Werrington, Staffordshire
Werrington | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | STOKE-ON-TRENT | |
Postcode district | ST9 | |
Dialling code | 01782 | |
Police | Staffordshire | |
Fire | Staffordshire | |
Ambulance | West Midlands | |
UK Parliament | ||
Werrington is a village in the Staffordshire Moorlands district of Staffordshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent city centre. The village has a population of just over 3,000 people, sits at 875 feet (270 m) above sea level and is known for its windmill standing at the summit. It is surrounded by Wetley Moor, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and has the A52 road running through the middle of the village.
The village was first recorded on a map under the name of Wherington in 1749, shortly after the construction of the windmill. The windmill was in use for around 150 years, grinding corn and then coal towards the end of its working life. The village's population has grown more than tenfold since 1925, warranting its own
History
Werrington was first recorded on a 1749 map under the name Wherington, and it was not spelt as Werrington until 1890.[2]
The
Werrington originally consisted primarily of the windmill and a small number of houses in the immediate vicinity.[5] Rapid expansion began in 1925 to expand into Washerwall, parts of Wetley Common, Withystakes, Ash Bank, Armshead, Cellarhead, and some of Brookhouse Lane.[5] In the 90 years since then the population increased from a few hundred to several thousand with the addition of some 2,500 homes.[5] This growth began at a time when the Meigh family sold off the Ash Hall estate and the village was connected to nearby transport, electricity, gas, water, and sewerage services.[2]
Governance
Werrington was a part of the parish of Caverswall, before it split off in 1988 after having become large enough to justify running its own
Geography
Ash Bank village lies westerly down the A52 road between Werrington and the Stoke-on-Trent district of Bucknall. The hamlet of Hulme lies to the south. The A52 is bisected by the A520 road, which travels north through the village of Wetley Rocks and onto the market town of Leek. Travelling south on the A520 one reaches the A50 road in the Stoke-on-Trent district of Meir. Werrington is surrounded by Wetley Moor, which at its highest point reaches 900 ft above sea level.[3] Wetley Moor now makes up 173 acres (70 ha) of open common and around 90 acres (40 ha) of enclosed pots.[9] The moor is made up of wet heath and consists of heather and other related vegetation.[10] It is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as it lies on lower lying coal measures, which gives it a wet peaty soil.[9]
Demography
According to the Office for National Statistics, the village's total population stood at 3,176 persons in 2019.[1] The 2011 United Kingdom census revealed the average age to be 45, with 96.4% of residents born in England and only 1.8% born outside of the United Kingdom.[11] In terms of religion, 76.5% reported themselves to be Christian, 17.5% cited no religion, whilst 5.5% did not answer the question.[11] The census revealed a balanced list of economic activities as the following sectors represented between 8.1 and 15.1% of all occupations: skilled trades; professional; administrative and secretarial; associate professional and technical; managers, directors and senior officials; administrative; caring, leisure and other service; elementary; elementary administration and service; sales and customer service.[11]
Economy
The Armshead Quarry, located on the Wetley Moor, was closed around 1955.[3] It was used to quarry sandstone, which was blasted out from the rock face.[3] At least one other quarry operated in Washerwall, with other past industries including coal mining, weaving and nail making.[5] Coal mining dates in the area back to at least the 18th century, with notable flurries of activity occurring during miners' strikes in 1921 and 1926.[14] Salter's Lane Colliery Co. Ltd operated between 1960 and 1975, and were given approval to mine in the village in February 1970.[15][16] The last mine operating in Werrington was sunk in 1956, running until its closure in March 1983.[17] Though these industries have fallen away, the area still maintains some number of farms.[5]
Landmarks
In addition to the windmill, there is a point known as 'Dead Mans Grave', which is thought to be a boundary marker stone assembled to mark the boundary of the Stoke and Caverswall parishes in a document from 1689.
There is a well on Washerwall Lane, supplied by a spring, that was used since at least 1775 until the mid-19th century.[19] As well as providing the villagers with fresh water, water carts took the water to nearby towns for a price of one halfpenny a bucket.[19] Around 1810, plans were drawn up to pipe the water into Hanley, though were not followed through. A stone structure was erected around the natural spring in 1874 bearing the mark of the S.R.S.A. (Staffordshire Rural Sanitary Authority).[19]
Transport
The A52 road connects Bucknall with Cellarhead; the original road was opened around 1765.[14]
Education
Moorside High School was opened under the name Cellarhead County Modern School in 1939.[12] Werrington County Primary School was opened in 1995 following an amalgamation of Saltway Junior and Werrington Infants schools.[20] The village has its own library, run by volunteers.[21]
Religious sites
Werrington is home to two churches.
Sport
Phil Taylor, 16-times winner of the World Professional Darts Championship, resides in Werrington.[25] Former professional footballer, Adam Yates, grew up in the village.[26]
References
General
- McNicol, Tony, Werrington etc and Wetley Moor also Werrington Shortly after the start of The Millennium (PDF)
Specific
- ^ a b Burnett, Tom (25 October 2019). "Town has just over 21,000 inhabitants – according to latest figures". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ a b McNicol, p. 1
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Places of Interest". werrington.org. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Cliffe, Dave (12 November 2009). "Moorland Memories: When Werrington's windmill still turned". Moorland Memories. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Home". werrington.org. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ McNicol, p. 2
- ^ "Home". Werrington Parish Council. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "The Village Hall". werrington.org. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ a b McNicol, p. 14
- ^ McNicol, p. 15
- ^ a b c "Werrington Demographics (Staffordshire Moorlands, England)". werrington.localstats.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ a b McNicol, p. 12
- ^ McNicol, p. 13
- ^ a b McNicol, p. 18
- ^ "Salter's Lane Colliery, Werrington, Staffordshire Moorlands, Staffordshire, England, UK". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Evening Sentinel Feb 14th 1970 Page 10". Evening Sentinel. 14 February 1970. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Werrington Coal Mine information and photos". www.aditnow.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ Historic England, "Stone post at SJ 9342 4781, Werrington (1037910)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 30 January 2020
- ^ a b c "Public Well, Washerwall Lane, Werrington". thepotteries.org. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ McNicol, p. 23
- ^ "Werrington Community Library and Wellbeing Centre – Staffordshire County Council". www.staffordshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ a b c d "St Philips Church". werrington.org. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Werrington – Stoke North Methodist Circuit". stokenorthmethodistcircuit.org. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ a b McNicol, p. 10
- ^ Davies, Ruby (4 March 2021). "Phil 'The Power' Taylor receives Covid-19 vaccine at JCB factory". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ Baggaley, Michael (30 November 2017). "Port Vale's Adam Yates speaks out after 'horrendous' injury". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
Media related to Werrington, Staffordshire at Wikimedia Commons