Mucklestone - anvil and St Mary from SE 2015-06-22

The church, with the exception of the mid-C14 W tower, was rebuilt in 1883 to the designs of Lynam and Rickman of Stoke-on-Trent on the same plan as its predecessor. List description: list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1377621 .

What the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography calls an "unreliable tradition" claims that Queen Margaret of Anjou (wife of Henry VI) observed the battle of Blore Heath (1459) from Mucklestone church tower, and, "witnessing the defeat of the Lancastrians, took flight, reversing the shoes on her carriage horses in order to evade pursuit." The anvil came from a forge that stood opposite the church and was traditionally the one used.