Rykneld Street, a
Roman road, ran north-east through what later became the parish of Burton, linking settlements at
Letocetum (
Wall), near Lichfield and
Derventio (Little Chester) near Derby. Between 666 and 669
Wilfrid, the pro-Roman bishop of York, exercised episcopal functions in
Mercia, whose Christian king,
Wulfhere, gave him land in various places, on which he established
monasteries. Burton was almost certainly one of the sites: the name Andresey given to an island in the river Trent near the parish church means "Andrew's isle" and refers to a church there dedicated to
St Andrew. It is likely that any surviving religious house would have been destroyed during the
Danish incursion into the area in 874. Place names indicate Scandinavian influence, and several personal names of Scandinavian origin were still used in the area in the early 12th century. on a new site on the west bank of the Trent at Burton by
Wulfric Spott, a
thegn. He is known to have been buried in the abbey
cloister in 1010, alongside his wife.
Burton Abbey was mentioned in the
Domesday Book of 1086, where it was said to control lands in
Appleby Magna in
Leicestershire, and
Mickleover,
Winshill,
Stapenhill,
Coton in the Elms,
Ca(u)ldwell (in Stapenhill Parish) and
Ticknall, all then in Derbyshire. The monastery was the most important in Staffordshire and by the 1530s had the highest revenue. It is known that there were frequent Royal visits to the abbey, including those by
William I,
Henry II and
Edward I. In the 12th and 13th centuries, streets were laid out off the west side of High Street, the earliest being New Street, which stretched from the abbey gates towards the line of
Ryknild Street. Horninglow Street at the north end of High Street was part of a major east–west route using the bridge over the river. A royal charter was granted on 12 April 1200 by
King John to the Abbot to hold a market in Burton every Thursday. This charter was later renewed by
King Henry III and
King Edward IV. There were four annual fairs for trade in horses, cattle and produce: on
Candlemas Day, 5 April,
Holy Thursday, and 29 October (the feast of St Modwen) although as in other British towns this practice has died out. Burton bridge, an important crossing point While Burton's great bridge over the Trent was in poor repair by the early 16th century, it served as "a comen passage to and fro many countries to the grett releff and comfort of travellyng people", according to the
abbot. The bridge was the site of two battles,
first in 1322 when
Edward II defeated the rebel
Earl of Lancaster and
also in 1643 when the
Royalists captured the town during the
First English Civil War. , who was granted the lands at
Burton Abbey in 1546 by
Henry VIII and expanded the manor house Under
Henry VIII the abbey was
dissolved in 1539, to be refounded in 1541 as a
collegiate church for a dean (who had been the last abbot) and four
prebendaries. It was again dissolved in 1545 and granted to
Sir William Paget. Paget began planning to expand the
manor house within the abbey precincts, known to have existed since at least 1514, into a grand mansion. To provide the materials for this project, the old abbey buildings were to be cannibalised. There were major alterations to the house over the next three centuries. Sir William died in 1563. In 1585 it was suggested that
Mary, Queen of Scots might stay at Burton while
Tutbury Castle was cleaned, but it was said that it was "a ruinous house, the buildings scattered and adjoining a very poor town, full of bad neighbours". The Paget family was implicated in
Catholic plots against
Queen Elizabeth I, the manor house along with most of the family estates were confiscated, with the manor house leased to Richard Almond in 1612. Parts of the abbey church may have been retained for
parish use, however these were demolished and replaced by a new church in 1719–1726. Some fragments remain of the
chapter house nearby, but little of the rest remains. Two buildings were converted to residential use—a part known as the manor house and the former
infirmary. The infirmary became known as The Abbey and is now an inn.
Canals and breweries The Paget family's lands and title were restored to them by
James I in 1604 and they owned considerable estates around Burton for over 150 years. In 1699,
William Lord Paget obtained an
Act of Parliament to extend navigation on the
River Trent from
Nottingham up to Burton, but nothing was immediately done. In 1711 Lord Paget leased his rights to
George Hayne, who in 1712 opened the River Trent Navigation and constructed a wharf and other buildings in the precinct of the old abbey. This led to the development of Burton as the major town for
brewing and exporting
beer, as it allowed Burton beer to be shipped to
Hull, and on to the
Baltic Sea and
Prussia, as well as to
London, where it was being sold in 1712. A number of breweries opened in the second half of the 18th century. The
Napoleonic blockade badly affected overseas trade, leading to some consolidation and a redirection of the trade to London and
Lancashire via canals. When Burton brewers succeeded in replicating the
pale ale produced in London, the advantage of the water's qualities, in a process named
Burtonisation allowed the development of the trade of Burton
India Pale Ale (an ale specially brewed to keep during the long sea voyage to
India). New rail links to
Liverpool enabled brewers to export their beer throughout the
British Empire. Burton came to dominate the brewing trade, and at its height one quarter of all beer sold in Britain was produced here. In the second half of the 19th century, there was a growth in native breweries, supplemented by outside brewing companies moving into the town, so that over 30 breweries were recorded in 1880. However at the beginning of the 20th century there was a slump in beer sales, causing many breweries to fail; the industry suffered from the
Liberal government's anti-drinking attitudes. This time no new markets were found and so the number of breweries shrank by closure and consolidation from 20 in 1900 to 8 in 1928. After further mergers and buy-outs, just three main breweries remained by 1980:
Bass,
Ind Coope and
Marston's. Burton was home to the Peel family, who played a significant role in the
Industrial Revolution. The family home is still visible in the town as Peel House on Lichfield Street. Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II visited the town on 3 July 2002 during
her Golden Jubilee celebrations. ==Governance==