Oakamoor

Last updated

Oakamoor
Oakamoor Village Centre - geograph.org.uk - 458933.jpg
Village centre
Staffordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Oakamoor
Location within Staffordshire
Population593 (2011 census) [1]
OS grid reference SK056447
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Stoke-on-Trent
Postcode district ST10
Dialling code 01538
Police Staffordshire
Fire Staffordshire
Ambulance West Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Staffordshire
53°00′00″N1°55′00″W / 53.000°N 1.91667°W / 53.000; -1.91667

Oakamoor is a small village in north Staffordshire, England.

Contents

Although it is now a rural area, it has an industrial past which drew on the natural resources of the Churnet valley. Iron was smelted from medieval times. Copper and lumber were also important to the local economy.

In the nineteenth century Thomas Bolton's copperworks near the River Churnet supplied copper wire for the first transatlantic telegraph cable. [2] [3] [4] The buildings of the Thomas Bolton factory were demolished in 1966.[ citation needed ] The company merged with others in 1984 to form “Thomas Bolton and Johnson” with factories elsewhere. [5] In 2014, the company went into administration, potentially ending copper manufacturing in Great Britain. [6]

Lightoaks Hall on Cheadle Road dates from the 1820s and was built for the Bolton family. Holy Trinity parish church, on Church Bank, was erected in 1832, at a cost of £1600, raised by subscription and a grant from the Church Building Society.

Clement Lindley Wragge, later a notable meteorologist, was raised in Oakamoor from 1852-1865.

The Churnet Valley line passed through Oakamoor. Oakamoor railway station was closed down in 1967. The railway track leading to Alton Towers railway station has been converted to a footpath.

Media interest

In 2004 Oakamoor was the subject of a television programme in the Channel 4 Time Team archaeology series, which investigated the remains of The Old Furnace. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leek, Staffordshire</span> Town in Staffordshire, England

Leek is a market town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet 10 miles (16 km) north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endon</span> Human settlement in England

Endon is a village within the Staffordshire Moorlands district of Staffordshire, England. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Leek and 6 miles (9.7 km) north-northeast of Stoke-on-Trent. Endon was formerly a township in civil parish of Leek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alton, Staffordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Alton is a village in Staffordshire, England. It is noted for the theme park Alton Towers, built around the site of Alton Mansion, which was owned by the Earls of Shrewsbury, and designed by Augustus Pugin. In the 1914 map by Whiston, there were copper works in the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Churnet</span> River in Staffordshire, England

The River Churnet is a river in Staffordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Dove.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staffordshire Moorlands</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Staffordshire Moorlands is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. Its council is based in Leek, the district's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Biddulph and Cheadle, along with a large rural area containing many villages. North-eastern parts of the district lie within the Peak District National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caldon Canal</span> Waterway in England

Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs 18 miles (29 km) from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the 76-yard (69 m) Froghall Tunnel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churnet Valley Railway</span> Heritage railway in Staffordshire, England

The Churnet Valley Railway is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway in the Staffordshire Moorlands of Staffordshire, England. It operates on part of the former Churnet Valley Line which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway. The railway is roughly 10.5 miles (16.9 km) long from Kingsley and Froghall to Ipstones. The land from Leek Brook Junction to Ipstones was opened by Moorland & City Railways (MCR) in 2010 after they took a lease out from Network Rail. This has subsequently been purchased by the Churnet Valley Railway. The main stations along the line are Kingsley and Froghall, Consall, Cheddleton and Leek Brook. An extension to the town of Leek which will act as the northern terminus of the line was completed in late 2024. The line between Leek and Waterhouses has also been reopened as part of the heritage railway as far as Ipstones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheadle, Staffordshire</span> Town in Staffordshire, England

Cheadle is a market town and civil parish in the Staffordshire Moorlands District of Staffordshire, England, with a population of 12,000 at the 2021 census. It is located between Uttoxeter, Leek, Ashbourne and Stoke-on-Trent. Dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, it lies within the historic Staffordshire Hundred of Totmonslow; for administrative purposes, it is now part of the Staffordshire Moorlands area.

