Abbots Bromley Horn Dance date of their growth-dropping. It is, therefore, just as likely that reindeer did survive somewhere in England at that period. The antlers are mounted on small heads carved from wood. Since 1981, the horns are legally the property of Abbots Bromley Parish Council. For 364 days a year, they are on display in St Nicholas Church. They were once kept in the main Village Hall, which is now the Goat's Head Inn, beside the Butter Cross. An alternative set of antlers (red deer) are kept to use when the dancers are asked, as they frequently are, to perform outside the
Abbots Bromley School. Despite nineteenth century efforts to connect the village to the expanding railway network the North Staffordshire Railway received an act of parliament to build a branch line from Stowe-by-Chartley which was never taken advantage of. Abbots Bromley remained comparatively isolated and in decline, losing its market, fairs and economic status. By the 1950s the village faced economic decay and an ageing population. It was also comparatively late in receiving mains electricity and gas services. More recently it has become a dormitory settlement for surrounding urban areas such as the West Midlands conurbation and Derby. There has been some new