From early times the village and its people seem to have enjoyed great affection from the Lords of the Manor, the Rollestons and later the Mosleys. The Spread Eagle Hotel, just by the main bridge, perpetuates the memory of the Mosley family, who came here in 1614, and whose heraldic arms incorporate a spread eagle as the main device. The eagle appears again on the bridge over the Alder Brook and by kind permission of Lady Diana Mosley has been used in a Badge of Office for the Chairman of the Parish Council.

In 1848 the North Staffordshire Railway opened their connection to Burton via Tutbury and Marston Junction to gain access to the growing brewery trade, but it was not until 1894 that the village station opened to passenger traffic. The first Chairman of the Railway Company was Sir Tonman Mosley, later Lord Anslow, and he decreed that the railway should not pass within one mile of Rolleston Hall, hence the location of the former station at what is now the entrance to the Jinny Nature Trail, named after the Tutbury Jinny Train. The station was given the name of Rolleston on Dove to distinguish it from Rolleston in Nottinghamshire where a station already existed.

The railway provided a much needed means of transport to those villagers who travelled to Burton for their livelihood or their shopping. Footpaths gave access to the station from Beacon Road and Craythorne Road and the principal access Meadow Lane, was renamed Station Road. The newly opened station became a catalyst for a Victorian/Edwardian building programme when houses were built adjacent to the station in Dovecliff Road, South Hill and Station Road, establishing a second site of habitation separated by fields from the old village which became officially known as Rolleston on Dove. Meanwhile Rolleston itself remained largely unchanged with relatively few new properties being built.

Following the 1914/18 War, Rolleston was still a small community and its village farms were still active. However, the sale of the Mosley estate in the mid 1920's and the demolition of the larger part of Rolleston Hall released new land for building, but also marked the end of an era.

Some of the trees planted as part of the Estate however have survived and the Wellingtonias by the Water Tower are reputed to be the furthest identifiable skyline objects from Thorpe Cloud in Dovedale.

St. Mary's Parish Church

 The spire of St. Mary's Parish Church is a local landmark and though the present church building dates from the 13th century, there are records of a church on the same site between AD 900 and AD 1000. The present church was built during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272).

 There are some interesting features in the church and churchyard. One is the alabaster ledger stone memorial to John Rolleston (who died in 1485) and his wife Margaret. The ancient Anglican Cross standing at the foot of the tower was placed there by Sir Oswald Mosley in June, 1897. At one end of the churchyard is what used to be 'The Rolleston Free Grammar School'. In 1999 Ian Whitehead was appointed Rector to replace the Reverend Malcolm Birt who had charge of St Mary's, Rolleston since the early 1970's.

New Developments

The 1930's saw housing development along Beacon Road and Knowles Hill and to a lesser extent on Anslow Lane. It was after the Second World War that the village trebled in population beginning with the building of a council estate in Elizabeth Avenue, followed by the Walford Road and The Lawns/Hall Road estates in the 1950's and 1960's. Smaller developments followed. The new developments finally joined the two halves of the village together creating one and a half miles of continuous housing stretching from Dovecliff Road to Hall Road. The combined villages then took the name Rolleston on Dove which now has a population in excess of 3,500.

Community spirit in the village is maintained through a large number of organisations, including the Anglican and Methodist Churches, the Civic Trust, two Women's Institutes, The British Legion, a Cricket Club, Golf Club, Football Club, Music Circle and Choral Society, an Allotments Society, Scouts and Guides, and the Rolleston Club which has its own bowling green.

College Campus

The closure of the Forest of Needwood High School in 1985 (the site was later adopted by Burton College for a Rolleston Campus), was a major loss to the village community not only in educational terms but also in its recreational value. The large hall and other adjacent rooms were the home of the largest Youth Club in the County, the Rolleston Festival of Music and the Arts and a thriving Evening Institute for adult education.

Despite strong protests, in early 2002 ESBC Planning Applications Committee gave permission for Westbury Homes to build housing on the Burton College Rolleston Campus.

The Jinny Nature Trail

The Jinny Nature trail, which follows the track of the former railway, has an inviting entrance off Station Road, with a simple stile and discreet but effective signposting. There is a good balance between the 'wild' and 'managed' aspects of the trail. Remnants of Victorian railway brickwork adds interest to the former station area and to the junction with the footpath which ruins behind Walford Road.

The embankments of the old railway cutting provide an invaluable habitat for wildlife with a good mixture of deciduous trees, birch scrub, hawthorn, brambles and wild roses. Grazing by rabbits maintains clear areas where wild flowers can flourish, this attracts a very wide variety of birds and butterflies. The Rolleston section of the Jinny Trail is one of the sites used for a national butterfly mapping scheme.

North from the Jinnie Trail

An article that appeared in the Spring 2006 issue of the Rollestonian can be read here.