LEEKFRITH
Leekfrith was formerly a township in Leek
parish and later a civil parish 7,542 a. (3,052 ha.)
in area, including a detached portion of c. 10 a.
to the east on the north side of Blackshaw
moor. (fn. 65) It is pasture, with a village called Meerbrook in the centre beside the Meer brook.
Dieulacres abbey, founded in 1214, stood near
the river Churnet in the south part of the
township, and its granges were among the earliest settlements in what was an area of wooded
countryside; the 'frith' element of the township's
name means a wood. (fn. 66) The short northern
boundary with Cheshire follows the river Dane.
On the east the boundary with Quarnford and
Heathylee, in Alstonefield, follows a tributary of
the Dane, Black brook, so called by the mid 13th
century, (fn. 67) and Back brook, which flows south to
the Churnet. (fn. 68) The Churnet itself forms the
southern boundary with Tittesworth and with
Leek and Lowe. The area was increased to 7,551 a.
by the transfer under the Divided Parishes Act,
1882, of a detached portion of Tittesworth on
Blackshaw moor. (fn. 69) In 1894 the south-western
corner of the the township, 127 a. at Abbey
Green and Bridge End, was added to Leek urban
district, and a detached portion of Leek and
Lowe north-west of Bridge End was transferred
to Leekfrith. As a result Leekfrith civil parish
covered 7,534 a. (fn. 70) In 1934 Leekfrith was reduced
to its present 7,016 a. (2,839 ha.) by the transfer
of the detached portion of Leekfrith on Blackshaw moor to Heathylee civil parish and 508 a.
in the south-west of Leekfrith to Leek urban
district. (fn. 71) This article deals with the former
township and the added parts of Leek and Lowe
and of Tittesworth.
The township is dominated on the north-east
by the Roaches and Hen Cloud, outcrops of
Millstone Grit. The Roaches, rising to 1,658 ft.
(505 m.), were so called by 1358 and derive their
name from the French roche, meaning a rock or
a cliff. (fn. 72) Hen Cloud to the south rises to 1,350
ft. (410 m.). Its name means a steep rock (henge
clud) in Old English. (fn. 73) Gun, a hill on the west
side of the township, rises to 1,263 ft. (385 m.).
The valley between the Roaches and Gun is
drained by Meer brook, so called c. 1220. (fn. 74) Fed
by Turner's pool, recorded in 1535, (fn. 75) the brook
originally flowed into the Churnet, but since the
mid 19th century it has flowed into Tittesworth
reservoir. The reservoir originally lay mostly in
Tittesworth, but it was extended c. 1960 and
now lies mostly in Leekfrith. (fn. 76) At Meerbrook
village the land lies at 682 ft. (207 m.), falling to
519 ft. (158 m.) at Abbey Green to the southwest. The Millstone Grit is overlain by Boulder
Clay in the Meer brook valley and on Blackshaw
moor, and the soil is mostly fine loam, with a
mixture of clay, loam, and peat on Gun. (fn. 77)
LEEKFRITH 1992
In 1666 Leekfrith had 103 people assessed for
hearth tax. (fn. 78) In 1751 there were 313 people aged
over 16 in the township. (fn. 79) The population in
1801 was 697, rising to 806 by 1821, 873 by 1831,
and 926 by 1841. It was 877 in 1851, 771 in 1871,
and 792 in 1891. After the 1894 boundary
changes it was 716 in 1901. In 1911 it was 614,
falling to 598 by 1921 but rising to 625 by 1931.
After the 1934 boundary changes the population
was 514 in 1951. It continued to fall and was 452
in 1961, 362 in 1971, and 333 in 1981. In 1991
it was 350. (fn. 80)
A Neolithic or Bronze Age mace head has been
found on the west side of Tittesworth reservoir,
and two apparently Bronze Age vessels have
been found near Hen Cloud. (fn. 81) There is a barrow
at the north end of the Roaches, and another
near Middle Hulme Farm beside the Churnet
on the east side of the township. (fn. 82) The burial
place (sepulcrum) of Thoni, mentioned in the
bounds of the estate granted to Dieulacres abbey
c. 1220 and lying at the south end of Gun, may
have been a barrow. (fn. 83)
In 1214 the Cistercian monks at Poulton, in
Pulford (Ches.), were transferred to a site in the
grounds of the later Abbey Farm in the south
part of the township. Their patron Ranulph, earl
of Chester, had been instructed in a dream to
settle them at 'Cholpesdale' on the site of the
former chapel of St. Mary, itself possibly a
hermitage. The name Dieulacres was fixed by
the earl himself and means in French 'May God
grant it increase'. (fn. 84) About 1220 the earl issued a
charter granting the monks what was described
as 'the land of Rudyard' on which to build their
abbey. (fn. 85) The estate, covering the south-western
part of Leekfrith township, stretched on the east
as far as Meer brook, a name which means
'boundary brook' and may refer originally to the
boundary of Rudyard manor. (fn. 86)
Abbey Green west of Abbey Farm probably
originated as an open space at the abbey gate. It
lies along a road which before the later 18th
century formed part of the route between Leek
and Buxton and of one to Macclesfield. Abbey
Green Farm is of the 17th century, when it was
owned by the Tunnicliffe family; it was assessed
for tax on six hearths in 1666. (fn. 87) The Abbey inn
east of the farmhouse has a lintel over the
entrance with the date 1702 and the initials of
the tenant John Allen and his wife. (fn. 88) By 1726
there was a bowling green at the house, which
was known as Bowling Green House in 1770. (fn. 89)
It was an inn by 1834, known as the Bowling
Green. (fn. 90)
There was evidently a settlement at Meerbrook
in the mid 13th century, when there was mention
of Robert of Meerbrook, and by the earlier 16th
century it had a chapel. (fn. 91) The former Waterhouse Farm on the east side of the village also
existed by the earlier 16th century. (fn. 92) The siting
of the village was probably determined by access
to the upper part of the Meer brook valley and
to Gun. A house at Burntoak Hollins west of the
