Bisected by the old Roman road known as Watling Street, now the A5, Hatherton extends from Shoal Hill in the northeast to Four Ashes in the southwest.

 

The village of Hatherton lies on the southern slope of Shoal Hill, which was for many years a popular resort for local people, and for tourists from Cannock and the Black Country. Hatherton was amongst the lands seized by William Wallhouse during the reign of James I. His descendant, Moreton Wallhouse, rebuilt Hatherton Hall in stone in 1817, adopting the Gothic style.

 

The church of St Saviour was built in 1864, redecorated twice, in 1876 and 1887, and renovated in 1923, works that included the affixing of a memorial to the fallen of the Great War to an outside wall.

 

Situated directly on the A5 is the small village of Four Crosses, whose most prominent feature is its eponymous inn, which has served the needs of travellers for over 350 years.

 

It was formerly a staging post for coaches taking travellers between London, Holyhead and Ireland. On one occasion the Irish satirist Dean Swift (1667-1745) stayed there, and vented his displeasure at the poor standard of accommodation afforded, and at the shrewish tongue of the landlord’s wife, by scratching the following couplet on a window pane with his diamond ring:

 

 

Carved on one of the window lintels there is also the following monition:

 

 

which translates as:

 

 

The Four Crosses Inn was restored in 1926 and again in 2004.

 

Also included in Hatherton Parish is the village of Calf Heath, which has a very attractive non-conformist chapel. Here the Hatherton Branch of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal formerly left the main line and passed northeast to Four Crosses, terminating at Catsbridge Lane. There was a toll collection point at Calf Heath.

 

 

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