The local story is that the town was named after the pile of stones taken from the River Trent raised on the graves of the two princes, Ruffin and Wulfad, killed in AD 665 by their father, King Wulfhere of Mercia, because of their conversion to Christianity.

[4] A Keuper sandstone outcrop on the north side of Stone, long quarried for building materials, may be the topographical feature from which the place was named.

To the northwest of Stone lies one of their hill forts which overlooks the Trent and perhaps the salt production in the region.

The early history of Stone is unclear and clouded by the 12th century medieval romance concerning the murder of the Saxon princes Wulfad and Rufin by their father Wulfhere of Mercia who reputedly had his base near Darleston (Wulfherecester).

The murder of Wulfad in the 7th century and his subsequent entombment under a cairn of stones is the traditional story (described as 'historically valueless' by Thacker[who?]

[citation needed] The church built over the stones marking the graves of Wulfad and Rufin in 670 lasted until the 9th century before being destroyed by invading Danes.

It was reserved as an area of common land for the inhabitants of the town when the previous strip-farmed fields were enclosed by the Stone Inclosure Act 1798 (38 Geo.

The purpose of the camp was to bring the Duke's army down from the freezing Staffordshire Moorlands and Peak District, where they had been seeking to stop an advance on London by a force of 6,000 Jacobite rebels.

[10] Stone stands in the valley of the River Trent, and was an important stopping-off point for stagecoaches on one of the roads turnpiked in the 18th century.

The River Trent, which runs through the town, had been used for cargo-carrying vessels since Roman times but further inland smaller boats could only be used.

It was backed by Josiah Wedgwood who saw that it offered an efficient way to bring raw materials to the potteries and to transport finished wares to his customers.

Due to the quality of the local water beneath Stone two brewers were located here carrying on the Augustinian monks' tradition of beer making.

Although the brewing industry in Stone ceased following the closure of Joules and Bents following an aggressive takeover from the nearby Burton upon Trent brewers in the 1960s and 1970s, in recent years it has begun anew with the opening of the Lymestone Brewery in 2008.

More recently a second microbrewery, trading under the name Joules, dropping the 'John' due to trademark reasons, has begun brewing in Market Drayton, Shropshire.

Many canal side sites have in recent times been taken over for modern day use including The Moorings, a development of apartments based on the old Stubbs warehouse.

This restored docks complex with its workshops, by Yard Lock, continues to be used for the maintenance of pleasure craft and historic boats.

In 2010 a new marina opened just south of the town, below Aston Lock, with moorings for pleasure craft, a farm shop and a café.

Stone is the key UK manufacturing site for the Quickfit laboratory glassware system which finds widespread use in many school, college and university science departments.

The Stone Food and Drink Festival takes place the first weekend in October[16] and brings together the very best in local produce and cooking talent.

Television news is covered by BBC Midlands Today and ITV Central, both of which come from Birmingham.

This runs south to London Euston via Stafford and the Trent Valley line, and north to Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent.

[18] Passenger numbers have risen 152 per cent between 2008 and June 2012 with three more services per day are being planned to cope with demand.

Figures for 2019/20 are 184,000 passengers[19] Stone's main bus service is the First Potteries' route 101[20] which runs north to Tittensor, Trentham, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent and south to Stafford.

In recent times cycling north from the town along the canal towpath towards Barlaston Trentham and Stoke-on-Trent is much improved.

Stone has many buildings of interest including the Grade II listed Hayes House and the Catholic chapel of St Anne.