village, in existence by the earlier 16th century, (fn. 93)
stood on what in the 18th century was a packhorse way over Gun. (fn. 94) The nearby farmhouse
called Oxhay may have been associated with the
way: at the east end of the present house, which
has date stones of 1754 and 1765, there is a large
storage area, possibly for fodder. The Lazy
Trout inn in the village centre existed as the
Horseshoe by 1818 and the Three Horseshoes
by 1834. There was another inn, the Fountain,
to the south-east by 1834. (fn. 95) A post office was
opened in the late 1890s. (fn. 96) In the later 1950s
there was concern about possible pollution of
Meer brook, which flows into Tittesworth reservoir, and the Staffordshire Potteries
Waterworks Board compulsorily purchased
nearly all the houses in the village. The reservoir
was enlarged between 1959 and 1962, and the
sites of the Fountain inn, Waterhouse Farm, and
several houses were submerged. At the same
time the road from Leek, which originally entered the village from the south-east, was
replaced by a new line to the west. In the later
1970s the Board encouraged a return of population, and surviving houses were restored. (fn. 97) The
village school, closed in 1969, became a youth
hostel in 1977. (fn. 98)
By the mid 13th century there were settlements
east of Meerbrook village called Nether, Middle,
and Over Hulme, a name derived from Old
Norse holmr, or its English equivalent, and
meaning raised ground in marsh land. (fn. 99) Land at
Nether Hulme was given by Ranulph of Wirral
(otherwise Ranulph of Hulme) in the mid 13th
century to Dieulacres abbey, which by 1291 had
built New grange at the confluence of the
Churnet and Meer brook. (fn. 1) In 1666 there were
two houses there, one occupied by John Hulme
and assessed for tax on four hearths, and the
other occupied by Thomas Mountford and assessed
for tax on three hearths. (fn. 2) Both houses were
submerged when Tittesworth reservoir was extended c. 1960. In 1974 adjoining land was laid
out as Tittesworth Reservoir Amenity Area. (fn. 3)
The present Middle Hulme Farm was built in
the early 17th century. It has the date 1118 and
the initials TB on the east porch, placed there
when the house was pebble-dashed in the later
20th century. The date is probably a misreading
of 1718, which would fit the date of the kitchen
wing and the occupation of the house by Thomas
Brough. (fn. 4) In 1811 the road which originally ran
north-east from the house to Upper Hulme was
realigned to run south-east across Blackshaw
moor. (fn. 5) By 1819 there was an inn where the new
road met the Leek-Buxton turnpike road; it was
called the Three Horseshoes by 1834. (fn. 6)
What was called Over Hulme in the mid 13th
century is identifiable as the present hamlet of
Upper Hulme on the township's eastern boundary.
The original settlement was probably on the
high ground west of Back brook, where Butty
Fold Farm possibly stands on the site of one of
two houses recorded at Over Hulme in the
earlier 16th century. (fn. 7) The present farmhouse is
of the early 18th century and has a 19th-century
porch. It apparently replaced an earlier house
occupied by the Condlyffe family in the 17th
century: a date stone (possibly reconstructed) on
an outbuilding has the date 1647 and the initials
of William Condlyffe of Upper Hulme (d. 1664)
and his wife Anne. (fn. 8) A hamlet grew up on the
lower ground beside Back brook in the earlier 19th
century, after the opening of a silk mill there. (fn. 9)
The earliest settlements elsewhere in the township were Dieulacres abbey's granges in the
upper part of the Meer brook valley. Roche
grange, in existence by 1246, probably stood
north-west of the Roaches in the area of the
present hamlet called Roche Grange. A grange
at Wetwood, in existence possibly by 1246 and
certainly by 1291, stood on the east side of Gun,
probably on the site of Lower Wetwood, which
is of the earlier 17th century and has an extension
of 1671. At the Dissolution the abbey had a third
grange at Foker, probably on the site of the
farmhouse called Upper Foker north of the
abbey site. (fn. 10) The name Foker, recorded in 1330s,
means 'foul marsh' (fn. 11) and refers to an area of
common waste in the south-west corner of the
township. Part of the waste was a detached
portion of Leek and Lowe township, to which
it had probably been assigned as pasture for use
by inhabitants of Leek town. (fn. 12) A farmhouse on
the southern edge of the waste was called Lower
Foker in 1770 and Foker Grange, its present
name, by the late 1890s. (fn. 13)
The sites of several other farmhouses were
occupied by the earlier 16th century. (fn. 14) In the
west part of the township they included the
Sheephouse, renamed Fould Farm by 1673, (fn. 15)
and Park House Farm, both on the Meerbrook
road north of Abbey Green, and to the northwest of Fould Farm a house called Redearth. By
the later 16th century there were two houses at
Redearth, of which only one survives. Rebuilt
in the 17th century, that house has a third storey
with windows evidently inserted to provide light
for weaving; in 1666 the house was occupied by
a weaver, John Plant. (fn. 16) Two houses described in
the earlier 16th century as lying 'under Wyndyat' probably stood on the sites of Far House
and Windygates Hall on the east side of the
township. Both houses are of the 17th century,
and Windygates Hall has a date stone of 1634
on its porch. There was also a settlement by the
earlier 16th century at the north end of the Meer
brook valley at Thorneyleigh. The Armett family occupied a house there which probably stood
on the site of Thorneyleigh Hall Farm, which is
of the 17th century and has a doorhead dated
1691 reset over the garden entrance. (fn. 17) Thorneyleigh Green Farm dates from the 18th century
but replaced a house occupied by John Stoddard
