[1] Little Haywood is situated on the side of a hill in the system of valleys drained by the rivers Trent and Sow.
The Abbey Church of Saint Mary used to cover a large amount of Little Haywood and it has been said that there are tunnels leading from the abbey to Lichfield Cathedral, 10 miles (16 km) away,[4] and to Shugborough Hall, a little over 1 mile (1.6 km) away in the opposite direction.
[5] Within the village, on land owned by Shugborough Hall, there is evidence of small-scale stone quarrying in the area known to locals as "the cliffs" or "the caves".
[8] The nearby village of Colwich is less than 1 mile (1.6 km) away and has a church and a primary school but no pub or general store, and so amenities are often shared.
In order to keep the workers from being idle, Talbot would make work for them in the form of features whose purpose might best be described as decorative.
[9] Tolkien stayed with his wife in Cottage 1, Gipsy Green, on the Teddesley Park Estate, near the village during the winter of 1916, whilst recuperating from trench fever.
[11] On 2 January 2009, a Piper Cherokee single engine light aircraft came down at Colwich junction, killing the three people on board.