page_title: Staffordshire
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Staffordshire / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Mow Cop Castle at sunset
context_page_description: Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, West Midlands and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west.
  The largest settlement in Staffordshire is Stoke-on-Trent, which is administered as an independent unitary authority, separately from the rest of the county. Lichfield, a smaller settlement, is a cathedral city. Other major settlements include Stafford, Burton upon Trent, Cannock, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Rugeley, Leek, and Tamworth.
  Smaller towns include Stone, Cheadle, Uttoxeter, Burntwood/Chasetown, Eccleshall, Biddulph, Penkridge and the large villages of Wombourne, Kinver, Tutbury, Alrewas, Barton-under-Needwood, Stretton and Abbots Bromley. Cannock Chase AONB is within the county as well as parts of the National Forest and the Peak District national park.
  Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Bromwich and Smethwick are within the historic county boundaries of Staffordshire, but since 1974 have been part of the West Midlands county.
context_section_description: In the north and in the south, the county is hilly, with wild moorlands and uplands of the Peak District in the far north, and Cannock Chase an area of natural beauty in the south. In the middle regions, the landscape is low and undulating. Throughout the entire county there are vast and important coalfields. In the southern part, there are also rich iron ore deposits. The largest river is the Trent. The soil is chiefly clay and agriculture was not highly developed until the mechanisation of farms.
  Staffordshire is home to the highest village in Britain, Flash. The village, in the Staffordshire Moorlands, stands at 1519 ft (463 m) above sea level. This record was confirmed in 2007 by the Ordnance Survey after Wanlockhead in Scotland also claimed the record. The BBC's The One Show investigated the case in a bid to settle the argument and Flash was confirmed as the higher of the two. The highest point in Staffordshire is Cheeks Point
caption: Mow Cop Castle on the Staffordshire Moorlands
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