Wetton is a village in the
Peak District National Park Peak or The Peak may refer to:
Basic meanings Geology
* Mountain peak
** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics
* Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion
* Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...
, North
Staffordshire, at the top of the east side of the
Manifold Valley. The population recorded in the
2001 Census was 157. At the time of the 2011 Census the population was recorded under
Ilam. This article describes the location, some of the main features of the village, and a number of places of historical or general interest in or near the village. These include
Long Low, Wetton, a prehistoric burial site unique to England.
Because the post town is
Ashbourne, Derbyshire, many sources of tourist information wrongly describe Wetton as being in Derbyshire.
Location
Wetton is a small village in the
Staffordshire Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...
. It is about 2 miles west of
Alstonfield and 8½ miles east of
Leek. It stands high above the Manifold valley and contains mostly stone-built properties. The village has an inn, and a church, part of which dates back to the 14th century. The church is unusual in that it has an external staircase to its belfry.
Wetton village
![Wetton 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Wetton_01.jpg)
Wetton village is primarily a collection of farmhouses, with the gaps filled in by cottages and a few larger houses. Towards the centre of the village are the village green, Ye Olde Royal Oak public house, the church, and the former vicarage.
The village gives its name to Wetton Mill (or Wettonmill), a nearby hamlet on the
River Manifold
The River Manifold is a river in Staffordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Dove (which also flows through the Peak District, forming the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire).
The Manifold rises at Flash Head just sout ...
, and Wetton Hill (), which are both in the care of the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
.
There are many burial chambers or mounds in the area, including those on Wetton Hill itself, at Wetton Low, south of the village, and
Long Low, to the south-east.
St Margaret's Parish Church
(1) on sketch plan.
The parish Church of St Margaret is the most obvious public building in the village. It is now in the Benefice of Alstonefield, in the Diocese of Lichfield. The present building was rebuilt in 1820, but the tower dates from the 14th century.
Reading Room
(6) on sketch plan.
The Reading Room, by the churchyard gate opposite the village green, has not been in use for many decades. This may have been the "Club House" referred to by Rev. J. B. Dyson in his 1853 history of ''Methodism in the Leek Circuit'' as an early venue for Methodist meetings.
School
(2) on sketch plan.
The village school closed because of falling pupil numbers. The building is now in use as the Village Hall and also houses a tea room. The old village hall, situated on the road to Wetton Mill, was a corrugated iron construction which was unusable by the 1960s. Children from Wetton now travel to
Ilam or
Warslow, along with those from nearby
Alstonefield.
Methodist Chapel and Manse
(8) (9) on sketch plan.
The former Chapel and Manse are next to Town End Farm, which is the last farm on the north-east of the village.
The Old Police House
The village police house, with its cell, is now a residential home. It is between the village green and the former Methodist Chapel. Staffordshire Police rented the property from the Duke of Devonshire from 1876 for use as a police station. The cell was added in 1889, and the station was closed in 1941. The Charge Book is held in Staffordshire records office and this indicates that between 1890 and 1941 some 28 persons were detained overnight for various alleged offences. The adjoining property is the former schoolmistress's house.
The Royal Oak
(4) on sketch plan.
The Royal Oak public house is famous for the annual
toe wrestling competition. It is said that this sport began there in 1976, but was not raised to a championship event until 1993. For many years the event took place at the Bentley Brook Inn at
Fenny Bentley
Fenny Bentley is a small village and civil parish located close to Dovedale in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. The population in 2009 was 305 reducing to 183 at the 2011 Census. It lies two miles north of Ashbourne, on the ...
near
Ashbourne, Derbyshire, but it returned to Wetton in 2015.
History
The various
tumuli
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...
point to prehistoric
Stone Age and
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
settlements. Many local caves and cave-shelters have been excavated and have yielded evidence of inhabitation stretching far back into prehistory. For instance, items found in Thor's Cave, and now in the museum at
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.[Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...]
of 1086, unlike neighbouring Alstonefield, Warslow and Stanshope. The earliest reference is to ''Wetindona'' in a document from the late 12th century. The name may derive from Old English meaning 'wet hill'.