(d. 1675), a benefactor of Meerbrook chapel and
school. (fn. 18) Of other farmhouses in the Meer brook
valley Greenlane Farm is first recorded in 1675 (fn. 19)
and Frith Bottom in 1695. (fn. 20)
The northern part of the township had been
settled by the earlier 17th century. There was a
house at Hazelwood by 1635. By 1640 there was
one at Buxton Brow, then called Buckstone
Brow, and another at Clough Head. The site of
High Forest further north was also occupied by
1640. (fn. 21) Pool Farm near Turner's pool was built
for William Armett in 1669. (fn. 22) In 1681 a family
was living at Five Clouds, the name for rocks on
the west side of the Roaches. (fn. 23) A cave at the
south end of the Roaches inhabited by the early
17th century was known as Rockhall in 1770. (fn. 24)
On the east side of the Roaches a scattered
settlement of coal miners grew up in the 19th
century around Shaw House. (fn. 25) Roaches House
(originally Argyle Cottage) south-east of Hen
Cloud was built in 1876. (fn. 26)
A settlement on the township's south-western
boundary where the Leek-Macclesfield road
crossed the Churnet was known as Bridge End
in 1641. It included Coneygray House, recorded
in 1697 and named after a medieval rabbit
warren. (fn. 27) The hamlet developed in the earlier
19th century after the opening of a dyeworks by
1824. (fn. 28) A row of seven houses dated 1850 stands
to the east where the road to Meerbrook village
crossed the Churnet. The former Highfield Hall
north of Bridge End was built in the early 19th
century. (fn. 29) Rock House, on the west side of the
main road by the river crossing, was built in the
earlier 1860s for Charles Ball, a Leek accountant. (fn. 30)
Before the later 18th century the road from
Leek to Buxton ran via Abbey Green, Middle
Hulme, and Upper Hulme. It crossed the
Churnet by Broad bridge, so called in 1587 and
rebuilt in the early 19th century. (fn. 31) It is now
called Broad's bridge. From Upper Hulme the
road ran north-west to a gap between Hen Cloud
and the Roaches and on to Flash, in Quarnford,
in Alstonefield. (fn. 32) The present Leek-Buxton
road, which forms part of Leekfrith's eastern
boundary, was laid out in 1765 and 1766 as a
turnpike road. It was disturnpiked in 1875. (fn. 33)
The Leek-Macclesfield road runs through the
south-west corner of the township. Part of the
medieval Earl's Way, the road was turnpiked in
1762, and in 1824 a tollhouse was set up at the
north end of the Leekfrith stretch of the road at
Poolend. (fn. 34) The road ran in front of Highfield
Hall, but it was realigned to the west in the late
1820s. (fn. 35) It was disturnpiked in 1878, and the
Poolend tollhouse was demolished in 1879. (fn. 36)
There was formerly another route from Leek to
Macclesfield, which branched from the Meerbrook road at Fould Farm and ran along the top
of Gun, crossing into Cheshire at Danebridge,
in Heaton. Recorded c. 1230, the road was still
in use in the earlier 18th century. (fn. 37) In 1731
Robert Brough was murdered on Gun by his
servant Joseph Naden as he travelled home along
the road. After being sentenced at Stafford,
Naden was hanged on Gun and his corpse
gibbeted there. (fn. 38) The gibbet post was still standing in 1875. (fn. 39) A packhorse way ran east-west
across Gun and passed through Meerbrook
village and Middle Hulme. (fn. 40)
Leekfrith was included in an association for
the prosecution of felons formed in 1802 and also
covering the townships of Leek and Lowe and
Tittesworth. (fn. 41) A separate association for Leekfrith was established in 1819 but evidently
lapsed. The association was revived in 1833, and
it still functioned in 1873. (fn. 42) The rural part of
Leekfrith was connected to a mains water supply
in the earlier 1970s. (fn. 43)
In the mid 19th century Meerbrook wake was
celebrated at the end of September or the beginning of October. (fn. 44) Before the change in the
calendar in 1752 it was probably held on the
Sunday nearest 21 September, the feast of St.
Matthew, the patron saint of Meerbrook church.
By 1866 a wake was held in July at Abbey Green,
and it was still held in 1919. (fn. 45) A village hall was
built west of Meerbrook village in 1908 and
rebuilt in 1988. (fn. 46) A Women's Institute was
formed at Meerbrook in 1924. (fn. 47)
The Roaches and Hen Cloud impressed
Robert Plot when he visited the area c. 1680. (fn. 48)
He also noted Lud's Church, a ravine northwest of the Roaches, which has been suggested
as the setting for the climax of the 14th-century
poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. (fn. 49) About
1862 the landowner, Philip Brocklehurst of
Swythamley, in Heaton, placed a ship's figurehead in the form of a woman at the entrance of
the ravine. (fn. 50) It was apparently intended to commemorate the supposed martyrdom of the
daughter of a Lollard preacher, and it was still
there in 1914. (fn. 51)
The Roaches were added to the Swythamley
estate at the time of the inclosure of the area in
1811, and in the late 1890s Philip Brocklehurst
acquired Hen Cloud. He encouraged visitors to
the area by cutting footpaths and building
bridges across streams. He also incorporated the
Rockhall cave dwelling into a Gothic-style
shooting lodge. The lodge became a tourist
attraction, and in 1872 Princess Mary of Cambridge and her husband Francis, duke of Teck,
were entertained there. (fn. 52) It later became a private dwelling, and it remained as such until
1989. It was then acquired by the Peak Park joint
planning board, which had bought 975 a. of the
Roaches in 1980, following the break-up of the
Swythamley estate in 1977. In 1993 the lodge
was made into a refuge by the British Mountaineering Club. (fn. 53) The area remains popular with
walkers and rock climbers. A colony of wallabies
there originated in the late 1930s, when some
escaped from a private zoo kept by Col. H. C.
