Keele

Keele
St John the Baptist Church
Keele Location within Staffordshire
Population	4,129 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid reference	SJ807453
Civil parish	Keele
District	Newcastle-under-Lyme
Shire county	Staffordshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Newcastle
Postcode district	ST5
Dialling code	01782
Police	Staffordshire
Fire	Staffordshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Newcastle-under-Lyme
List of places UK England Staffordshire 53°00′16″N2°17′14″W / 53.0044°N 2.2871°W /53.0044; -2.2871

Keeleis a village andcivil parishin theBorough of Newcastle-under-LymeinStaffordshire, England. It is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west ofNewcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village ofSilverdale. Keele lies on theA53 roadfrom Newcastle toMarket DraytonandShrewsbury. The village is the location ofKeele UniversityandKeele Services, amotorway service areaon theM6.

Keele is located in theKeele wardof the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme with its name drawing from the oldAnglo-SaxonCȳ-hyll= "Cow-hill". The 2001 census indicated the parish had a population of 3,664,(increasing to 4,129 at the 2011 census) most of whom students at Keele University as one of the halls of residence,Hawthorns, now sold for land redevelopment, was located in the heart of the village.^{[clarification needed]}

The village is recognised for its association with the university and its position astride the M6. But during the Middle Ages, Keele was a major route from the North-West to London for laden packhorses and caravans alike.Keele Preceptorywas granted to theKnights Templarsometime between 1168 and 1169 byKing Henry II. The Knights Templars, military order and later rivalsKnights Hospitallers, would charge incoming traffic to pass through their lands. This would supplement rental income from farming tenants.^[2]

Little remains today of the Templar's heritage and less so of the Hospitallers. Erected during the 1992 bypass between Newcastle-under Lyme and Madeley to improve circulation in the village, an iron sculpture celebrates the arrival of the former at Keele. Additionally, one University hall of residence, Holly Cross, located on the estate and shaped in a Templar Cross, commemorates their presence.^[3]The parish church is named after the patron saint of the Hospitallers, St John the Baptist, and it is believed that one of the church's stained glass panels still contains elements of surviving early medieval glass.

From the mid 15th Century until the 1940s, the Sneyd family owned much of the village (cottages, school, farm, Inn), dominating local life architecturally as well as socially and receiving rents from villagers and tenants. The inhabitants were principally employed in collieries and iron works, notably in Silverdale, also belonging to the Sneyds.

During theSecond World Warthe estate was requisitioned by the British government for theBritish Army. Various training activities were carried out until the arrival of American servicemen in 1944. They occupied over 100 temporary buildings andNissen Huts. GeneralPattonvisited during this period.^[4]Some prisoners of war were held locally during the war and after the war it became a camp for Polish servicemen and displaced persons.

In 1948, with accumulated gambling debts amassed by the late Ralph Sneyd and high tax duties, the estate (including village outlets) was sold off by remaining relatives to Stoke-on-Trent Corporation. The land was earmarked for the development of the new University College of North Staffordshire, which was founded in 1949, opened in 1950 and received its royal charter asKeele Universityin 1962.^[5]

In the village, a collection of buildings, collectively known as theHawthorns, named after a 19th-century medieval farmhouse were erected and became home to students. The first students took up residence in Hawthorns House in 1957 and the expanded residential complex was discontinued in 2017. The Sneyd Arms public house remains popular with the student community.^[6]

Keele is featured on the UK 'Here and Now' edition of the board gameMonopoly, released in September 2007, It takes the place ofFleet Streetin the traditional version.^[7]

Keele is served by a bus service betweenNewcastle-Under-LymeandNantwichviaCreweand also is served by a bus service toStoke-on-Trentvia Newcastle-Under-Lyme andStone.

Keele was also served byKeele railway stationwhich was on the formerStoke-Market Drayton Linefrom 1870 to 1956, although the line remained in use for freight traffic until 1998 when the line was closed toSilverdale Collieryand the track was removed upPipe Gate railway stationto northSilverdale railway station. The tracks remain in place but heavily overgrown and for potential future use if the line ever reopened.

• Walter Sneyd(1752–1829) ofKeele Hall, MP forCastle Risingin 1784–1790
• Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia(1861–1929) lived inKeele Hallbetween 1900 and 1909.
• Major General William Donovan StamerCB, CBE, DSO, MC (1895 in Keele – 1963) a British Army officer in theNorth Staffordshire Regiment

• Listed buildings in Keele

• 
  Keele Village and Sneyd Arms
• 
  Keele Old School
• 
  Knights Templar sculpture
• 
  Keele suburbia
• 
  Fields near Clock House Lane
• 
  Oak trees in a field near Keele
• 
  Former railway bridge

• Keele University Website