Hollinsclough is a small rural village in the county of

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 ...

in the English Midlands. It is within the Peak District National Park.

Location and geography

Hollinsclough is on the upper reaches of the River Dove, at one end of a level area between the Dove and 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 south ...

, not far from their sources on the eastern side of Axe Edge Moor. Here the Manifold flows through moorland on sandstone and various gritstones, before a conspicuous change at Hulme End, about 6 miles downstream, when the underlying rock changes to limestone. For all its length, the Dove marks the border between Staffordshire and Derbyshire. Not far downstream from Hollinsclough the Dove enters the limestone valley that ends in the famous

Dovedale Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust and attracts a million visitors annually. The valley was cut by the River Dove, Central England, River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale ...

. The Church of St Agnes, built as a Chapel of Ease in 1840 when Hollinsclough was in the parish of Quornford, is now linked with the parish of Longnor, about 2 miles east. The church has been abandoned for worship, and is now used as a residential centre for visitors to the Peak District.

The village

Village name and population

According to the English Place-Name Society, the name Hollinsclough comes from ''Howel's ravine''. Various documents, including tenancy records for the Manor of Haysgate in the County of Stafford, from 1651 to 1850 give the following variants of the name. Hollescloughe (1651), Holling Clough (1750), Hollingclough (1767), and ''The Liberty of Hollinsclough'' (1769). The population list for 1769 has 112 names. The 1851 Census has 211 male and 189 female inhabitants. Like many other such villages dependent upon hill farming, the population has declined rapidly since then.

Village description and activities

There is a Methodist Chapel, a primary school and a chapel hall yet the nearest shops or pubs are 2 miles away in the neighbouring village of Longnor. Historically, there was a silk weaving business in the 18th century in the village that transported the silk over to the mills in Macclesfield by packhorses. Today, Hollinsclough is a popular departure point for walkers and tourists visiting the surrounding countryside.

Methodist Chapel

Tha Chapel was built in 1801 by John Lomas. He was a pedlar and tinker by trade, which at that time was a respectable occupation, dealing in "Manchester goods" such as clothing but chiefly transporting the local silk to mills at

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

. Rev. J B Dyson records his conversion at Flash. Hollinsclough is the only chapel still open in the former Wetton and Longnor Methodist Circuit, and celebrated its bicentenary at Easter 2001.Hollinsclough Methodist bicentenary celebrations
/ref> The chapel hall serves teas during the summer and plays host to an active and friendly community life, including the monthly meetings of the local history group (History Live) and the local charity (Hollinsclough Action Group).

References

External links

Hollinsclough Local History and General Information

Hollinsclough Action Group (Charity 1106152)

Hollinsclough CofE VA Primary School
{{authority control Villages in Staffordshire Towns and villages of the Peak District Staffordshire Moorlands