clay subsoil, and there are extensive coal measures.

Climate

Cannock has a moderate, temperate climate. See Penkridge weather station for details of average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at the Met Office weather station in Penkridge (around 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Cannock).

Nearby cities, towns and villages

Cities and towns are in upper case. Only a few of the nearest villages are shown.

Demographics

In recent years it has become far more affluent and seen a population and housing increase, such as the new apartments built near the railway station and the ongoing housing development on the Cannock/Heath Hayes boundary. In keeping with the national trend, Cannock's housing is increasingly of a post-fordist era style, although various other periods of architecture are sited around the town, such as at Shoal Hill and Wolverhampton Road. The United Kingdom's second largest populated city, Birmingham, can be commuted to by train in around 40 minutes.

Amenities

Cannock has a reasonably sized town centre which includes some well known high street names. It also has outdoor and indoor markets and a shopping centre. However, some of Cannock's other shopping facilities are to be found in out of town locations such as Longford Island Industrial Estate and the Orbital Industrial Estate.

Cannock has a choice of nightclubs and bars, including Silk's, Stone's, Bank Bar, Forge, Pique's, Academy, Bar 77, Ubar, and Bar Sport, as well as several tradional pubs dotted around the town centre. There are also many restaurants, gastro pubs, and fast food establishments offering a choice of food.

Cannock has a swimming pool and leisure centre. It also has an ice rink, Silverblades, although this is a small rink compared to other larger rinks to be found at Telford and Solihull. It also has a three-screen cinema.

Transport

Cannock is located close to the M6, M6 toll and M54 motorways. There is an extensive network of local buses radiating out from Cannock town centre. The town's main bus operator is Arriva Midlands, although other bus routes in Cannock are operated by National Express West Midlands and the Green Bus Service. Cannock railway station closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching Axe. It reopened in 1989 and is part of the Rugeley - Cannock - Walsall - Birmingham line operated by London Midland. There are two trains per hour from the station to Rugeley, Walsall, and Birmingham.

Notable people

Entertainment

• Carole Ashby (born 1955), actress
• Steve Edge (born 1972), actor
• Mel Galley (1948-2008), former Whitesnake guitarist and songwriter
• Elgar Howarth (born 1935), conductor and composer
• Glenn Hughes (born 1951), former Deep Purple bassist/vocalist
• Robert Lloyd (born 1959), vocalist in The Prefects and The Nightingales
• Helen Norgrove (born 1973), first £125,000 winner on TV game show 'Don't Forget The Lyrics'
• Tiffany (born 1971), American pop singer now lives in the town, having married a local businessman

Sport

• Malcolm Beard (born 1942), retired footballer
• Stan Collymore (born 1971), retired footballer
• Mike Gosling (born 1972), winner of Britain's Strongest Man contest in 2005
• Richard Gosling (born 1974), winner of Britain's Strongest Man contest in 2003
• Deiniol Graham (born 1969), retired footballer
• Steve James (born 1961), snooker player
• Gordon Lee (born 1934), retired footballer/football manager
• Dave Norton (born 1965), retired footballer
• Geoff Palmer (born 1954), retired footballer
• Kevin Pietersen (born 1980), English cricketer played for Cannock Cricket Club in 2000
• Alec Talbot (1902-1975), footballer

Other

• John Kerr Butter (died 1920), Scottish physician, police surgeon and zoologist who kept a menagerie of exotic animals at his home in Wolverhampton Road
• Walter Colman (1600-1645), Franciscan friar
• Raymond Furnell (1936-2006), curate of Cannock 1965-69, later dean of York Minster
• Jennie Lee (1904-1988), MP for Cannock 1945-1970 who, as Minister in the Department of Education and Science, became the driving force for the creation of the Open University
• Frank Edward Tylecote CBE (1879-1965), physician, Professor of Medicine at Manchester University, and early researcher into link between smoking and lung cancer

Sports

Cannock Hockey Club is one of the leading field hockey clubs in England, and supplies England internationals.

Education

Cannock Chase High School is a non-denominational mixed comprehensive with around 1600 pupils aged 11–18.

Cardinal Griffin Catholic High School is a voluntary aided Roman Catholic secondary school with around 950 pupils aged 11–18.

Chase Academy is an independent co-educational boarding school with a day nursery as well as over 200 pupils up to age 19.

South Staffordshire College is a further education college which provides courses to students from age 14 up to adults. It was created by a merger of Cannock Chase Technical College and centres of further education in Tamworth, Lichfield and Rodbaston.

Twin town

• Datteln, Germany, since 1971. See German page :de:Datteln.

References

1. Mid-2007 Quinary Estimates for 2009 wards (experimental) (lines 7810-7813) at

External links

• Cannock Wolves Supporters Club