Kingsley and Froghall is a former railway station of the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) that is now preserved on the Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consall</span> Village in Staffordshire, England

Consall is a small village situated in the Staffordshire Moorlands, Staffordshire, England. It is approximately 6 miles south of the market town of Leek and 8 miles east of Stoke-on-Trent. According to the last Census taken in 2001, Consall had a population of 118, increasing to 150 at the 2011 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheddleton</span> Village in Staffordshire, England

Cheddleton is an ancient parish and village in the Staffordshire Moorlands, near to the town of Leek, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alton Towers railway station</span> Disused railway station in Alton, Staffordshire

Alton is a former railway station in Staffordshire, which served the village of Alton and the country estate at Alton Towers. Opened in 1849 by the North Staffordshire Railway, the station was a stop on the Churnet Valley line. In 1954, the station was renamed Alton Towers. After its closure in 1965, the station site was purchased by Staffordshire County Council in 1969 to curtail persistent vandalism of the station building. In 1979, it was sold to the Landmark Trust, who reverted the site's name back to Alton and converted the former station buildings into holiday accommodation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Froghall</span> Human settlement in England

Froghall is a village situated approximately ten miles to the east of Stoke-on-Trent and two miles north of Cheadle in Staffordshire, England. Population details as taken at the 2011 Census can be found under Kingsley. Froghall sits in the Churnet Valley, a beautiful and relatively unspoilt part of Staffordshire. There are some excellent and challenging walks in the area, many of which encompass the area's historic development by the coal, ironstone, copper and limestone industries.

Denstone is a village and civil parish situated between the towns of Uttoxeter in East Staffordshire and Ashbourne in Derbyshire. It is located next to the River Churnet. The village has a church, village hall, primary school and a pub. The nearest railway station is at Uttoxeter for the Crewe to Derby line and the nearest airport is East Midlands Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakamoor railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Oakamoor railway station is a closed railway station in the Churnet Valley, Staffordshire. The station was opened in 1849 as part of the Churnet Valley Line constructed by the North Staffordshire Railway. Serving the village of Oakamoor the station remained open until 1965 when all services were withdrawn, A little north of the station, freight traffic from Oakamoor Sand Sidings continued until 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denstone railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Denstone railway station is a former station of the North Staffordshire Railway's (NSR) Churnet Valley Line which served the village of Denstone in Staffordshire.

The Churnet Valley line was one of the three original routes planned and built by the North Staffordshire Railway. Authorised in 1846, the line opened in 1849 and ran from North Rode in Cheshire to Uttoxeter in East Staffordshire. The line was closed in several stages between 1964 and 1988 but part of the central section passed into the hands of a preservation society and today operates as the Churnet Valley Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollington, Staffordshire</span> Village in Staffordshire, England

Hollington is a village in the civil parish of Checkley, in the Staffordshire Moorlands district in Staffordshire, England. There are several villages of this name, including Hollington, Derbyshire a few miles to the east in the county of Derbyshire.

Leek railway station is the proposed and future terminus of the Churnet Valley Railway and is currently awaiting construction. It will be the second railway station in Leek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Old Furnace</span>

The Old Furnace is a colloquial name given to an historic site in Oakamoor, Staffordshire, England, that supported the development of medieval and post-medieval iron smelting.

References

  1. "Civil Parish population 2011" . Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. "Oakamoor". Staffordshire County Council web pages. Staffordshire County Council. 29 October 2007. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
  3. "History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network: Thomas Bolton & Sons". Atlantic Cable. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  4. "Boltons Copper Works, Frog Hall, Kingsley". Staffordshire Past Track. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  5. "Thomas Bolton and Sons". Grace’s Guide. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  6. "Thomas Bolton: 'Last' copper works in administration". BBC. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  7. Time Team fan site (Archived 8 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine ). Retrieved on 2008-06-09.