The English Heritage listing document for Wetton church has: "Early 14th century
ower, on which... gargoyles at belfry stage ... parapet band with gargoyles".
The remains of an Anglo-Saxon settlement, with earlier evidence of Roman occupation, were found in nearby Borough Fields by the geologist Samuel Carrington in the mid-18th century, and excavated by his friend Thomas Bateman who was then the leading local antiquary. A full account of their excavations was given in Bateman's book ''Ten years’ diggings'' (1861). Carrington and Bateman were enshrined in literature some years later as the leading characters "Hornblower" and "Flaxdale" in
Eliza Meteyard
Eliza Meteyard (1816–1879) was an English writer. She was known for journalism, essays, novels, and biographies, particularly as an authority on Wedgwood pottery and its creator. She did living writing for periodicals.
Life
The daughter of Wi ...
's novel ''Dora and her Papa'' (1869), by which time Carrington was the Schoolmaster and Parish Clerk at Wetton.
Industry
With the advent of the Mill at Wetton Mill, there was a surge in corn-growing along the valley tops. The number of disused lead mines in the area point to a range of other industries from around the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the late Victorian period the most significant heavy industry was related to the construction of the
Leek and Manifold Light Railway and mining at
Ecton.
Methodism
When the Wetton and
Longnor Wesleyan
Methodist Circuit
The organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain is based on the principle of connexionalism. This means that British Methodism, from its inception under John Wesley (1703–1791), has always laid strong emphasis on mutual support, in ...
was formed in 1870, Wetton was chosen for the Manse. In 1932, the Circuit incorporated various Primitive Methodist Chapels. The Circuit was disbanded in 1969. The first Wesleyan Methodist building was opened in 1828. The Primitive Methodists held meetings in Wetton, but did not establish a Chapel there. However, the Methodist Chapel at
Ecton was Primitive Methodist, resulting from the industrial mission work from
Ramsor and later the Leek Primitive Methodist Circuit. After the completion of the railway in 1904, a building at Ecton became the Methodist Chapel there.
Places of interest
As a tourist destination, Wetton has a number of places of interest within the Parish.
Manifold Valley
The main tourist destination is the
Manifold Valley. Several places may be noted (starting upstream).
Ecton
At the northern end of Wetton Parish,
Ecton is most famous for the
copper mine
Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...
.
Swainsley
A little downstream from Ecton, this is the site of the only tunnel on the former railway. This was built because one of the owners of the railway lived there and did not want to be disturbed by passing trains.
Wetton Mill
![Wetton Mill Bridge - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Wetton_Mill_Bridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_72484.jpg)
Wetton Mill was a water mill for grinding corn, and the remains of a mill stream, along with a grindstone, may still be seen. The mill is long since disused, but the Tea Room is popular with tourists. There is ample parking by the mill, on the site of the old halt, and the café is a popular stopping point for walkers using the
Manifold Way
The Manifold Way is a footpath and cycle way in Staffordshire, England. Some in length, it runs from Hulme End in the north to Waterhouses in the south, mostly through the Manifold Valley and the valley of its only tributary, the River Ham ...
and the many other rural walks that can incorporate parts of it. Immediately downstream from the mill are several "swallow holes" where the River Manifold begins to flow underground to Ilam.
The conclusion of the 14th-century chivalric romantic poem ''
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of ...
'' is thought to be set in the district. This is partly because the dialect in which the poem is written is now accepted by scholars as closely resembling that of the district, and also partly due to the extensive local work of R.W.V. Elliot in the 1970s. This has led some to try to identify precisely the actual location of the story's climax. Mabel Day (1940) proposed Nan Tor Cave, "at the bottom of the valley where the Hoo Brook runs into the Manifold at Wetton Mill" (near the site of the Wetton Mill train station), as a candidate for the Green Chapel. Her idea was later examined in detail by
Robert Kaske
Robert Earl Kaske (1 June 1921 – 8 August 1989) was an American professor of medieval literature. He spent most of his career at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he was the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities, and where ...
