Flash, Staffordshire
Flash | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | BUXTON | |
Postcode district | SK17 | |
Dialling code | 01298 | |
Police | Staffordshire | |
Fire | Staffordshire | |
Ambulance | West Midlands | |
UK Parliament | ||
Flash is a village in the
Location and geography
Flash is the main village in Quarnford parish. It lies just off the A53 main road about 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Buxton. It is on the southern slope of the highest ground on Axe Edge Moor, which rises to a peak of 551 m (1,808 ft).[1] The parish forms the Staffordshire corner of Three Shire Heads, a tripoint marked by a packhorse bridge on the River Dane, where Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire meet.
To the south is
East of Flash, and just over the A53, are the heads of the
Highest village in Britain
At 1,519 ft (463 m) above sea level, Flash claims to be the highest village in the United Kingdom.[2] In 2007 the claim was upheld by the BBC, which settled a dispute with its rival claimant, Wanlockhead in Dumfries and Galloway. The Ordnance Survey measured the highest house in each village, and the one in Flash was higher, although the results were disputed by residents of the Scottish village, which has a sign proclaiming that a height of 1,531 ft above sea level.[3] Ordnance Survey mapping shows the buildings of Wanlockhead to be wholly below the 450-metre (1,480 ft) contour (with the exception of Glengonnar Station on the Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway, which is well outside the village),[4] whereas Flash is wholly above the 450m contour.[5]
The former Methodist Chapel in Flash is the highest in Britain; the certainty is helped by the scarcity of Methodist chapels in the Southern Uplands.[6]
The village
During the first half of the 19th century, the population of the parish was around 700; it had reduced to half that by the end of the 1800s. In 1851 there were 40 agricultural labourers, about the same number of silk workers, and almost as many colliers. There were also stonemasons, dressmakers, blacksmiths and cordwainers, and a shoemaker, errand boy, wheelwright, game-keeper, grocer, peddler and tailor, as well as a number of house servants, 275 young people and 50 scholars. At one time 29 families were receiving weekly relief and 23 families occasional relief, nearly a quarter of the population.
The first record of
Flash is an isolated community with a small population;[
St Paul's is the parish church of Quarnford, in the middle of Flash village. The church was rebuilt in 1901 to the design by Buxton architect William Radford Bryden and is a Grade II listed building.[12]
Methodist history
Wesleyan Methodism was so well established in Flash during the 18th century that a chapel was built as early as 1784. At this time, there were 61 Methodist "
See also
Notes and references
- ^ a b c Buxton & Matlock (inc. Chesterfield, Bakewell & Dove Dale (Map). 1:50000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. § 119.
- ^ Keane, Phoebe (17 April 2019). "Where is Scotland's highest village?". BBC News. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ "Highest village claims were no Flash in the pan". Macclesfield Express. 15 August 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ^ 329 Lowther Hills, Sanquhar & Leadhills (Map). 1:25000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey – via Bing maps.
- ^ OL24 White Peak area (Map). 1:25000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey – via Bing maps.
- The Methodist Recorderin the late 20th century. A letter from Rev. R O Higginson, whose work as a Methodist minister had included Flash, settled the matter.
- ^ Flash village history booklet available in Parish Church
- ^ "for example". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2006.
- ^ "Flash". Peak District Guide. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ "Flash Brewery - beers from the dark worlds..." Flash Brewery. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ "Product page". Flash Brewery. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ Historic England. "CHURCH OF ST PAUL (1374564)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ J B Dyson, "Wesleyan Methodism in the Leek Circuit", 1853
- ^ Dyson, op cit [1] records the conversion of John Lomas who later built Holinsclough Chapel [2]
External links
- Quarnford Parish page on ONS website Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine