Hollinsclough is a small rural village in the county of Staffordshire in the

English Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. It is within 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 ...

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 sout ...

, not far from their sources on the eastern side of

Axe Edge Moor Axe Edge Moor is the major moorland southwest of Buxton in the Peak District. It is mainly gritstone ( Namurian shale and sandstone). Its highest point () is at . This is slightly lower than Shining Tor (which is some to the northwest, across ...

. Here the Manifold flows through moorland on sandstone and various gritstones, before a conspicuous change at

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 ...

, 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 and runs for just over between Milldale in the north and a wooded r ...

. 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 English Place-Name Society (EPNS) is a learned society concerned with toponomastics and the toponymy of England, in other words, the study of place-names (toponyms). Its scholars aim to explain the origin and history of the names they stud ...

, 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 A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

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. Rev. J B Dyson records his conversion at

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

. Hollinsclough is the only chapel still open in the former Wetton and Longnor

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 ...

, 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