(1972).
Thor's Cave
Thor's Cave
Thor's Cave (also known as Thor's House Cavern and Thyrsis's Cave) is a natural cavern located at in the Manifold Valley of the White Peak in Staffordshire, England. It is classified as a karst cave. Located in a steep limestone crag, the cav ...
is a prominent landmark, both in the valley, and for some distance around. The cave is clearly visible from the moorland above
Warslow. The main cave is near the top of a cliff overlooking the river; at the base of the cliff are a number of small caves only just above river level, which may be reached when the river bed is dry.
The Weags
The bridge where the road from Wetton to
Grindon crosses the river is known as Weags Bridge. The valley sides are steep at this point, and the road has hairpin bends on both sides. As with much of the Manifold valley, the road is unsuitable for coaches.
Beeston Tor
Beeston Tor
Beeston Tor () is a limestone cliff in Staffordshire. It overlooks the confluence of the River Hamps with the River Manifold, and is a popular venue for rock climbing (seasonal restrictions for rock climbing apply).
There was a small station ...
is a prominent rock face opposite the confluence of the
River Hamps. This is popular with rock climbers.
Leek and Manifold Light Railway
Wetton was served by a railway station which was opened by the narrow gauge (2' 6")
Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway
The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MVLR) was a narrow gauge railway in Staffordshire, England that operated between 1904 and 1934. The line mainly carried milk from dairies in the region, acting as a feeder to the system. It also ...
on 27 June 1904, whilst being entirely operated by the
North Staffordshire Railway
The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire.
The company was based ...
. The main purposes of the railway were to provide (1) more rapid transport for milk and dairy products from farms around the valley to customers in Leek and
The Potteries
The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of ...
, and (2) easier transport for the copper being mined at Ecton.
The village of Wetton was a good mile from the station, and the fact that the line followed the valley bottom whereas the settlements served by the railway were mostly on the hill-tops above was a contributary factor in its demise. The line closed in 1934, but in 1937 the route was reopened as the
Manifold Way
The Manifold Way is a footpath and cycle way in Staffordshire, England. Some in length, it runs from Hulme End in the north to Waterhouses in the south, mostly through the Manifold Valley and the valley of its only tributary, the River Ham ...
, a fully tarmacked 8-mile walk- and cycle-path which runs from
Hulme End
Hulme End () is a small hamlet in Staffordshire, England. It is located in the Peak District National Park about 10 miles north of Ashbourne. A natural gateway to the Manifold valley, the settlement is located beside the river Manifold where ...
in the north to
Waterhouses in the south.
Hills and other features
Wetton Hill
![On Wetton Hill - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/On_Wetton_Hill_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1233593.jpg)
With a peak at 1221 feet above sea level, Wetton Hill is a prominent landmark. Views from the summit include
Rugeley power station, some 25 miles south.
Wetton Low
Wetton Low is another peak, almost due south of the village. The name ''Low'' comes from its use as a burial ground, with several tumuli. There are also a number of disused lead mines in this area, some in the form of
adit
An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adit ...
s. At one time a wooded area of the valley side near the Low was designated as a nature reserve.
Long Low
Long Low is a Neolithic and Bronze Age burial site of a rare form, unique to Britain. It is about a mile south east of the village, with Wetton Low about mid-way from Long Low to the village.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Wetton, Staffordshire
References
Notes
#The Wetton page of the ''Discover Derbyshire, Peak District'' web site (apparently claiming parts of Staffordshire as being across the border) has a very useful description of the village.
External links
The village on the web*
Lichfield Diocesan web site*
Alstonefield Deanery web siteWetton Parish boundaries on ONS websiteWetton page of ONS website
{{authority control
Villages in Staffordshire
Towns and villages of the Peak District
Staffordshire Moorlands