Cannock was 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.[2]
Cannock was a small rural community until mining increased heavily during the mid-to-late 19th century. The area then continued to grow rapidly with many industries coming to the area because of its proximity to the Black Country and its coal reserves. Cannock's population continued to increase steadily in the 20th century and its slight fall since the 1981 census has been more than compensated for by house-building in the adjoining village of Heath Hayes. The last colliery to close in the town was Mid Cannock in 1967,[3] and the last remaining colliery to close in the Cannock Chase area was Littleton (in Huntington) in 1993.[4]
A house known as The Green, which dated from the 1730s and which was the home of Sir Robert Fisher, 4th Baronet, became the headquarters of Cannock Urban District Council in 1927. It was converted into offices in the 1980s, initially for Cannock Chase Technical College but, in 2016, it was refurbished for private use.[6]
The main shopping centre, the Orbital Retail Park, is located on the outskirts of the Norton Canes area of Cannock and houses many stores including Sainsbury's, Homebase, Boots, M&S Food and since October 2023 it has been home to the third Aldi store in the Cannock area. There are 3 furtniture stores at The Orbital: Dreams, Bensons for Beds and a Chair place. Adjacent to the retail park are two hotels (Premier Inn and Holiday Inn, with the latter being in the 'Orbital Plaza' - an intreguing building similar to the Gherkin in London which can be seen for miles and, for many, is a sign they have arrived at The Orbital).
Cannock is on a south-west facing slope, falling from the highest point on Cannock Chase (244 m) at Castle Ring, to about 148 m in the town centre and 111 m 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 1981 and 2010 at the Met Office weather station in Penkridge (around 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Cannock).
Location
Cannock is about 20 miles (30 km) by road north-north-west of Birmingham, 80 miles (130 km) south-south-east of Manchester and 130 miles (210 km) north-west of London. It is 9 to 10 miles (14 to 16 km) by road from many of the nearest towns and cities (Aldridge, Lichfield, Stafford, Walsall, Willenhall and Wolverhampton), but Hednesford (2 miles (3 km)), Burntwood and Penkridge (5 miles (8 km)), Bloxwich and Brownhills (6 miles (10 km)) and Rugeley (7 miles (11 km)) are nearer.
In the decade to 2011 the number of dwellings rose by 7.8% to 13,152. The ward with the biggest increase (16.1%) was Cannock South.[8][9]
Of the town's 12,690 households in the 2011 census, 31.5% were one-person households including 13.9% where that person was 65 or over. 63.6% were one family with no others (9.0% all pensioners, 30.9% married or same-sex civil partnership couples, 12.3% cohabiting couples and 11.3% lone parents).[10] 27.7% of households had dependent children[10] including 5.5% with no adults in employment.[11] 59.3% of households owned their homes outright or with a mortgage or loan.[1]
Of the town's 23,717 residents in the 2011 census aged 16 and over, 33.5% were single (never married), 45.2% married, 0.15% in a registered same-sex civil partnership, 2.6% separated, 10.4% divorced and 8.2% widowed.[12] 33.4% had no formal qualifications and 42.9% had level 2+ qualifications, meaning 5+ GCSEs (grades A*-C) or 1+ 'A' levels/ AS levels (A-E) or equivalent minimum.[13]
72.7% of the 10,509 men aged 16 to 74 were economically active, including 45.1% working full-time, 5.6% working part-time and 12.6% self-employed. The male unemployment rate (Male unemployment)(of those economically active) was 9.9%.[14] 60.7% of the 10,724 women aged 16 to 74 were economically active, including 26.8% working full-time, 23.5% working part-time and 3.1% self-employed. The female unemployment rate (of those economically active) was 7.5%.[15]
Of people in employment aged 16 to 74, 13.5% worked in basic industries (ONS categories A, B, and D-F including 11.1% in construction), 14.2% in manufacturing, and 72.2% in service industries (ONS categories G-U including 19.5% in wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair, 11.6% in health and social work, 7.4% in education, 6.2% in transport and storage, 5.8% in public administration, 5.6% in accommodation and catering, and 4.7% in administrative and support service activities).[16] While 27.7% of households did not have access to a car or van,[17] 76.1% of people in employment travelled to work by car or van.[18]
