From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cannock
Coordinates: 52.6871° N 2.0265° W
Population	65,022
OS grid reference	SJ983099
Parish	Cannock Wood
District	Cannock Chase
Shire county	Staffordshire
Region	West Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Walsall
Postcode district	WS11-WS12
Dial code	01543
Police	Staffordshire
Fire	Staffordshire
Ambulance	Staffordshire
UK Parliament	Cannock Chase
European Parliament	West Midlands
List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire

Cannock is a town in Staffordshire, England, just north of the West Midlands conurbation. It sits to the south of Cannock Chase, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is administered as part of Cannock Chase district.

Cannock lies on the M6 Toll, A34 and A5 roads, to the north of the Black Country (about 11 km) and south of Stafford (about 13 km). It is served by a railway station on the Chase Line. Its nearest towns and villages include Hednesford, Rugeley, Norton Canes, Great Wyrley, Cannock Wood and Burntwood.

Contents 1 History 2 Demographics 3 Notable people 4 Sports

Its name comes from the Celtic cnoc, meaning hill. It is first recorded in the unlikely form Chenet in the Domesday Book, probably due to the information being written down by a Norman scribe with less than perfect knowledge of English.

The town was very small until coal mining increased heavily during the mid to late nineteenth century. The area then continued to grow rapidly with many industries coming to the area because of its proximity to the Black Country and because of its coal reserves. After the Second World War the town's population again increased and has kept on increasing ever since as many new residential developments are built as commuting areas for Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Stafford.

In recent years it has become far more affluent and seen a population and housing increase. In keeping with the national trend, Cannock's housing is increasingly of a post-fordist era style, although various other periods of architecture are sited around the town.

A romantic description of Cannock might read, "a leafy middle-class suburb of the more cosmopolitan West Midlands". This would be due, in part, to its proximity and fairly decent transport links to the larger towns and cities surrounding it. The United Kingdom's second largest populated city, Birmingham, can be commuted to by train in around 40 minutes.

Famous people from Cannock include footballer Stan Collymore, Richard Gosling (Strongest Man in Britain), Mel Galley (former Whitesnake guitarist/vocalist), Glenn Hughes (former Deep Purple bassist/vocalist), Robert Lloyd (vocalist in The Prefects and The Nightingales and Paul Dadge (pictured iconically during London Bombings, 7 July 2005).

The American pop singer Tiffany now lives in the town, having married a local businessman.

Steve Bull, the veteren Wolverhampton Wanderers striker, lived in Cannock during his marriage but he was born in Tipton.

Cannock Hockey Club is one of the leading field hockey clubs in the country, and consistently supplies several England internationals.