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Cheadle

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"Cheadle is about ten miles from Leek, Uttoxeter and Stone, thirteen miles E of Newcastle-under-Lyme, about three miles from Froghall and Oakamoor Stations on the Churnet Valley line, and four miles ENE of Blythe Bridge Station on the North Staffordshire Railway. It is a small but neat market town, seated in a pleasant vale, between the small River Tean and one of its tributary streams, surrounded by lofty hills, amongst which are several valuable collieries, from which the inhabitants are supplied with coal. Its parish contains about 6700 acres of land, divided into four quarters for the reparation of the public roads, Cheadle, Above-Park, Cheadle Grange, and Huntley. The soil belongs to a number of proprietors, the largest of whom are Sir JBY Buller, Bart, lord of the manor of Cheadle, John Bill, Esq, lord of Cheadle Grange, and James Beech, William Allen and John W Patten, Esqrs.
The hamlets of the parish, and their distances from the town, are Brookhouses, on the River Tean, three quarters of a mile SW, Cheadle Mill, half a mile S, Above-Park, two miles NW, Cheadle Grange, one and a half miles E, Huntley & Mobberley, one and a half miles S, and Oakamoor, on the River Churnet, two and a half miles E by N.
Messrs Patten & Co have extensive brass and copper works at Oakamoor, where they smelt ingots of copper and brass, and manufacture them into bars, sheets, rollers, wire, etc, as do Messrs Keys & Sons at the Brass & Copper Works at Brookhouses. The copper ore was formerly supplied from the mines at Mixon and Ecton, in this county, but is now mostly bought from Wales, Scotland, and other distant places, and the calamine from Derbyshire. Messrs J & N Philips & Co have a large tape works in Cheadle, which employs about 300 people.
Cheadle is the head of a rural deanery, a Polling and County Court district, a Poor Law Union, and a Police and Petty Sessional division. The town has been much improved during the last 20 years and has Gas Works, erected in 1841, a branch bank, and its market is held every Friday. It has six annual fairs and a wake held on the first Sunday after September 1st, and races on the following Monday & Tuesday.
Oakamoor, a picturesque village on the south western side of the Churnett Valley, is two and a half miles ENE of Cheadle. Oakamoor Railway Station is situated about midway between Cheadle and Alton Towers, and was designed by the celebrated architect, AW Pugin, in his rich mediaeval style. A small part of Oakamoor is in Kingsley and Alton parishes, and the rest in Cheadle parish"
[From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851]

 

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Bibliography

'History of Cheadle, in Staffordshire, and Neighbouring Places'
by Robert Plant
Published 1881, by W Clemesha, Leek.

'The Story of St Giles Parish Church, Cheadle, Staffordshire'
by Susan Masefield
Published 1970, by British Publishing Company, Gloucester.

'Around Cheadle'
by George Short
Published 1994, by Sutton, Stroud, Gloucestershire.

'The Cheadle Collieries and Their Railways'
by Allan Baker
Published 1986, by Trent Valley, Burton-on-Trent.

'The Cheadle Railway, a History of...'
by Allan Baker
Published 1979, by Oakwood Press, Blandford Forum.

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Cemeteries

The Memorial Inscriptions of the Nonconformist churches of Cheadle have been transcribed and published by the Birmingham & Midland SGH.

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Census

The population of Cheadle parish was as follows:
1801 -- 2750
1831 -- 4119
1841 -- 5730

A surname index of the 1851 census of Cheadle parish is included in the Staffordshire 1851 Census Surname index, Volume 6 & 7, Leek & Cheadle, published by the Birmingham & Midland SGH.

 

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Churches

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Church History

"The parish church, St Giles, was a very ancient structure, but was mostly rebuilt in 1837-8, and now has 1600 sittings. The rectory is in the patronage of Trinity College, Cambridge, and incumbency of the Rev. Robert Watt, MA.
St Chad's Church, at Freehay, about a mile S of the town, was built in 1842, for use of the inhabitants of Huntley, Teanford, Woodhead, and other southern parts of the town. The perpetual curacy is in the patronage of the rector, and incumbency of the Rev. George Mather, MA.
Oakamoor has a neat church, or Chapel of Ease, (Holy Trinity), erected in 1832, to serve the eastern parts of the parish. The perpetual curacy is in the patronage of the rector of Cheadle, and incumbency of the Rev. William Hendrickson.
The old Independant Chapel, at Cheadle, was erected in 1799, but is now used as a day and Sunday school, the congregation having built near it a handsome chapel in the Gothic style, opened in 1851. The Wesleyan chapel, in Chapel Street, was built in 1812, the New Connexion Methodists have a small chapel built in 1821, as do the Primitive Methodists, built in 1848.
The Roman Catholic Church of St Giles, at Cheadle, exceeds in magnificence all the other churches possessed by the Roman Catholics in England, and has been erected at the sole expense of the Earl of Shrewsbury. The church, from the designs of AW Pugin, was opened and consecrated on September 1st, 1846 and consists of a western tower, containing six bells and surmounted by a lofty spire, a nave of five compartments, a Lady Chapel, a Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and a superb chancel. Built in the Decorated style, it may be considered Pugin's masterpiece. It is the successor of a small old chapel and stands near the foot of the sloping hill on which the town is built. The priests are the Rev. W Gubbins and the Rev. Robert Simpson."

[From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851)

A view of St Giles Church (1).
A view of St Giles Church (2).
A view of St Giles Church (3).

A view of St Giles Roman Catholic Church (1).
A view of St Giles Roman Catholic Church (2).
A view of St Giles Roman Catholic Church (3).

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Church Records

Church of England Registers
The parish register of the parish church of St Giles commences in 1575. The original registers for the period 1575-1915 (Bapts), 1575-1937 (Mar) & 1575-1927 (Bur) (with some gaps and illegibility in early years) and Banns for the period 1814-1831 are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.
Bishops Transcripts, 1660-1856 (with gap 1819) are deposited at Lichfield Record Office.
A transcript of the parish register of St Giles for the period 1575-1657 (Bapts, Mar & Bur) has been published jointly in 1999, by the Staffordshire Parish Registers Society and the Birmingham & Midland SGH.

The registers of Oakamoor, Holy Trinity commenced in 1832. The original registers for the period 1833-1992 (Bur) are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office. Other registers are held by the incumbent. Bishops Transcripts for the period 1835-53 (Bapts) & 1835-55 (Bur) are deposited at Lichfield Record Office.

Nonconformist Registers
The registers of the Roman Catholic Church of St Giles, commence in 1828. The original registers are deposited at Birmingham Diocesan Archives.
The registers of Cheadle Independent Bethel Chapel, Well Street, Baptisms, 1800-1837,are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.
The registers of Cheadle Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Marriages, 1913-1965, are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.
The registers of Cheadle Methodist New Connection Chapel are included in the Longton Circuit Register, deposited at the Public Record Office.

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Description & Travel

A transcription of the section on Cheadle from A Topographical History of Staffordshire by William Pitt (1817)

Conservation Area Appraisals for Cheadle  - interesting accounts of the areas, with excellent historical detail, numerous photographs and maps

Conservation Area Appraisals for Oakamoor  - interesting accounts of the areas, with excellent historical detail, numerous photographs and maps

You can see pictures of Cheadle which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for Cheadle from the Topographical Dictionary of England (1859)

The transcription of the section for Cheadle from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

The transcription of the section for Cheadle from the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)

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History

The transcription of the section for the history of  Cheadle from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK008432 (Lat/Lon: 52.986138, -1.989532), Cheadle which are provided by:

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

Cheadle Union was formed following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and comprised the 15 parishes etc of Alton, Bradley, Cheadle, Cauldon, Caverswell, Checkley, Cheddleton, Consall, Cotton, Denstone, Dilhorne, Draycott, Farley, Ipstones, and Kinsley, extending over an area of 86 square miles and containing 18,190 inhabitants in 1851.
The workhouse was built for the parish in 1775 and enlarged for the union in 1836, with room for about 150 paupers.
Most of the surviving records are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office but staff registers, 1837-1921, and correspondence, 1834-1900, are deposited at the Public Record Office.