75.5% of residents described their health as good or very good.[1] The proportion who described themselves as White British was 95.6%, with all white ethnic groups making up 97.4% of the population. The ethnic make-up of the rest of the population was 1.0% mixed/multiple ethnic groups, 0.69% Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi, 0.34% Chinese, 0.17% other Asian, 0.35% Black and 0.065% other.[19] 3.1% of Cannock's residents were born outside the United Kingdom.[20]
Cannock had a free weekly local newspaper, the Cannock & Rugeley Chronicle (an edition of the Cannock & Lichfield Chronicle).[22]
It ceased as a physical publication in October 2018[23] although it is still available as a paid-for subscription via the Express & Star website (see below)
Another free weekly, the Chase Post (an edition of the Cannock Chase & Burntwood Post),[24] ceased publication in November 2011.[25]
The Express & Star is a paid-for local newspaper, published in Wolverhampton on weekdays.[26]
Cannock is served by its own community radio station, called Cannock Chase Radio FM, based in Wynns Venture Centre.[citation needed]The FM frequencies are 94fm for the Cannock and Hednesford area. 89.6 for Rugeley and Trent Valley and 89.8 For Lichfield and beyond. People can also listen back on their digital streaming devices.
Transport
Arriva Midlands buses at Cannock Bus Station in December 2020
Cannock is located close to the M6, M6 Toll and M54 motorways. The main A roads are the A5 (east-west) and A34 (north-south).
Rail
Cannock railway station closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts but reopened in 1989. It is part of the Rugeley – Cannock – Walsall – Birmingham line operated by West Midlands Trains. Over the years, usage of this station, and the line overall, have increased to unprecedented levels. Services initially were hourly services between Birmingham New Street and Stafford (cut back to Rugeley Trent Valley in 2008). By 2013, usage had become significant enough to warrant electrification of the railway line, which was completed in 2019.[29]
The Rugeley - Hednesford - Cannock - Walsall - Birmingham line operated by West Midlands Trains serves the three railway stations in the conurbation. These are at Hednesford, Cannock, and Landywood. There was also a service to Stafford on the Chase Line but this was cut back to Rugeley due to congestion on the West Coast Main Line.
In May 2019, West Midlands Trains began operating electric trains from this station. The vast majority of services are to Rugeley Trent Valley in the north, southbound trains operate to Birmingham International and London Euston. The journey time to Birmingham is around 36 minutes. On Sundays, trains operate as far south as Coventry.
Bus
D&G Bus operate the majority of bus services around Cannock from a depot at Delta Way under the Chaserider brand.
Arriva Midlands were previously the main operator around Cannock but their operations based at their Cannock depot were sold to D&G Bus during 2020.[30]
Select Bus Services [31] also operate a small number of services while National Express West Midlands service X51 links Cannock with Birmingham via Walsall and Great Wyrley.
No Chaserider buses operate on Sunday or bank holiday, however National Express service X51 does with funding from the McArthurGlen Designer outlet which the bus serves.
Cannock Bus Station also has links to Hednesford, Rugeley, Stafford, Lichfield (62 Lichfield–Cannock), Wolverhampton, Walsall, Brownhills in addition to smaller towns and villages like Great Wyrley and Norton Canes.
Education
Cannock Chase High School is a non-denominational mixed comprehensive with just over 1000 pupils aged 11–18.
Chase Grammar School (called Lyncroft House School 1980–1996 then Chase Academy until January 2013) is an independent co-educational boarding school with a day nursery and over 200 pupils up to age 19 including many international students.
South Staffordshire College closed its Cannock Campus in July 2017, but reopened it the following summer as the new Cannock Chase Skills and Innovation Hub with courses starting there from September 2018.
Henry Sacheverell (1674–1724) a High Church Anglican clergyman, onetime Rector of Cannock and polemical preacher
Frank Edward Tylecote CBE (1879 in Cannock – 1965), physician, Professor of Medicine at Manchester University, and early researcher into link between smoking and lung cancer
Jennie Lee (1904–1988), MP for Cannock 1945–1970, Minister in the Department of Education and Science and the driving force for the creation of the Open University[33]
