Rushton, Staffordshire
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Rushton is a
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in Staffordshire, England. The village within the civil parish, usually known as Rushton Spencer, is about north of
Leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...
and south of
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 ...
, on the
A523 road A5 and variants may refer to: Science and mathematics * A5 regulatory sequence in biochemistry * A5, the abbreviation for the androgen Androstenediol * Annexin A5, a human cellular protein * ATC code A05 ''Bile and liver therapy'', a subgroup o ...
which runs between these towns. The parish council does not yet have its own website; however, the Rushton Manor Courts Leet and Baron does record the proceedings of the Parish Council, which include minutes and agendas. At one time there were two adjacent civil parishes, Rushton Spencer and Rushton James. Rushton Spencer has the
River Dane The River Dane is a tributary of the River Weaver that originates in the Peak District area of England. The name of the river (earlier ''Daven'') is probably from the Old Welsh ''dafn'', meaning a "drop or trickle", implying a slow-moving river. ...
at its northern boundary with
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, and the road crosses the river at Hugbridge;
Bosley Cloud The Cloud or Bosley Cloud is a prominent hill on the border between Cheshire and Staffordshire a couple of miles west of the Peak District National Park boundary. At in height, it is one of the highest hills in the area. Its heather-covered ...
is the western boundary. To the south, separated by a stream, is Rushton James, which is bordered by Long Edge in the west, and Ryecroft Gate in the east. The parishes were amalgamated in 1934 to form Rushton civil parish.A P Baggs, M F Cleverdon, D A Johnston and N J Tringham, 'Leek: Rushton Spencer', in ''A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 7, Leek and the Moorlands'', ed. C R J Currie and M W Greenslade (London, 1996), pp. 223–229
British History Online, accessed 29 April 2015.
A P Baggs, M F Cleverdon, D A Johnston and N J Tringham, 'Leek: Rushton James', in ''A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 7, Leek and the Moorlands'', ed. C R J Currie and M W Greenslade (London, 1996), pp. 219–223
British History Online, accessed 29 April 2015.
There are two public houses in the village. The Knot Inn is on Station Lane, west of the main road; it is near the former railway station and used to be called the Railway Inn. The Royal Oak is on the main road at the junction with Leek Old Road. A short distance south-east of the village, on Leek Old Road, is St Helen's Well. There is an old belief that when the well becomes dry, there will be bad times.


History


Medieval

The name Rushton, from
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
, means a settlement by rushes. The area was a single manor at the time of the
Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
. The
overlordship An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or serjea ...
was held by the
Earls of Chester The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England, extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, and ...
probably by the late 11th century.
Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester Ranulf II (also known as Ranulf de Gernon), 4th Earl of Chester (1099–1153), was an Anglo-Norman baron who inherited the honour of the palatine county of Chester upon the death of his father Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester. He was des ...
from 1129 to 1153, gave Rushton to Norman de Verdun of
Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...
. Two manors existed by the early 13th century; the northern part, originally called Hugbridge, was held by Sir Hugh le Despenser (hence the name Rushton Spencer), who paid
chief rent In English property law, a rentcharge is an annual sum paid by the owner of Freehold (English law), freehold land (terre-tenant) to the owner of the rentcharge (rentcharger), a person who need have no other legal interest in the land. They are oft ...
to
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln (1170–26 October 1232), known in some references as the 4th Earl of Chester (in the second lineage of the title after the original family line was broken after the 2nd Earl), w ...
; by 1251 the rent was paid to
Dieulacres Abbey Dieulacres Abbey was a Cistercian monastery established by Ranulf, Earl of Chester at Poulton in Cheshire. It moved to the present site at Abbey Green near Leek, Staffordshire in 1214, possibly in part as a result from raids at the former site ...
, near Leek, established earlier by Ranulf de Blondeville. The southern part continued to have the Verduns as overlord; its name, Rushton James, was probably acquired from the tenant there, James de Audley. The manor house probably stood on the site of Rushton Hall Farm, which lies near the road between
Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Top ...
and Ryecroft Gate. This road, passing through Rushton James, was part of the medieval route known as the Earlsway, which linked this and other estates of the Earls of Chester. The Earlsway also passed through Leek, where the Earls of Chester were lords of the manor.A P Baggs, M F Cleverdon, D A Johnston and N J Tringham, 'Leek: Leek and Lowe', in ''A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 7, Leek and the Moorlands'', ed. C R J Currie and M W Greenslade (London, 1996), pp. 84–169
British History Online, accessed 29 April 2015.


Railway

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 i ...
company's railway line between Leek and Macclesfield opened in 1849; it ran near the village, where there was
Rushton railway station Rushton Spencer railway station was a railway station that served the village of Rushton Spencer, Staffordshire. The station was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway in 1849 as part of the Churnet Valley line. It remained open until pa ...
. It was closed for passengers in 1960 and for freight soon afterwards.


Churches


Church of St Lawrence

The
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church of St Lawrence is on high ground south-west of the village, . Because of this remote situation, it has been called "the chapel in the wilderness". It is known there was a church in Rushton Spencer in 1368: in that year, the bishop licensed the inhabitants to hold services. Until the mid 19th century the Rushton
chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...
, including Rushton James, Rushton Spencer and Heaton, was dependent on Leek parish church. The chapelry became a parish in 1865. The existing building, which is
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, has medieval timber-framing and was rebuilt in sandstone in the 17th century. It has a
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
of three bays; the
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...
is not separated from the nave. There is a north aisle and a
vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
in the west which has a timber bell turret above. There is a large stone font, probably of the 13th century, at the west end of the nave. In 1830 and 1841 the Archdeacon of Stafford recommended the demolition of the church, its replacement to be built at Rushton Marsh. Instead, the building was repaired in the 1840s; this included
dormer window A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...
s placed in the south roof. The altar is of carved oak and was installed in 1923. Work to close up a door behind the altar in 1956 revealed a flight of steps leading down to the forgotten
Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of 235,493 in 2017. It covers Retrieved on 13 December 2007. and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Ur ...
family vault; at least one of the coffins had been plundered for its lead and silver. St Lawrence is one of the churches in the United Benefice of Cheddleton, Horton, Longsdon and Rushton Spencer, of the
Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...
."United Benefice of Cheddleton, Horton, Longsdon and Rushton Spencer"
Retrieved 4 June 2019.


Methodist church

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
services were held in Rushton by 1798, and a Methodist chapel was built, in Alley Lane in Heaton near the boundary with Rushton, in 1816. It was replaced in 1899 by the present brick-built church in Rushton Spencer, on Sugar Street, east of the main road.


See also

* Listed buildings in Rushton, Staffordshire


References

{{authority control Villages in Staffordshire Staffordshire Moorlands Civil parishes in Staffordshire