Chesterton is a former mining village in the

Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme The Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England. It is named after the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, where the council is based, but includes the town of Kidsgrove and villages o ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England. Chesterton is the second largest individual ward in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. In the 2011 census, Chesterton's population stood at 7,421.

History

Roman Chesterton

Chesterton was the site of a

Roman fort In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

, built on an area now occupied by Chesterton Community Sports College. There is little indication of how long the fort was in use but it is believed to have been constructed in the late 1st Century AD. A

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus r ...

was built at nearby Holditch, where it is believed that some inhabitants may have mined for coal. There have been various excavations at the site. Excavations in 1895 revealed the fort's vallum, fosse (

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

) and parts of the east and west defensive structures. Later excavations in 1969 uncovered further sections of the eastern ramparts.

Later history

Chesterton was a parish in the

Wolstanton Rural District Wolstanton was a rural district in Staffordshire, England from 1894 to 1904. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894 based on Wolstanton rural sanitary district. It was abolished in 1904 with the parishes being divided between success ...

from 1894 to 1904. Following that, it became part of the Wolstanton United Urban District until 1932, when it was added to the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. The main employer in Chesterton was

Holditch Colliery The Holditch Colliery disaster was a coal mining accident on 2 July 1937, in Chesterton, Staffordshire, England, in which 30 men died and eight were injured. It was caused by a fire and subsequent explosions, and was exacerbated by a decision ...

. The colliery employed 1,500 men and mined ironstone in addition to

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

. Despite heavy investment in the 1960s and 1970s the colliery closed down in 1988, just three years after the end of the year-long

miners' strike Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions. See also * List of strikes References {{Reflist Miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are tw ...

. Many of the miners transferred to nearby

Silverdale Colliery Silverdale is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, west of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is a self contained ward of Newcastle Borough Council returning 2 Councillors. Historically, the village was dom ...

, which itself closed down on Christmas Eve 1998. The current site of Holditch Colliery is now a large business park.

Holditch Colliery disaster

The

Holditch Colliery disaster The Holditch Colliery disaster was a coal mining accident on 2 July 1937, in Chesterton, Staffordshire, England, in which 30 men died and eight were injured. It was caused by a fire and subsequent explosions, and was exacerbated by a decisio ...

was a coal mining accident occurring on 2 July 1937 at the Holditch Colliery, which at one point was the main employer in the village. In total, 30 men died and eight were injured. An investigation was conducted into the incident. The original fire was concluded to have originated in the coal cutting machine and was due to frictional heat produced by the picks in the cut with subsequent explosions being caused by

firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the releas ...

. The investigation concluded that the rescue plans were insufficient and adopted to save costs at the expense of lives. Today a memorial stands to the victims at

Apedale Heritage Centre The Apedale Heritage Centre was created at the site of Staffordshire's Apedale Mine and is run by volunteers. It is located just outside the village of Chesterton near Newcastle-under-Lyme in the Apedale Community Country Park. Attractions incl ...

Education

There are four

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

in the village: Churchfields Primary, Chesterton Primary, Crackley Bank Primary and St. Chad's Primary; and one Secondary school: Chesterton Community Sports College.

Religion

Chesterton is home to five churches: Holy Trinity Church, Elim Pentecostal Church, St Johns the Evangelist Church, Chesterton United Reform Church, and St Chad's Church.St Chad's Church Red Street website
retrieved 17 February 2019

Places of interest

Train at Apedale Valley Light Railway station, Apedale Community Country Park, near Chesterton (geograph 3070620)

Apedale Community Country Park Apedale Community Country Park is a country park in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. The park is unusual for the area as it was previously as an opencast mine. The area has a long history of mining, with the near ...

Moseley Railway Trust The Moseley Railway Trust is a major British collection of industrial narrow gauge locomotives and other equipment. It originally had its base in south Manchester, but has relocated to the Apedale Community Country Park near Newcastle-under-Ly ...

Loomer Road Stadium Loomer Road Stadium is a former sports stadium situated in Chesterton, Staffordshire. The building had considerable parking facilities, covered terracing and a bar with a view of the track. It had a capacity of 5,000. The stadium was constructe ...

Notable people

* Arthur Dobson (1893–1918) footballer * Arthur Turner (1909–1994) football player and manager *

Ken Downing Kenneth Henry Downing (5 December 1917 – 3 May 2004) was an English racing driver. From a wealthy family, he began racing in the late 1940s, competing in his first event the Eastbourne Rally in a Healey. Initially racing a Brooke Special, he ...

(1917–2004) motor racing driver *

Frank Bowyer Francis "Frank" Bowyer (10 April 1922 – 11 November 1999) was an English footballer who played as an inside forward for Stoke City. Career Bowyer was born in Chesterton, Staffordshire and played for Stoke-on-Trent schools before joining S ...

(1922–1999) footballer * Jackie Trent (1940–2015) singer & songwriter *

Mike Pejic Michael Pejic (born 25 January 1950) is a former England international footballer who played in the English Football League for Stoke City, Everton and Aston Villa. Pejic started his career with Stoke City under the management of Tony Waddin ...

(born 1950) footballer *

Tony Loska Anthony Stephen Patrick Loska (born 11 February 1950) is an English former footballer who played as a left-back. He scored 10 goals in 304 league games in a 12-year career in the Football League with Shrewsbury Town, Port Vale, Chester, and H ...

(born 1950) footballer *

Ian Moores Ian Richard Moores (5 October 1954 – 12 January 1998) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Barnsley, Bolton Wanderers, Orient, Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur. Playing career Moores was born in Chesterton, Sta ...

(1954–1998) footballer *

Mel Pejic Melvyn Pejic (born 27 April 1959) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Hereford United, Stoke City and Wrexham. His brother Mike was also a professional footballer as well as his son Shaun. Playing career Pej ...

(born 1959) footballer *

Aaron Ramsdale Aaron Christopher Ramsdale (born 14 May 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Arsenal and the England national team. Ramsdale began his senior club career playing for Sheffield United and signed for AFC ...

(born 1998) footballer

References

External links

Roman Fort at Chesterton

Apedale Heritage Centre and Country Park

The Moseley Railway Trust website
{{authority control Tourist attractions in Staffordshire Villages in Staffordshire Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme