Cheadle in 1872

CHEADLE, a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district in Stafford. The town stands in a valley, environed by high hills, near the river Tean and the Uttoxeter canal, 3 miles W by S of Oakamoor railway station, and 9 ESE of Stoke-upon-Trent. It has a post-office under Stafford, a banking-office, three chief inns, a parish church, four dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic church, a Free school, a national school, and a workhouse; and is a seat of petty sessions, and a polling-place. The parish church was built in 1837; is in the decorated English style; and has a fine stained glass eastern window. The Roman Catholic church was built in 1843-6, by the Earl of Shrewsbury, after designs by Pugin, at a cost of about £60,000; is in the pointed style; and consists of nave, aisles, and chapels, with a fine western tower and spire, 200 feet high.

Markets are held on Fridays; and fairs on 7 Jan., 25 March, Holy Thursday, 4 July, 21 Aug., and 18 Oct. Tape-making, malting, rope-making, and leather-dressing, are carried on. Pop., 3,191. Houses, 701. The parish includes also the hamlets of Freehay, Cheadle-Grange, Cheadle-Mill, Brookistone, Huntley, and part of Oakamoor. Acres, 6,701. Real property, £18,696; of which £1,872 are in mines. Pop., 4,803. Houses, 1,034. The property is much subdivided. Coal and iron-stone abound. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £438. Patron, Trinity College, Cambridge. The chapelries of Freehay and Oakamoor are separate benefices. Charities, £63. The sub-district contains also part of Checkley parish. Acres, 12,344. Pop. 7,107, Houses, 1,541.

The district comprehends also the sub-district of Alton, containing tbe parishes of Alton, Cauldon, and Bradley-in-the-moors; the sub-district of Ipstones, containing the parishes of Ipstones, Kingsley, Cheddleton, and part of Checkley; and the sub-district of Dilhorne, containing the parishes of Dilhorne, Caverswall, and Draycott-in- the-moors. Acres, 55,146. Poor-rates, £5,275. Pop. in 1841, 17,859; in 1861, 20,988. Houses, 4,390. Marriages, 146; births, 657, of which 54 were illegitimate; deaths, 353, of which 100 were at ages under 3 years, and 15 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1,379; births, 6,682; deaths, 4,065.

The places of worship in 1851 were 20 of the Church of England, with 7,627 sittings; 5 of Independents, with 797 sittings; 14 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 2,030 sittings; 2 of New Connexion Methodists, with 381 sittings; 12 of Primitive Methodists, with 1,382 sittings; and 4 of Roman Catholics, with 1,670 sittings. The schools were 30 public day schools, with 2,723 scholars; 26 private day schools, with 460 scholars; 40 Sunday schools, with 3,239 scholars; and 3 evening schools for adults, with 73 scholars. 

An 1872 Gazetteer description of the following places in Cheadle is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Brookistone
• Freehay
• Huntley
• Oakamoor

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]