Rushton Spencer in 1868

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

"RUSHTON JAMES and RUSHTON SPENCER, townships in the parish of Leek, N. division of Totmonslow hundred, county Stafford, 5 miles N.W. of Leek, its post town, and 7 from Macclesfield by road, or 8½ by the North Staffordshire railway, on which it is a station. The villages, which are of small extent, are situated near the Leek and Macclesfield turnpike road, and at a short distance from the Churnet Valley railway station. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture, and in the spinning of cotton.

The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Lichfield, value £148, in the patronage of the Vicar of Leek. The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, is of great antiquity, and contains one bell. It is supposed to have been formed prior to Leek, and went by the name of "the chapel in the wilderness." There are various small charities; also a free school for both sexes. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. The manor of Rushton Spencer is in the possession of the freeholders, and that of Rushton James in that of Crawford Antrobus, Esq."

"HEATON, a township in the parish of Leek, N. division of the hundred of Totmonslow, county Stafford, 4½ miles N.W. of Leek, its post town. It is situated on the river Dane, which divides it from the county of Chester. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in cotton-spinning and the manufacture of grindstones. The charities produce about £200 per annum. Swithamley Hall, formerly the seat of the Traffords, is the principal residence."

 

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