Audley, Staffordshire

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For other uses, see Audley.

Audley
Audley's Parish Church of St James
Audley shown within Staffordshire
Population	5770
OS grid reference	SJ796509
District	Newcastle-under-Lyme
Shire county	Staffordshire
Region	West Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	STOKE-ON-TRENT
Postcode district	ST7
Dialling code	01782
Police	Staffordshire
Fire	Staffordshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
European Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Newcastle-under-Lyme
List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire

Coordinates: 53°03′20″N 2°18′16″W / 53.0555, -2.3045

Audley is a rural village approximately four miles north west of the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is the centre of Audley Rural parish.

The first mention of Audley is in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was called Aldidelege, when the lands were held by a Saxon called Gamel. At this time, the area was very sparsely populated, and because of its distance from the major towns of Stafford and Chester there was little outside contact. There was a medieval castle at Audley Castle Hill during the late 13th century; only a low earthwork remains of the former motte. Excavations have yielded some stonework. ^[1]

James Audley, a founding member of the order of the Garter, was the illegitimate son of Thomas Audley, whose commemorative brass is in St James Church in Audley. Thomas was the son of the second Lord Audley, James.

Audley is located on the B5500, the former A52 road. Just south of the A500, the village is approximately five minutes from the M6 motorway. The village was served by a railway station which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on June 28, 1880.