Leek and Lowe History

LEEK AND LOWE
Description and History from 1868 Gazetteer

LEEK, a parish and market town in the N. division of the hundred of Totmonslow, county Stafford, 10 miles S.W. of Buxton, and 13½ S.E. of Macclesfield. The Churnet Valley section of the North Staffordshire railway has a station at Leek, and a branch line from Leek to Stoke is now in the course of construction. There is also a branch of the Trent and Mersey canal to Leek.

The town, which is situated on an eminence above the river Churnet, contains several well-built and spacious streets, which are well paved and lighted with gas. It contains a townhall, erected in 1806 at the cost of £900, a literary and mechanics' institute, established in 1837, a savings-bank, recently erected, a penny bank, self supporting dispensary, a police station, in Mill-street, and several friendly and other societies.

The population in 1851 was 8,877, which had increased in 1861 to 10,045; in the same period the number of inhabited houses had risen from 1,759 to 2,219, showing a considerable increase in the wealth and prosperity of the town. The principal source of employment in the town is the silk manufacture in its several branches, such as sewing silk, twist, buttons, ribbons, handkerchiefs, shawls, sarcenet, mohair galloons, and broad silk. Several large establishments for twisting and doubling silk have likewise been recently erected.

A county court is held in the town monthly, and petty sessions at the court-house, West-street, every alternate Wednesday. The court-leet for the town is held in October, when the town officers for regulating the markets, &c., are appointed. Leek is the head of a Poor-law Union embracing 19 parishes and townships. The union workhouse is situated on the London road. There are gasworks near Leek railway station, and waterworks on the Buxton road.

From the churchyard, where stands a dilapidated ancient cross, is an extensive view towards the hills in the N. and W.; one of which, called the "Cloud," is celebrated for a remarkable phenomenon connected with the summer solstice, at which time the sun, after sinking below the summit of the mountain, appears again on the northern side before finally setting, presenting the appearance of a double sunset on the same evening. At a short distance from the town are the remains of a Cistercian abbey, which at the time of the Dissolution had a revenue of £243 3s. 6d.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield, value £170. The church of St. Edward the Confessor is an ancient Gothic edifice with a square tower surmounted by eight pinnacles, and containing a clock and eight bells.

In addition to the parish church there are five district churches viz: St. Luke's, erected in the town in 1846, and four churches in other parts of the parish; Endon, or Endover, Meerbrook, Onecote-cum-Bradnop, and Rushton; the livings of which are all perpetual curacies, varying in value from £170 to £120. There is also a school church at Compton, where service is regularly performed by a curate of St. Luke's church.

The Wesleyans have three places of worship, and the Independents, Primitive Methodists, Methodists' New Connexion, and Roman Catholics have each one. The grammar school was founded by the Earl of Macclesfield in 1723. There are besides National schools in connection with the parish church and the district church of St. Luke's, also infant schools belonging to the Independents and Wesleyans, and a Roman Catholic school for both sexes.

The parochial charities produce about £200 per annum, exclusive of the endowment of the almshouses founded in 1676 by Elizabeth Ash for eight widows, who receive a weekly allowance of 3s. 4d., and a bequest by John Rothwell of £10 yearly, to pay six poor persons of Leek 7d. each weekly, and the remainder to the vicar for four sermons yearly. This last, with several other minor charities, was commuted for 18 acres of land, set apart for this purpose at the enclosure of the parish in 1805.

The principal residences in the vicinity are Highfield, Ashcombe Park, Barford Hall, Ashenhurst, Ballhaye, Hare Gate, and Westwood Hall. The Earl of Macclesfield is lord of the manor. Roman and British antiquities have been found here.

Wednesday and Saturday are market days, the latter chiefly for butchers' meat and vegetables. A cattle market is held every alternate Wednesday from 28th July to Christmas. There are nine fairs held in the course of the year, chiefly for cattle, and three cheese fairs. A statute fair for hiring servants is also held on the 13th November, and the feast on the Sunday next to 18th October. The principal pleasure fair is held on the 18th May.

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