Yahoo News Village named in top 20 secret places to live - but with cheeky Stoke postcode catch
A village with a Stoke-on-Trent post code has been has made it onto a Sunday Times list of top UK 'secret' places to live in - but there's one major catch.
The Sunday Times looked at some of those villages which 'aren’t well known across the country but are always in demand among those in the know'. Some of the criteria used to choose the top 20 villages included amenities, appealing locations and great communities and house prices.
And pretty Barlaston was ranked in 18th position after winning praise for its 'sense of green space and excellent amenities'. Neil Morrisey's pub The Plume of Feathers also got a mention, as well as the Wedgwood connection.
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However, somewhat cheekily, the Sunday Times journalist added that the Stoke-on-Trent postcode might be 'off-putting to some'.
According to the 2021 census it has a population of 2,811 and is located just outside the city boundary. The average house price is £329,070.
The full Sunday Times write-up reads: "Once home to the Wedgwood factory and family, this leafy unsung village remains one of the best addresses in the Potteries. The Stoke postcode may be off-putting to some, but not enough to stop it having the most dramatic rural price growth in the West Midlands over the past ten years — up 65 per cent against a regional average of 46 per cent, according to figures from Hamptons estate agency."
“Good connections and a sense of green space and excellent amenities make it a popular choice with both downsizers and upsizers,” says Thomas Blake, an associate partner with Fisher German estate agency. Those amenities include a primary school (rated good by Ofsted), shop, popular golf course and cricket pitch and the Plume of Feathers, a gastropub owned by Neil Morrissey, where you can sample the actor’s own-brewed beers with a view of the bowling green.
"There are some grand, historic detached homes that might fetch up to £1 million, while you’ll need £400,000 plus to buy a newer, family-sized four-bedroom place."
Topping the Sunday Times list of ' best secret villages to live in' were Malpas in Cheshire, followed by Maenclochog in Pembrokeshire and Ebrington in Gloucestershire.
The full Sunday Times list of the 20 best secret villages to live in:
Malpas, Cheshire
Maenclochog, Pembrokeshire
Ebrington, Gloucestershire
The Hartings, West Sussex
Bishop Wilton, East Yorkshire
Broughton, Hampshire
Worstead, Norfolk
Hindon, Wiltshire
St Boswells, Borders
Nunhead, London SE15 and SE4
Blagdon, Somerset
Constantine, Cornwall
Longhoughton, Northumberland
Cilcain, Clywd
Gaydon, Warwickshire
Whiteleaf, Buckinghamshire
Kingsbarns, Fife
Barlaston, Staffordshire
Ockham, Surrey
East Hanningfield, Essex
To read what The Sunday Times had to say in full about Barlaston, visit here.
