Stretton is a small, dispersed village in South

South Staffordshire

South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of Wolverhampton and the West Midlands, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south...

 Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is situated just north of the A5 road

A5 road

The A5 is a major road in England and Wales. It is also the first Roman built road in England hence the name Roman Road. It runs for about from London, England to Holyhead, Wales, following in part a section of the Roman Iter II route which later took the Anglo-Saxon name Watling...

 near to the village of Lapley

Lapley

Lapley is a small English village situated in Staffordshire some 3.5 miles SW by Wof Penkridge, 1.5 miles east of Wheaton Aston, 0.5 miles northeast of the Shropshire Union Canal, 1.5 miles north of Watling Street and 6 miles SSW of Stafford...

.

The A5 is Watling Street

Watling Street

Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...

, a notable Roman Road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

, and another Roman road passes through Stretton from Mediolanum

Mediolanum

Mediolanum, the ancient Milan, was an important Celtic and then Roman centre of northern Italy. This article charts the history of the city from its settlement by the Insubres around 600 BC, through its conquest by the Romans and its development into a key centre of Western Christianity and capital...

 (Whitchurch), forming a junction with Watling Street near to the bridge over the River Penk

River Penk

The River Penk is a small river flowing though Staffordshire, England. Its course is mainly within South Staffordshire, and it drains most of the northern part of that district, together with some adjoining areas of Cannock Chase, Stafford, Wolverhampton, and Shropshire...

. (On the other side of the river was the now-deserted Roman settlement of Pennocrucium

Pennocrucium

Pennocrucium was a Romano-British settlement and military complex located at present day Water Eaton, just south of Penkridge, Staffordshire, with evidence of occupation from the mid-1st century until the 4th century....

.) It is the village's situation on the road from Mediolanum that gives it its name, the Old English for Street Town

Stretton

-England:Stretton means "settlement on a Roman Road" . Of the seventeen places in England, all but two are situated on a Roman Road, the exceptions being Stretton Westwood and Stretton en le Field.-Cheshire:...

("street" meaning a paved or Roman road). Stretton Bridge today carries Watling Street over the Penk.

Stretton Hall is in the village.

The Shropshire Union Canal

Shropshire Union Canal

The Shropshire Union Canal is a navigable canal in England; the Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union system and lie partially in Wales....

 passes to the west of the village, where there is a Stretton Wharf. The Stretton Aqueduct

Stretton Aqueduct

Stretton Aqueduct is a short cast iron canal aqueduct between Stretton and Brewood, and near to Belvide Reservoir, in south Staffordshire, England...

 carries the canal over the A5 road.

The civil parish is called Lapley, Stretton and Wheaton Aston

Lapley, Stretton and Wheaton Aston

Lapley, Stretton and Wheaton Aston is a civil parish in South Staffordshire, England.It contains, and is named for, the three villages of Lapley, Stretton and Wheaton Aston . The area is rural, with the Shropshire Union Canal passing through, and the A5 road forms the parish's southern border....

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