Betley
School
Transport
Betley lies on the A531 from Madeley to Weston. There is an hourly bus service, run by D&G Bus (route 85 ) which runs through Betley from Hanley and Newcastle-under-Lyme to Crewe and Nantwich.
History
Betley – meaning the 'clearing in the woods' of Bette (a Saxon woman's name) – is an ancient settlement. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is one of several local villages – including Buddileigh, Audley, and Madeley – which seem to be named after women. It had a major market, the charter for which was granted in the thirteenth century. At Betley Hall, a now-demolished country house, Charles Darwin conducted some of his zoological observations and Florence Nightingale visited. At another country house in the village, Betley Court (which is still standing), lived the Romantic poet Elizabeth Tollet. The church, dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch, is a beautiful medieval building (reasonably well-restored by George Gilbert Scott), with oak beams and a cricket ground to the rear.
See also
Nearby places
Twin towns
Betley is twinned with:
- Agny, France
See also
References
- ^ "Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ^ D & G Bus, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Area Timetables retrieved 6 March 2018
- ^ "British towns twinned with French towns [via WaybackMachine.com]". Archant Community Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
Sources
- Betley: A Village of Contrasts, ed. Robert Speake (Keele University, 1980).