Brocklehurst at Roaches House. (fn. 54)
Richard Caldwall (d. 1584), the physician, was
born apparently at Upper Hulme. (fn. 55) The sculptor
Richard Hassall (1831-68) was born at Pheasants
Clough, a farmhouse on the west side of the
Roaches. (fn. 56)
MANOR AND OTHER ESTATES.
The
manor of FRITH was first mentioned in 1552
when the Crown granted what were described
as the manors of Leek and Frith with the site of
Dieulacres abbey to Sir Ralph Bagnall. Frith
manor descended with Leek manor. (fn. 57)
ABBEY FARM, which occupies part of the
site of Dieulacres abbey, was the home in 1614
of Thomas Rudyard, lord of Leek manor. (fn. 58) His
younger son Anthony lived there in 1638. (fn. 59)
Anthony was succeeded in 1662 by his son
Thomas. (fn. 60) The house was occupied by Edward
Stubbs in 1666, (fn. 61) but the following year it was
evidently the home of Anthony's brother John:
a gateway into the garden on the west side of the
house incorporates a stone with the date 1667
and the initials of John Rudyard and his wife. (fn. 62)
Known as Abbey Dieulacres in 1673, the house
and its estate were inherited that year or soon
afterwards by John's nephew, James Rudyard.
James died in 1712, leaving the estate in tail to
his cousin John Rudyard, with reversion to his
godson Ralph Wood, the son of another cousin. (fn. 63)
John Rudyard evidently died childless, and the
estate passed to Wood, who was living at Abbey
Dieulacres in 1736 and died there in 1765. (fn. 64) The
estate was later sold to the Misses Furnivall, of
whom one was evidently the Anne Furnivall of
the Abbey who in 1777 married John Daintry of
Leek. Anne was succeeded in 1798 by her
nephew John Smith Daintry. (fn. 65) In 1829 Daintry
sold the estate in two separate shares to Theodosia Hinckes and John Davenport of Westwood
Hall, in Leek and Lowe, either John (d. 1848)
or his son John (d. 1862). The younger John
bought Theodosia's share in 1853. (fn. 66) In 1871 his
son George sold what was then called Dieulacres
Abbey Farm to James Searight, (fn. 67) whose executors
sold it in 1892 to Capt. W. Jones Byrom of
Leek. (fn. 68) On Byrom's death in 1897 it passed to
George Renny, still the owner in 1940. (fn. 69) The
owner in 1992 was Mr. A. E. Docksey.
Abbey Farm, which stands west of the site of
the abbey church, is timber-framed on a sandstone course. (fn. 70) It is uncertain whether any part
of the present fabric dates from before the 17th
century. The house was assessed for tax on seven
hearths in 1666. (fn. 71)
HIGHFIELD HALL, originally called Highfield House, was built in the 1810s by Richard
Badnall, a Leek silk dyer, on land bought in 1801
by his father Joseph (d. 1803). (fn. 72) On Richard's
bankruptcy in 1827 the house and 46 a. were
sold to Sarah Fowler and her sons Matthew and
Josiah Gaunt, all three members of a Leek
banking family. (fn. 73) In 1870 the estate was bought
by Charles Glover. (fn. 74) In 1885 E. Cliffe Glover
sold it to Arthur Nicholson, a partner in the
Leek silk company later known as Brough,
Nicholson & Hall. Knighted in 1909, Nicholson
was a noted breeder of shire horses and built a
stud farm north-east of the house. The horses
were paraded when George V and Queen Mary
were entertained at Highfield in 1911. (fn. 75) Nicholson died in 1929, but his widow Marianne
continued to live at the house until her death in
1937. (fn. 76) The house, to which Nicholson had by
1889 added a wing, (fn. 77) was of brick with stone
dressings. It was sold in 1939 and demolished in
1940 or 1941. (fn. 78) Surviving outbuildings include
the present Home Farm and the former stable
block, also converted into a house.
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Agriculture.
About 1230 Ranulph, earl of Chester, granted
Dieulacres abbey land on Gun and at Wetwood,
besides the right to share with the earl's tenants
pasture south of Gun and as far east as Meer
brook. (fn. 79) Later in the 13th century local benefactors
gave the abbey more land in the centre and east
part of the township. (fn. 80) By 1246 the abbey had a
grange on the west side of the Roaches (known
as Roche grange by 1406) and possibly another
at Wetwood. (fn. 81) There was certainly a grange at
Wetwood by 1291 as well as a third, New grange,
south-east of Meerbrook village. In 1291 Roche
grange and New grange comprised 2 carucates
each, and Wetwood 1 carucate. (fn. 82) The abbey may
also have managed as a grange the land which it
had by 1501 at Foker: the post-Dissolution
tenant, Thomas Vigars or Vygers, held a house
called Foker Grange in 1542. (fn. 83)
The common waste lay chiefly on Gun and the
Roaches and was inclosed in 1811 under an Act
of 1805. Most of the Roaches, 758 a., was sold
by the inclosure commissioners to Edward
Nicholls of Swythamley Hall, in Heaton. (fn. 84)
Sheep farming was important in the later 13th
century when Dieulacres abbey produced wool
for export. (fn. 85) A place called Woolhouses, recorded in Leek manor in the 1330s, was probably
in Leekfrith, and in 1567 there was a building
called the Woolhouse at Abbey Green. (fn. 86) In the
late 15th century the abbey apparently concentrated on stock rearing and used land in the north
part of the township as pasture for cattle belonging to the abbey's grange at Swythamley. (fn. 87) By
1535 most of the abbey's land in Leekfrith was
leased to tenants, each paying a variable money
rent, two capons worth 6d., one day's ploughing
worth 3d., and one day's reaping worth 3d. (fn. 88)
In the early 19th century two farms which
covered the Roaches area, Back Forest (312 a.)
