Biddulph in 1868

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer (1868)]

"BIDDULPH, (or Biddle), a parish in the north division of the hundred of Pirehill, in the county of Stafford, 3 miles to the S. of Congleton, its post town. It lies on the confines of Cheshire, not far from the lofty hill called Mow Cop. The inhabitants are employed in the ironworks, the collieries, and the cotton and earthenware factories. Near the village is Biddulph Moor, inhabited by a curious set of people who live after the manner of gipsies.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield, value £122, in the patronage of J. Bateman, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. Lawrence. The Wesleyans have a chapel on the moor. The charitable endowments of the parish, including about £18 a-year to a school, amount to £22. Near an artificial cave lined with large unhewn stones, are the curious remains of antiquity called the Bride Stones. They stand upright, and are eight in number, two being within a semicircle formed by the other six. The manor of Biddulph was for many generations held by the family of that name, whose seat was Biddulph Hall, about a mile from the village.

An 1868 Gazetteer description of the following places in Biddulph is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Bradley Green
• Knypersley
• Overton

 

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]