Alrewas is an attractive Staffordshire village located on the Trent & Mersey canal between Fradley Junction and Barton Turns. The canal, cut between 1770 and 1777, was England’s first commercial man-made waterway and may previously have been the seat of the Bishop of Lichfield. The River Trent crosses the canal just north of Alrewas lock.
By road, Alrewas is around 5 miles north of Lichfield, just off the A38 that runs towards Burton-on-Trent and Derby. Just east of Alrewas is the National Memorial Arboretum.
The unusual name of ‘Alrewas’ (pronounced OLL-re-wos) is derived from ‘Alder Wash’ which refers to the alder trees that used to grow on the flood plains that lie to the north of the village.
According to Staffordshire Places, at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, the manor was held by the King and consisted of three hides, and all told some 360 acres including 24 acres of meadow land are recorded, later called Essington Meadow. This meadow would have been common land for the use of all the inhabitants in the village.
The River Trent, which passes just north of the village, supported a fishery which the Domesday Book records as producing 1,500 eels. However, the traditional industry of Alrewas, as befitting its location, was basket making with the willow being supplied from osier beds that were located between the river and the canal.
A church was recorded by the year 822 when Alrewas was chosen to be a prebend by Bishop Aethelwald. The present church, dedicated to All Saints, has Norman features and has undergone a number of architectural changes over the centuries. The church has a ring of eight bells, all of which were recast in the 20th century. However the earliest reference to the Alrewas bells is recorded in the parish register in 1585, with a note that ‘the seconde bell and the greatest bell weare cast at Nottingham by Henry Oldfield, bellfounder’.
Over the weekend of July 22 2011 the village staged a Canal & Music Festival in which raised £5,000 for the Alrewas Village Hall which celebrated its Centenary year in 2011 and is in need of repair and expansion.
