Dilhorne

Dilhorne

Coordinates: 52°59′23″N 2°02′27″W / 52.9898°N 2.0407°W / 52.9898; -2.0407

Dilhorne
Dilhorne is located in Staffordshire
Dilhorne

 Dilhorne shown within Staffordshire
Population 458 
OS grid reference SJ953414
Parish Dilhorne
District Staffordshire Moorlands
Shire county Staffordshire
Region West Midlands
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Stoke-on-Trent
Postcode district ST10
Dialling code 01782 and 01538
Police Staffordshire
Fire Staffordshire
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK Parliament Staffordshire Moorlands
List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire
Foxfield Colliery
All Saints church

Dilhorne is an ancient parish and village in Staffordshire, three miles from Cheadle and six miles from Stoke-on-Trent.The village is within the Staffordshire Moorlands area.

Historically the village has been in the Parish of Dilhorne and the ancient Hundred of Totmonslow.

Contents

Etymology

The name Dilhorne has its origins in the old English name of "Delverne" which means "place of digging"[1] and is because Dilhorne sits on the Cheadle Coalfield and several seams of very high quality coal outcrop in the area. The name of Delverne, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book, suggests that the area was known for coal mining nearly a thousand years ago.

Coal Mining

Historically,the largest Industry in Dilhorne for hundreds of years was Coal Mining. The Coal Mining Industry became the main source of employment in the 19th century as the small adit mines that followed the outcrops of Coal, progressively gave way to larger Mines,funded and owned in part by the local landowners who now became became coalmasters. In particular the Whitehurst and Bamford families who became co-owners of several mining concerns,the largest being the Dilhorne Colliery, a large mine which was known in the coalfield for its modern steam engines. Interestingly, the site of Dilhorne Colliery is occupied nowadays by a small farm known as "Old Engine Farm."

Foxfield Colliery

Foxfield Colliery, located at Godley Brook was the largest mine in Dilhorne, eventually the largest mine in the Cheadle Coalfield and in the end the last mine remaining in the coalfield, working for well over 80 years. However, its beginnings made its future far from uncertain. Originally, the landowner wouldn't let anyone prospect for coal on her land and, when finally a shaft was sunk in 1880 it was called "Manns Pit", instead of Foxfield. The Pit did though have access to good Coal and the Dilhorne and Woodhead seams were mined[1]. In a sign of the times, when the first Woodhead coal was mined all the colliery's staff were treated to a grand supper at the Wagon and Horses Public House.

The pit continued to grow and by 1893 Foxfield became the first mine in Cheadle to have its own rail connection to the National Rail Network as a three and a half mile branch line was opened to Blythe Bridge and connection to the NSR Stoke to Derby line[2].

Foxfield was extensively modernised in the 1930s as all production from neighbouring Parkhall Colliery was moved to Foxfield. New coal screens were built and concrete headgears were constructed. The seams mined were the Dilhorne, Four Foot and Woodhead.

Foxfield, along with the rest of the coal industry was nationalised in 1947 and the pit entered a period of expansion where by 1954 the workforce stood at 550 with 210,000 tonnes mined a year.[1] However, this was the high water mark and gradually output and manpower decreased. In 1965 Foxfield Colliery was closed by the National Coal Board. The Colliery had nearly exhausted its economic reserves,and as it was not fully mechanised the board decided to transfer the majority of the Miners to Florence Colliery in Longton where a fully mechanised face in the Moss seam was prepared for the Foxfield men. Foxfield Colliery is still standing, and today is owned by the Foxfield Steam Railway who run heritage steam traction to the site.

Mining still continued in the Dilhorne area but on a very small scale in small private adit mines. The most prominent was Abovepark Colliery near to Dairy House Farm. This small mine closed in 1998.

Agriculture and Farming

Agriculture in Dilhorne still plays a large part in the village, but the number of farms and workers has dramatically decreased over the years. The main concern of agriculture around the Dilhorne area is dairy farming.

