Kingsmead Marsh

The marsh is a remaining part of a large area of marshland, to the north and east of the later town; this and the River Sow, to the west, made the location defensible. Stafford is said to have been founded about AD 700 by Beorhthelm (or Bertelin), a Mercian prince, who established a hermitage here. The Burh of Stafford was subsequently established in AD 913.^[1][2]

In the medieval period there was a mill, owned by the king, for which a mill pond, known as King's Pool, was created. The site later returned to marsh, and, known as Kingsmead, was probably used more recently for summer grazing of livestock.^[1]

The site was designated a local nature reserve (LNR) in December 2003. It supports a variety of flora and fauna, and there are plants not found locally such as purple loosestrife and brown sedge. The site is managed in order to protect and improve it; this includes coppicing of willow scrub which is encroaching from the edge of the site.^[1]