Prehistoric finds suggest scattered settlements in the area, whilst 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south-west of the town lies an Iron Age hill fort at Berry Ring.

[3] Stafford has been identified as the island of Bethney, or Bethnei where St Bertelin is said to have founded a hermitage about AD 700, before moving to a more remote area.

Two years later another rebellion, led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, ended in Edwin's assassination and distribution of his lands among the followers of William the Conqueror, who granted Robert de Tonei (later known as Robert de Stafford) the manor of Bradley and one third of the king's rents in Stafford.

[10] A wooden castle had been built in 1070 much closer to the town centre, however this had fallen into ruin by the recording of the Doomsday Book and its precise location remains unknown.

[4] In 1658 Stafford elected John Bradshaw, who had been judge at the trial of King Charles I, to represent the town in Parliament.

[18] In the late 19th century, Stafford's economy began to diversify into engineering, when the locomotive manufacturer W. G. Bagnall opened a large works in the town in 1875.

Stafford Castle was built by the Normans on the nearby hilltop to the west in about 1090, replacing the post-Conquest fort in the town.

Weston Hall stands 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Stafford, in the Trent valley with a large park and was once part of the Chartley estate.

It is thought that the main part of the hall was built about 1550 as a small dower house, but the architectural evidence suggests it is Jacobean.

The annual Shakespeare Festival at Stafford Castle has attracted many notable people, including Frank Sidebottom and Ann Widdecombe.

Recent developments on Riverside allowed for an expansion of the town, notably with a new Odeon cinema to replace the ageing one at the end of the high street.

He had several government contracts through the town's Member of Parliament (MP), the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

At the end of 2015, the works were acquired by General Electric consolidating Stafford as the Centre of Excellence for HVDC, AC Substations and Converter Transformers.

The business relocated to new premises on an industrial park in the north of the town and the Doxey Road factory was demolished in 2019.

The only block of Stafford University left in use is the School of Health in Blackheath Lane, which teaches medical nursing.

It rebranded and changed its name to the Stafford Building Society on 1 March 2024 and has its head office in the town centre.

Avanti West Coast services to London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street operate hourly in each direction seven days a week.

The A34 runs through the town centre and links with Stone and Stoke-on-Trent to the north and to the West Midlands conurbation to the south including Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Select Bus Services operate a number of local routes to the county town's suburbs, while Arriva Midlands runs one to Telford.

National Express West Midlands had operated service 54 between Wolverhampton and Stafford until April 2020, when it was cut short and later withdrawn.

Select Bus offer a replacement 877/878 to Wolverhampton calling at rural villages Bradley, Wheaton Aston, Brewood and Coven.

[41] Following local government reorganisation in 1974, a modern Civic Centre was built for the enlarged Stafford Borough Council in Riverside and completed in 1978.

[48] The town receives primary health care from the South Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

For many years, the site employed civilians and military personnel, but it was handed over by the Royal Air Force under the current policy of defence strategy and streamlining.

The University retains a significant presence at its Blackheath Lane campus to cater for Health related courses, such as Nursing and Paramedics.

It appears to have played originally at the Lammascotes, before being offered a field at the Hough (Lichfield Road/GEC site) in 1899, which belonged to the grammar school.

It currently owns 11 acres (4 ha) at Riverway and hosts numerous sports: two cricket pitches in summer and football, mini-football, rugby and hockey facilities in winter.

In December 2018, a parkrun (free weekly timed 5k run/walk) was launched in Stafford on the Isabel Trail, a public foot/cycle path that follows part of the former course of the Stafford–Uttoxeter railway.

The run/walk takes place on Saturday mornings at 09:00am, starting at the southern end of the Isabel Trail by Sainsbury's supermarket.

[77][78][79][80] Notable people from Stafford include the 17th-century author of The Compleat Angler, Izaak Walton,[81] whose cottage at nearby Shallowford is now an angling museum, and the 18th-century playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan,[82] who was once the local MP.