and High Forest (225 a.), were part of the 1,125
a. which formed the Leekfrith portion of the
Swythamley estate. (fn. 89) What was called the Dieulacres
Abbey estate in 1870, covering 1,193 a., was then
owned by George Davenport, formerly of
Westwood Hall, in Leek and Lowe. Its largest
farms were Abbey farm (229 a.), Park House
(161 a.), and North Hillswood (148 a.). (fn. 90)
Of the 2,840.7 ha. of farmland returned for the
civil parish in 1988, grassland covered 1,936.3
ha. and there were 760 ha. of rough grazing. The
farming was dairy and sheep, with 3,271 head of
cattle and 7,621 sheep and lambs. There were
29,814 hens, mostly broilers. Of the 70 farms
returned, 58 were under 50 ha. in size, 9 were
between 50 and 99 ha., and 3 were between 100
and 199 ha. (fn. 91)
Woodland.
The 'frith' element of the township's name indicates wooded countryside, (fn. 92) and
woodland was recorded c. 1230 on Gun and at
Wetwood and in 1340 at Hellis wood (later Hills
wood) north-east of Dieulacres abbey. (fn. 93) Hills
wood survives as Abbey wood, so called by the
late 19th century. (fn. 94) Forest wood along the township's northern boundary is probably the result
of planting in the early 19th century after inclosure. (fn. 95) The woodland returned for the civil parish
in 1988 covered 108.5 ha. (fn. 96)
Forest and warren.
The earl of Chester's
forest of Leek was recorded c. 1170. (fn. 97) It was
again mentioned when Earl Ranulph included in
his charter to the burgesses of Leek, some time
between 1207 and 1215, the right to collect
timber and firewood in the forest. (fn. 98) The extent
of the forest is unknown but it included Leekfrith, and when the earl gave Dieulacres abbey
land on Gun and at Wetwood c. 1230, he
reserved the right to hunt there himself with
sparrowhawks. His foresters, however, were not
to enter the abbey's land, where hunting was
supervised by foresters of the abbey. (fn. 99) About the
same time Henry, the son of William the forester
and perhaps a forester himself, bound himself to
serve the abbey for life. The abbey's foresters
were again recorded in 1271-2 and 1429, (fn. 1) and
its former servants in 1538 included Robert
Burgh, described as forester of the forest of
Leek. It was stated in the 1540s that the abbey's
freeholders in Rushton Spencer and Heaton had
once acted as foresters. (fn. 2) By the late 15th century
the forest was used as pasture for livestock, (fn. 3) and
it is likely that the main duty of the foresters was
to prevent illegal grazing.
In 1282 Dieulacres abbey was granted free
warren in its demesne lands in Leek manor. (fn. 4)
There was evidently a rabbit warren in Leekfrith
by 1430, when the bridge taking the LeekMacclesfield road over the Churnet was called
Conyngre bridge. (fn. 5) Land at Hen Cloud was set
aside for use as a rabbit warren in or shortly
before 1819. (fn. 6)
Mills.
In the early 1220s Ranulph, earl of
Chester, granted Dieulacres abbey a mill at
Hulme. It probably stood on Back brook at
Upper Hulme, where the abbey had a mill at the
Dissolution. (fn. 7) The mill, which was working in
1599, may have still existed in 1670. (fn. 8)
In the late 1560s Thomas Gent of Upper
Hulme built a mill on Back brook, upstream
from Hulme mill. In 1599 there was a complaint
from the owners of Hulme mill that Gent's mill
took water from their mill and drew some of its
trade, (fn. 9) and Gent's mill was evidently demolished. In 1600 his grandson William Gent let the
site to two brothers, John and William Hind,
and the mill had been rebuilt by 1602. (fn. 10) The
tenant in 1610 was Robert Deane, (fn. 11) and the mill
was known in the 18th century as Deans (later
Danes or Dains) mill. (fn. 12) It stopped working
c. 1946. (fn. 13)
There was a mill on Meer brook east of
Meerbrook village in 1676. (fn. 14) A mill there built
probably in the mid 1850s stopped working
c. 1890. (fn. 15)
There was a mill at Turner's pool in 1595 and
apparently in 1795. (fn. 16) Thomas Rudyard had
a mill at Dieulacres in 1635; it was called Abbey
mill in 1677 and probably stood on the
Churnet. (fn. 17)
Trade and industry.
A smith named Jordan
was living in Leek manor in the earlier 1330s,
and a locksmith named Alexander was accused
in the manor court in 1340 of cutting down the
lord's timber. (fn. 18) Both men may have lived in
Leekfrith and made use of the woodland there.
An ironworks and a pool in Leek and Frith
manors were granted to Stephen Bagot by Sir
Ralph Bagnall in 1564. (fn. 19)
A bark house and bark pit recorded in the
earlier 16th century at a place called Sury south
of Abbey Green (fn. 20) probably indicate the existence of a tanyard.
Walk Mill pool recorded in the earlier 16th
century as formerly belonging to Dieulacres
abbey may have been associated with a walk (or
fulling) mill in Leek manor mentioned in 1548. (fn. 21)
The mill was possibly in Leekfrith. Certainly
there was a fulling mill at Abbey Green in 1677,
and it may have been the walk mill in Leek
parish mentioned in 1752. (fn. 22)
A silk throwster named William Lowndes
was living at Upper Hulme in 1824, (fn. 23) and by
1831 there was a four-storeyed silk mill with
a house and four workers' cottages. (fn. 24) No
silk workers were recorded at Upper Hulme
in 1841, but by 1851 another silk throwster,
George Parker, ran a mill there, employing 18
workers. By 1860 John Beardmore used the
works for spinning flax and for dyeing. (fn. 25) In 1869
the mill was sold to William Tatton, the son of
a Leek silk dyer, and he opened a dyeworks
there. From 1924 the works also wound rayon
filament yarn, and in 1928 warping machines
were introduced. The company also had warping
machines in rented premises in Shoobridge
Street in Leek until 1931, when a new factory
was built at Upper Hulme to house all the
machines. In 1970 production was moved from
Upper Hulme to the firm's premises in Buxton
Road, Leek. (fn. 26) The premises at Upper Hulme
were converted to other industrial uses. Roaches
(Engineering) Ltd., established in 1974, designs
and manufactures matrices for textile laboratories, and small-scale machines for the same
market are made by a sister company, Roaches
(Fabrication) Ltd. Hillcrest Engineering Instrumentation Ltd., established in 1986, makes
instruments for measuring temperatures in
industrial processes. (fn. 27) There was also a furnituremaking business, J. S. and R. Hine, in 1992.
