Chesterton is a former mining village on the edge of

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...

, in the

district, in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, 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 ''Castra'' () is a Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified military base.. Included is a discuss ...

, 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 ...

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 Vallum is either the whole or a portion of the fortifications of a Roman camp. The vallum usually comprised an earthen or turf rampart ( Agger) with a wooden palisade on top, with a deep outer ditch (fossa). The name is derived from '' vallus'' (a ...

, fosse (

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

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

Later history

Chesterton was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Wolstanton Wolstanton is a village on the outskirts of Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the Newcastle-under-Lyme district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. History The Roman road the Rykeneld Street passed through Wolstanton. Wolstanton is mentioned in ...

parish and

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

in Wolstanton and Audley parishes, on 31 December Chesterton became a parish in its own right, it was in the Wolstanton Rural District 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. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with

. In 1931 the parish had a population of 6861. The main employer in Chesterton was Holditch Colliery. The

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...

employed 1,500 men and mined

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

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 Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

. 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 The following is a list of miners' strikes. Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions. See also *List of strikes *History of coal mining in the United States References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miners' strikes Miners' labor disputes, ...

. Many of the miners transferred to nearby Silverdale Colliery, 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 was a coal mining

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not deliberately caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that the event may have been caused by Risk assessment, unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Many researchers, insurers ...

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 ...

. 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.

Education

There are four

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

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 The Elim Pentecostal Church is a UK-based Pentecostal Christian denomination. It was founded in Ireland in 1915 by George Jeffreys and is the second-largest Pentecostal denomination in the UK. History George Jeffreys (1889–1962), a Welshm ...

, 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

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 an opencast mine. The area has a long history of mining, with the nearby f ...

* Apedale Heritage Centre *

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 ...

Notable people

Jackie Trent Yvonne Ann Gregory (born Yvonne Ann Burgess; 6 September 1940 – 21 March 2015), better known by her stage name Jackie Trent, was an English singer-songwriter and actress. She was best known for co-writing (with Tony Hatch) several hits for Petu ...

(1940–2015) singer & songwriter * Roger Johnson (born 1969), TV journalist, newsreader and presenter on

BBC North West Tonight ''BBC North West Tonight'' (known as ''BBC North West Today'' during daytime) is the BBC's regional television news programme covering North West England and the Isle of Man. Produced by BBC North West, the programme broadcasts from the BBC's ...

Sport

* Arthur Turner (1909–1994) football player and manager, played 357 games * Ken Downing (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 Stoke ...

(1922–1999) footballer, played 512 games *

Mike Pejic Michael Pejic (born 25 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back in the English Football League for Stoke City, Everton and Aston Villa, also representing England. Pejic started his career with Stok ...

(born 1950) footballer, played 360 games and 4 for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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, played 372 games *

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, Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and APOEL F.C. in Cyprus. Playing career Moores was ...

(1954–1998) footballer, played 359 games * Mel Pejic (born 1959) footballer, played 518 games *

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

(born 1998) footballer, played 180 games and 4 for

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 Former civil parishes in Staffordshire Newcastle-under-Lyme