Fazeley

Fazeley
Fazeley Junction
Fazeley  Fazeley shown within Staffordshire
Population	4,388
OS grid reference	SK2002
Civil parish	Fazeley
District	Lichfield
Shire county	Staffordshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	TAMWORTH
Postcode district	B78
Dialling code	01827
Police	Staffordshire
Fire	Staffordshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Tamworth
List of places UK England Staffordshire

Fazeley is a small town and civil parish in the District of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Fazeley is located on the outskirts of Tamworth and the civil parish of Fazeley also includes Mile Oak and Bonehill.

It sits astride the junction of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and Coventry Canal; at Fazeley Junction are a couple of multi storey mills. Fazeley is also adjacent to Drayton Manor, formerly the home of Robert Peel and now a theme park and zoo.

The First Annual Fazeley Festival and Mile Oak Mile Charity hop took place on 15 September 2007.

Sitting in the centre of Fazeley, the Town Hall opened in 1898 and was named the Victoria Memorial Hall, commemorating the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria, and James Eadie paid for both the cost of its construction, £3,000, and the land on which it stands, having signalled his intentions in this respect in 1896.

James Eadie intended that the Hall should benefit the inhabitants of Fazeley and help to promote their welfare. His vision was that the Hall would be used for public meetings, lectures and concerts and contain reading rooms. He even speculated that technical classes might some day be held "for the better training of workmen in their several crafts and industries."

This vision became a reality, meetings of all descriptions took place and winter entertainments were regularly well attended. There was a library and a reading room, classes were held in gymnastics and cookery, and an Evening Continuation School in horticulture attracted over 40 youngsters. In later years, silent movies were presented here, too.

History

The name Fazeley in its various spellings is found in documents dating back to 1135. All suggestions concerning its derivation propose that it comes from early Saxon language most take its meaning to be pasture land or pleasant pasture but another authority suggests it is a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon faresleia which meant bulls pasture. The various spellings support this latter suggestion and certainly the land alongside the River Tame, being very flat, may well have been used for this purpose.

Transport

Fazeley sits astride the old Roman road of Watling Street, which is now much quieter following the move of the A5 road to run on a new course between Fazeley and Tamworth.

Until 1904 Wilnecote Station in nearby Two Gates was known as Wilnecote and Fazeley.

Governance

Fazeley Town Council

Fazeley Town Council consists of eleven elected councillors. Of the eleven councillors, eight are from the Conservative Party, two from the Labour Party and one independent. The Worshipful The Mayor of Fazeley Councillor Rebecca James became Fazeley's youngest ever mayor in May 2012 at 21 years of age and was Fazeley Town Council's youngest councillor at 18 years of age in when she was elected in January 2009.

The current Mayor of Fazeley is Cllr Brian Hoult.

Fazeley Town Hall is used for both public and private events including, bingo, dancing, parties and carpet sales and Fazeley Town Council holds its meetings in the building.

Local authority

Despite bordering the District of Tamworth Fazeley is part of the Lichfield District. Fazeley is also covered by Staffordshire County Council.

Education

Fazeley has two primary schools, Millfield County Primary School and Longwood Primary School, in Mile Oak. Millfield was built in Victorian times and part of the original building still remains.

External links

• Fazeley Town Council
• Fazeley.info