The surviving mill buildings include offices
dated 1891.
The digging of coal was included in the licence
granted in 1596 or 1597 by Sir Henry Bagnall,
lord of Leek manor, to Thomas Jolliffe, a Leek
mercer, to exploit the waste in Leek and Leekfrith, and coal pits recorded in Leek manor in
the early 18th century were probably in Leekfrith. (fn. 28) Six colliers lived in the area around Shaw
House on the east side of the Roaches in 1841,
but only one in 1871. (fn. 29) A colliery there was
disused by 1878. (fn. 30)
In 1704 the lords of the manor licensed William Gravenor and Ralph Hood, both of Leek,
and Jeremiah Condlyffe and Emmanuel Wood,
both of Leekfrith, to dig for lead and copper ore
on the waste near the Roaches. (fn. 31) There was a
stone quarry on the Roaches in 1811 and evidently another on Gun in 1839. (fn. 32)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
By the earlier 14th
century Leekfrith was a tithing of Leek manor
and sent a frankpledge to the twice-yearly view.
The tithing was then called Roche, a name still
used in 1430. It was called Frith by 1548.
Leekfrith was still part of the manor in 1820,
when the court appointed a pinner for the
township. (fn. 33)
The township was part of the Leekfrith quarter
of Leek parish, and in the 1660s its poor were
relieved by the quarter's overseer. The township
had its own overseer from 1713, (fn. 34) and there was a
poorhouse at Thorneyleigh in 1775. (fn. 35) The township became part of Leek poor-law union in 1837. (fn. 36)
CHURCH.
There was a chapel at Meerbrook
by 1537. It may have been supported by a
fraternity dedicated to St. Antony: in 1545 William Gent bequeathed 2s. to the stock of St.
Antony at Meerbrook for the maintenance of
God's service there. (fn. 37) Chapel House, probably a
house for a priest serving the chapel, was mentioned in the earlier 16th century. (fn. 38) In 1547
Robert Burgh, probably the former forester of
Dieulacres abbey's forest of Leek, left a rent of
13s. 4d. to God's service at Meerbrook. There
seems to have been a doubt whether the chapel
would survive: Robert's son Edmund was to
have the rent if the service stopped. (fn. 39) The chapel
still existed in 1553; chapel goods recorded that
year included a silver chalice with a paten, and
there was a bell. (fn. 40)
Sir Ralph Bagnall later rebuilt the chapel, and
in 1565 he gave it to trustees, with a small
endowment for a minister. His intention was not
only to provide services for the inhabitants of
Leekfrith but also to have prayers said for
himself and his family on Sundays and feast days
by the priest 'preaching the word of God'
there. (fn. 41) The inhabitants of the chapelry were also
expected to contribute a levy towards the upkeep
of the chapel and the minister's stipend. After a
disagreement between them and the trustees, it
was decided in 1568 that the levy should be set
by four men chosen jointly by both parties at
Michaelmas. (fn. 42) The income was inadequate for a
curate, and in 1597 the chapel was served only
by a reader, John Bullocke. The bishop suspended services that year until a sufficient
stipend had been raised to support a curate. (fn. 43) A
reader c. 1603 was paid £4, together with food
and drink; in 1604 he got 'what the people will
given him'. The reader in 1604, William Smallwood, was described as tainted with 'vile sins'
and denounced as a drunkard. Stated to conduct
unlawful marriages 'to the great hurt of the
country', he remained at the chapel despite
complaints to the church authorities. (fn. 44) There
was a curate in 1614 and presumably in 1623,
when several inhabitants were presented for
withholding his stipend. (fn. 45)
After new endowments of 1668 and 1675, (fn. 46) the
chapel was licensed for baptisms in 1677 and
burials in 1679; marriages were performed by
1698. Prior permission to conduct those services
was necessary from the vicar of Leek, who
retained all the fees. (fn. 47) From the mid 1790s the
curate, James Turner, appears to have resented
having to collect fees, and he determined only
to request and not demand them. In 1797 he
noted: 'I am advised not to concern or interest
myself at all about Leek in future.' In 1799,
however, he paid the fee for the baptism of his
own son Daniel. In 1800 he again expressed his
decision not to collect anything for the vicar until
they had come to a new agreement. The vicar
still claimed fees for baptisms and burials in
1832. (fn. 48)
The curate was nominated by the trustees of
the chapel lands in 1724, by the vicar of Leek in
1728 and again in 1735, and by the principal
inhabitants of the township in 1790. Thereafter
the right of the vicar of Leek to nominate
appears to have gone unchallenged. (fn. 49) The
chapelry, which was coterminous with the township, became a parish in 1859. (fn. 50) The benefice, at
first a perpetual curacy, was styled a vicarage
from 1868. (fn. 51) The church was served by a resident
priest-in-charge from 1973 until 1979. There
followed a vacancy until 1983, when the parish
became part of a new parish of Leek and Meerbrook with services conducted by one of the
Leek team ministry. (fn. 52)
Sir Ralph Bagnall's endowment of 1565 comprised a house for the minister, a garden and two
crofts adjoining the chapel yard, two crofts at
Gunside, another croft elsewhere in the township, and a rent charge of 2s. from a house in
Leek. (fn. 53) He also gave 1 a. at Middle Hulme,