All Saints Parish Church

The parish church, All Saints, dates back to the Norman Conquest of England.A feature of the church is its octagonal tower,one of only a few such church towers in the country. All Saints Parish Church is one of the oldest in Staffordshire and services are every Sunday. The old parish of Dilhorne has changed a great deal over the last 100 years as outlying areas merged into other parishes or became newer parishes. Dilhorne parish itself is now linked with nearby Caverswall as the united beniface of Caverswall and Dilhorne.

There is also a Methodist chapel in the Godley Brook area of the village.

Elsewhere in the Village

Within the village there are two fine public houses. The Royal Oak at the top of High Street and The White Lion, which is opposite All Saints Church. The latter was formally named after one of its landlords, Charlie Bassett and was originally known as the Colliers Arms. Another pub which closed a few years ago was the Rose and Crown near Foxfield Colliery in the Godley Brook area.

Dilhorne Hall was the ancestral home of the Buller family who were noted in the legal profession in London during the 19th Century.

There is also a small primary school in the village, the Dilhorne Endowed School which has a very good reputation locally.

References

  1. ^ a b c Chester, Herbert (2002). The history of the Cheadle Coalfield. Landmark Publications. ISBN 1 84306 013 2. 
  2. ^ Baker, Allan C (2003). The Iron, Steel and Coal Industry in North Staffordshire. Irwell Press Ltd. ISBN 1 903266 35 1. 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dilhorne Hall — located in Dilhorne, Staffordshire, England was the ancestral home of the Buller family. The gatehouse of Dilhorne Hall which is the only part of the Hall remaining History The Hall occupied an area of approximately four acres but was …   Wikipedia

  • Dilhorne Park railway station — Coordinates: 53°0′0.00″N 2°2′49.00″W / 53°N 2.04694°W / 53; 2.04694 …   Wikipedia

  • Viscount Dilhorne — Viscount Dilhorne, of Greens Norton in the County of Northampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1964 for the lawyer, Conservative politician and former Lord Chancellor, Reginald Manningham Buller, 1st Baron… …   Wikipedia

  • Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne — Reginald Edward Manningham Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne KC PC (August 1, 1905 September 7, 1980) was, as the 1st Baron Dilhorne, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain from 1962 to 1964.BiographyHe was the only son of Sir Mervyn Edward Manningham …   Wikipedia

  • John Manningham-Buller, 2nd Viscount Dilhorne — John Mervyn Manningham Buller, 2nd Viscount Dilhorne and 2nd Baron Dilhorne Bt (b. February 28, 1932) is the son of Reginald Manningham Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne and Lady Mary Lindsay.He married, firstly, Gillian Stockwell, on October 8, 1955 …   Wikipedia

  • Cheadle Coalfield — Foxfield Colliery The Cheadle Coalfield is a coalfield in the United Kingdom. Centred around the town of Cheadle, Staffordshire and its outlying villages it lies to the east of Stoke on Trent and the much larger North Staffordshire Coalfield. The …   Wikipedia

  • Eliza Manningham-Buller, Baroness Manningham-Buller — Infobox Officeholder honorific prefix = The Right Honourable name = The Baroness Manningham Buller honorific suffix = DCB image size = caption = birth name = Elizabeth Lydia Manningham Buller birth date = birth date and age|1948|7|14|df=y birth… …   Wikipedia

  • Eliza Manningham-Buller — The Right Honourable The Baroness Manningham Buller DCB Allegiance United Kingdom Service MI5 …   Wikipedia

  • Baron Churston — Baron Churston, of Churston Ferrers and Lupton in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1858 for the former Conservative Member of Parliament Sir John Yarde, 3rd Baronet. He had earlier… …   Wikipedia

  • David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir — The Right Honourable The Earl of Kilmuir GCVO PC KC The Earl of Kilmuir in the Lord Chancellor s robes …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”