Our Locality

The Circuit Area

The Circuit is situated in east Cheshire and north Staffordshire, 28 miles south of Manchester. There are seven small towns in and around the circuit area: Alsager, Biddulph, Biddulph Moor, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich and Sandbach, together with the city of Stoke on Trent just to the south.

The northern and western parts of the circuit area contain much rich agricultural land, with livestock farming the chief activity, together with quarrying for fine sand for the glass industry.  The rich farm land here is due to a thick covering of glacial material left after the last ice age.  These same glaciers left the valuable glass-sand deposits too.  

In this agricultural part of the circuit area is the old market town of Congleton, granted a charter for its market in 1272.  Just a mile south of Congleton is the Staffordshire border where the landscape changes as a result of a geological fault.  In this direction, Biddulph and much of the Stoke on Trent area has a tradition of heavy industry based on their coal measures. 

Attractions in and around the circuit area include Little Moreton Hall (picture above), reputedly the finest Tudor building in the country and owned by the National Trust, Mow Cop Castle, also owned by the National Trust,  the famous Staffordshire potteries such as Doulton and Wedgewood, Ford Green Hall, a 17th century timber-framed farmhouse, Marton Church, which claims to have the oldest timber- framed place of worship in Europe still in use, and Jodrell Bank, the world's largest movable radio telescope.  

See  also the following for further information 

• Biddulph, Congleton and Places around Congleton to Visit and the 'Congleton District Profile' published by Cheshire County Council (but ***see on***).
  

   
    Note that: the information from Cheshire County Council is in PDF format.  You will need Adobe Acrobat reader.

The Town of Congleton

Congleton is an ancient market town known as 'Bear Town' because bear baiting used to be a popular sport there in Elizabethan times.  It's said that when the town's bear died just before their Annual Wakes celebrations the town used the money set aside to buy a bible, to purchase a new bear, so as not to spoil their celebrations! 

There are signs of human settlement in the area dating back to Stone Age times. The Bridestones, about 3 miles along the road heading east from Congleton to Rushton Spencer, is a tomb thought to have been built in Neolithic times.  Also three miles east of the town is The Cloud (picture above): a gritstone-topped hill owned by the National Trust which is clad in heather and pine trees and provides great views from its 1,100 foot (340 metre) summit. 

See also a history of Congleton.  For the story of Congleton's development from early times, see a description of its entry in the  Domesday Book and the many charters awarded to the town and its people.

The Town of Biddulph

Biddulph grew to significance as a result of its coal measures (at one time there were five large collieries operating in the area) plus 'ironstone' quarries and deposits of fine sand for the pottery industry.  There was also a silk mill and a factory for making spades and shovels. 

Two derivations of the town's name are commonly offered.  One is that it is from the Anglo Saxon 'bi dylfe' meaning 'beside the pit / quarry'.  The alternative idea is that it is from the Saxon 'Bidulfe' meaning 'wolf slayer'.   

Nowadays, the town is known as the Garden Town of Staffordshire.  It has two country parks, the Biddulph Valley Way, which is part of the National Cycle Network, and Biddulph Grange Victorian garden, owned by the National Trust.

The River Trent rises just to the east of the town, in the village of Biddulph Moor.

Little Moreton Hall

Other Places in the Circuit

Lower Withington lies in an area of farming and quarrying.  The name means 'the village' ('tun') 'in the willows' ('withig').  The Methodist chapel was built in 1808.  On Rogation Sunday, the minister, the local vicar and their congregations, walk the local fields to bless the livestock and crops.  The brass band supports carol singers as they sing their way round the houses and farms at Christmas time.

Bosley lies in the valley of the River Dane, below the landmark hill top of The Cloud (picture below).  Scenic Bosley Reservoir nearby feeds the Macclesfield Canal.  There is a wood flour treatment works in the village.  The Methodist church was built in 1885, replacing a Wesleyan chapel dating from 1832.

The Cloud from canal

Davenport lies just west of Congleton.  The chapel was founded  in 1834.  The Venables family from Lightwood Farm were the driving force behind it.

Key Green Chapel lies on the northern slopes of The Cloud (picture above), just east of Congleton.  Methodism came in 1808, when a cottage was opened for preaching purposes. 

Mow Cop prominent hill top has long been both a spiritual site and source of gritstone, e.g. for millstones.  Mow Cop Castle (picture above), built in 1754, was originally a summer house for the Wilbraham family, though part was a folly to improve the view from their home.

'Primitive Methodism' originated here, seeking a simpler form of worship than the Wesleyan form.  It is commemorate by a memorial stone near the castle.  An early aspect was outdoor worship at 'camp' meetings, which are still repeated each year.