which had been lost by 1693. (fn. 54) In 1647 the
committee for plundered ministers granted the
curacy £25 from the sequestered rectory of
Stowe. (fn. 55) By will proved 1668 Joan Armett of
Thorneyleigh Hall Farm left a rent charge of £2
13s. 4d. for the support of 'a sufficient and able
minister' at Meerbrook; if there was no resident
minister, the money was to be used to pay a
preacher to give two sermons every quarter. (fn. 56) By
will proved 1675 John Stoddard of Thorneyleigh
Green Farm left a rent charge of £4 to be paid
to a graduate minister for preaching in Meerbrook chapel on Sundays or monthly at the
trustees' discretion. (fn. 57) By will proved 1680 Edmund Brough gave the minister of Meerbrook
the reversion of a rent charge of £2 10s. (fn. 58)
The curate's income in 1718 was £13. (fn. 59) In
1723 Queen Anne's Bounty gave £200 to meet
benefactions of £100 given by John Ward and
£100 collected from the inhabitants of the
chapelry. Of the money £320 was used by 1730
to buy 27 a. at Roche Grange, which in 1735
was let for £15 10s. (fn. 60) Shortly before 1747 the
remaining £80 was used to buy 12 a. near
Hazelwood House. (fn. 61) William Bostock (d. 1725)
left the reversion of the tithes from two fields in
Horton to the curate for preaching a sermon at
Candlemas. (fn. 62) In 1792 Queen Anne's Bounty
gave £200, which was used in 1800 to buy c. 10
a. near Turner's pool. (fn. 63) When the commons
were inclosed in 1811 the commissioners assigned 7 a. to the curate. (fn. 64) Another grant of £800
was made by Queen Anne's Bounty in 1822. Half
was used in 1835 with a further grant of £200
made in 1830 and benefactions of £100 each
from the curate, James Turner, and a Mrs.
Pyncombe to buy an additional 28 a. at Roche
Grange. (fn. 65) In 1845 James Turner gave a further
5 a. near Roche Grange as an endowment,
requiring future curates to preach on Sunday
evenings in summer. (fn. 66) The living was worth £97
a year c. 1830. (fn. 67) In 1887 there were 71 a. of glebe,
with an estimated rental of £92. (fn. 68) The land at
Roche Grange was sold in 1920. (fn. 69)
The other half of the £800 granted by Queen
Anne's Bounty in 1822 was used in 1827 to
rebuild the curate's house. (fn. 70) It was destroyed by
fire in 1927 and again rebuilt. (fn. 71) The house was
sold soon after 1979. (fn. 72)
In the later 1720s the vicar of Leek, Thomas
Loxdale, wrote to the bishop stating that the
inhabitants of Leekfrith were negligent in bringing their children to be baptized and that he
seldom heard about the sickness of 'any poor
people on the Moors' until they were dead. A
curate appointed in 1724 had soon left, and
Loxdale asked the bishop to ordain Henry
Royle, the schoolmaster at Meerbrook. (fn. 73) The
request was not granted, and in 1728 a new
curate, Richard Legh, was appointed. He died
in 1733. (fn. 74) Daniel Turner was appointed curate
in 1735, later also becoming curate of Quarnford, in Alstonefield, and of Rushton. He lived
at Meerbrook, where he died in 1789, and was
succeeded by his son James. On his retirement
in 1826 James was succeeded by his son, also
James (d. 1863). (fn. 75) In 1830 there was one Sunday
service at Meerbrook and Communion was celebrated four times a year. (fn. 76) In 1851 the average
Sunday attendance was 50 when the service was
in the morning and 120 when in the afternoon
or evening, besides Sunday school children. (fn. 77)
Psalm singers were mentioned in 1754. (fn. 78) They
may have survived until 1864 when new liturgical
practices were introduced by James Turner's
successor, John Clarke. (fn. 79) By Easter Sunday that
year the church band had been replaced by a
harmonium, and a harvest festival was held for
the first time later in the year. (fn. 80)
There was a chapelwarden in 1553, and from
1698 he usually signed the terriers with the
curate. It was the custom by 1809 for the curate
to nominate the warden. (fn. 81) There was a clerk for
the chapel by 1730. His salary was £1 in 1754
and £2 in 1830. (fn. 82)
Roger Morrice (d. 1702) left half the interest
on £100 for the purchase of bibles for the poor
of Leekfrith. A distribution of 10 or 12 bibles
was still made in the earlier 1820s. (fn. 83)
The present church of ST. MATTHEW dates
from the 1870s. Its smaller predecessor, of
coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, consisted
of a chancel, nave, and west tower. An external
stairway on the south side of the tower was
probably built to provide access to a room
apparently used as the school until 1778. (fn. 84) There
was a west gallery by 1830, lit by a dormer
window on the south side of the nave. (fn. 85) In the
1870s the church was rebuilt in ashlar to a design
by R. Norman Shaw. The first stage, in 1870,
was the addition to the existing church of a
chancel, north vestry, and central tower. The
cost was met by Elizabeth Condlyffe (d. 1878).
In 1873 the nave was rebuilt and was given a
south-west porch; the west tower was demolished. The church has a stone pulpit and font
carved by Edward Ash of Meerbrook, the
nephew and pupil of the sculptor Richard Hassall of Leekfrith, and there are pieces of Leek
embroidery designed by Shaw. An organ, also
paid for by Elizabeth Condlyffe, was installed in
1879. (fn. 86) The single bell is dated 1818. (fn. 87)
The registers date from 1738. (fn. 88)
The graveyard was enlarged in 1901 and 1968. (fn. 89)
NONCONFORMITY.
John Tompson was described as not 'conformable to the religion now
established' in 1623, when he taught a school at
Meerbrook. (fn. 90)
William Davenport of Fould Farm was converted by the Quaker Richard Hickock in 1654
and established a meeting at his home. It had 30
members in 1669, many of whom presumably
lived in Leek. (fn. 91)
John Wood, a nonconformist who had been
ejected from his fellowship at St. John's College,
Cambridge, in 1662 and had preached in the
Staffordshire Moorlands, was in 1690 recommended
as a minister for a congregation to be based at
Meerbrook, but he died later the same year. The
recommendation came from Roger Morrice (d.
1702), vicar of Duffield (Derb.) until his ejection
in 1662 and later a London merchant. He presumably had connexions with Leekfrith, where
he was living when he made his will in 1701. (fn. 92)
The house of John Cartwright of Upper Hulme
was licensed for worship by protestant dissenters
in 1693. (fn. 93)
St. Matthew's Church from the South-East, as completed in 1873
A Methodist service was held fortnightly
on Sundays at Roche Grange in 1798. (fn. 94) In
1805 the curate of Meerbrook claimed that there
were 'scarcely any Methodists' in his chapelry
and in 1809 that there was only one, a widow. (fn. 95)
Wesleyan Methodists, however, continued to
meet at Roche Grange, and an afternoon congregation of 20 was recorded there on Census
Sunday 1851. Sunday services were last held at
the farmhouse in 1921. (fn. 96) Fortnightly Sunday
services held in 1829 at Thorneyleigh and at
Meerbrook had ceased by 1832. (fn. 97) A Wesleyan
chapel at Meerbrook was opened in 1862 and
remained in use in 1992. (fn. 98) Another at Upper
Hulme is in the Heathylee part of the hamlet. (fn. 99)
EDUCATION.
John Tompson, a licensed
schoolmaster in Leek parish in 1616, probably
then taught at Meerbrook. He certainly taught
there in 1623, even though his licence had been
withdrawn. (fn. 1) John Comylach of Meerbrook subscribed as a schoolmaster in 1621. (fn. 2) Ralph Poulson,
licensed in 1662 to teach at Foker, was probably
the man of the same name who was a schoolmaster of Mill Street, Leek, at his death in 1691. (fn. 3)
By will proved 1675 John Stoddard of Thorneyleigh Green Farm gave a rent charge of £10 for
a master to teach 20 poor children. (fn. 4) Roger
Morrice (d. 1702) left half the interest on £100
for the master at Meerbrook to teach eight poor
children, provided that the master was able to
teach Latin. (fn. 5) Henry Royle became the master in
1722 and continued to teach at Meerbrook until
his death in 1769. (fn. 6) In 1818 the master teaching
the 28 free children also taught 12 fee-paying
children. (fn. 7) The school was apparently held in a
room in the church tower until 1778, when a
schoolroom was built in Meerbrook village. A
house for the master was added in 1839, and in
1871 the schoolroom was enlarged. There were
30 children on the books in 1874. (fn. 8)
The decision in 1930 that Meerbrook Church of
England school, then an all-age school with 63
children on its books, should become a junior
school took effect in 1940, the senior children
being transferred to Leek. (fn. 9) The school took
controlled status in 1957 as St. Matthew's
Church of England (Controlled) primary school. (fn. 10)
It was closed in 1969, and the children were moved
to a new school at Blackshaw Moor, in Tittesworth. (fn. 11) The former school building at Meerbrook
was converted into a youth hostel in 1977. (fn. 12)
Two dame schools at Meerbrook, with a combined attendance of 16 in 1818, evidently still
existed in the earlier 1830s. (fn. 13) A Church of
England Sunday school established in 1825 had
50 children in the earlier 1830s but an average
of only 30 in 1851. (fn. 14)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
By will
proved 1668 Joan Armett left a rent charge of
£1 to be distributed on Christmas Eve at Meerbrook chapel to the poor of the chapelry, especially those living 'along the side of Gun'. In the
earlier 1820s nine people received 2s. each, a
tenth 1s., and 1s. was paid to the landlord of the
public house where the money was distributed. (fn. 15)
By will proved 1675 John Stoddard left a rent
charge of £2 for the poor living at Gunside. In
the earlier 1820s it was paid to between three
and six people. (fn. 16)
By will proved 1680 Edmund Brough left a rent
charge of £1 to be distributed at Candlemas to the
poor living at 'Roachside' and in the Hazelwood
area in the north of the township. In the earlier
1820s four people shared the 17s. which was
received after land tax had been deducted. (fn. 17)
By will of 1760 Thomas Wood left the interest
on £30 to be distributed in bread to the poor of
Leekfrith every Sunday at Meerbrook chapel.
The interest in the later 1780s was £1 10s. In
the earlier 1820s the bread was given out on
Sundays between November and March. (fn. 18)
Sarah Nicholls (d. 1785) left the interest on £200
for the poor of Leekfrith and Heaton. The
charity was later amalgamated with one established by Sir Philip Brocklehurst for Leekfrith
and Heaton. (fn. 19)
By will proved 1832 James Mobberley left the
reversion of rents from three cottages at Meerbrook and from 1 a. on Gun to provide bread
for the poor of the chapelry; it was to be
distributed at the chapel every Sunday between
1 October and 1 May. The charity had taken
effect by 1860. The cottages came to be treated
as poorhouses, let at low rents, but were sold in
1925 to increase the charity's income. (fn. 20)
Elizabeth Turner (d. 1865), daughter of James
Turner, curate of Meerbook 1789-1826, left half
the interest on £100 for the poor of Leekfrith. (fn. 21)
By a Scheme of 1979 all the above charities,
except for the Nicholls and Brocklehurst charity,
were united as Leekfrith Relief in Need charity. (fn. 22)