Dilhorne
Encyclopedia
Dilhorne is an ancient parish and village in Staffordshire
, three miles from Cheadle
and six miles from Stoke-on-Trent
.The village is within the Staffordshire Moorlands
area.
Historically the village has been in the Parish of Dilhorne and the ancient Hundred
of Totmonslow.
and several seams of very high quality coal
outcrop in the area. The name of Delverne, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book
, suggests that the area was known for coal mining
nearly a thousand years ago.
.
The Coal Mining Industry became the main source of employment in the 19th century as the small adit
mines that followed the outcrops of Coal, progressively gave way to larger Mines,funded and owned in part by the local landowners who now became became coalmasters. In particular the Whitehurst and Bamford families who became co-owners of several mining concerns,the largest being the Dilhorne Colliery, a large mine which was known in the coalfield for its modern steam engines. Interestingly, the site of Dilhorne Colliery is occupied nowadays by a small farm
known as "Old Engine Farm."
and in the end the last mine remaining in the coalfield, working for well over 80 years.
However, its beginnings made its future far from uncertain. Originally, the landowner wouldn't let anyone prospect for coal on her land and, when finally a shaft was sunk in 1880 it was called "Manns Pit", instead of Foxfield.
The Pit did though have access to good Coal and the Dilhorne and Woodhead seams were mined. In a sign of the times, when the first Woodhead coal was mined all the colliery's staff were treated to a grand supper at the Wagon and Horses Public House.
The pit continued to grow and by 1893 Foxfield became the first mine in Cheadle to have its own rail connection to the National Rail Network as a three and a half mile branch line was opened to Blythe Bridge
and connection to the NSR Stoke to Derby
line.
Foxfield was extensively modernised in the 1930s as all production from neighbouring Parkhall Colliery was moved to Foxfield. New coal screens were built and concrete headgears were constructed. The seams mined were the Dilhorne, Four Foot and Woodhead.
Foxfield, along with the rest of the coal industry was nationalised in 1947 and the pit entered a period of expansion where by 1954 the workforce stood at 550 with 210,000 tonnes mined a year.
However, this was the high water mark and gradually output and manpower decreased. In 1965 Foxfield Colliery was closed by the National Coal Board
. The Colliery had nearly exhausted its economic reserves,and as it was not fully mechanised the board decided to transfer the majority of the Miners to Florence Colliery in Longton
where a fully mechanised face in the Moss seam was prepared for the Foxfield men.
Foxfield Colliery is still standing, and today is owned by the Foxfield Steam Railway who run heritage steam traction to the site.
Mining still continued in the Dilhorne area but on a very small scale in small private adit
mines. The most prominent was Abovepark Colliery near to Dairy House Farm. This small mine closed in 1998.
in Dilhorne still plays a large part in the village, but the number of farms and workers has dramatically decreased over the years. The main concern of agriculture around the Dilhorne area is dairy farming
.
, All Saints, dates back to the Norman Conquest of England.A feature of the church is its octagonal tower,one of only a few such church towers in the country. All Saints Parish Church is one of the oldest in Staffordshire
and services are every Sunday. The old parish of Dilhorne has changed a great deal over the last 100 years as outlying areas merged into other parishes or became newer parishes. Dilhorne parish itself is now linked with nearby Caverswall
as the united beniface of Caverswall
and Dilhorne.
There is also a Methodist chapel in the Godley Brook area of the village.
s. The Royal Oak at the top of High Street and The White Lion, which is opposite All Saints Church. The latter was formally named after one of its landlords, Charlie Bassett and was originally known as the Colliers Arms. Another pub which closed a few years ago was the Rose and Crown near Foxfield Colliery in the Godley Brook area.
Dilhorne Hall
was the ancestral home of the Buller family who were noted in the legal profession in London during the 19th Century.
There is also a small primary school in the village, the Dilhorne Endowed School which has a very good reputation locally.
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, three miles from Cheadle
Cheadle, Staffordshire
Cheadle is a small market town near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, with a population of 12,158 according to the 2001 census. It is roughly from the city of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Birmingham and south of Manchester...
and six miles from Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
.The village is within the Staffordshire Moorlands
Staffordshire Moorlands
Staffordshire Moorlands is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. Its council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, is based in Leek and is located between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the Peak District National Park. The 2001 census recorded the population as...
area.
Historically the village has been in the Parish of Dilhorne and the ancient Hundred
Hundred
Hundred usually refers to the number 100It may also refer to:* Hundred , historically a number not necessarily 100* Hundred , a mostly obsolete geographic term...
of Totmonslow.
Etymology
The name Dilhorne has its origins in the old English name of "Delverne" which means "place of digging" and is because Dilhorne sits on the Cheadle CoalfieldCheadle Coalfield
The Cheadle Coalfield is a coalfield in the United Kingdom. Centred around the town of Cheadle, Staffordshire and its outlying villages it lies to the east of Stoke-on-Trent and the much larger North Staffordshire Coalfield...
and several seams of very high quality coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
outcrop in the area. The name of Delverne, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, suggests that the area was known for coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. 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 extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
nearly a thousand years ago.
Coal Mining
Historically,the largest Industry in Dilhorne for hundreds of years was Coal MiningCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. 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 extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
.
The Coal Mining Industry became the main source of employment in the 19th century as the small adit
Adit
An adit is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, and ventilated.-Construction:...
mines that followed the outcrops of Coal, progressively gave way to larger Mines,funded and owned in part by the local landowners who now became became coalmasters. In particular the Whitehurst and Bamford families who became co-owners of several mining concerns,the largest being the Dilhorne Colliery, a large mine which was known in the coalfield for its modern steam engines. Interestingly, the site of Dilhorne Colliery is occupied nowadays by a small farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
known as "Old Engine Farm."
Foxfield Colliery
Foxfield Colliery, located at Godley Brook was the largest mine in Dilhorne, eventually the largest mine in the Cheadle CoalfieldCheadle Coalfield
The Cheadle Coalfield is a coalfield in the United Kingdom. Centred around the town of Cheadle, Staffordshire and its outlying villages it lies to the east of Stoke-on-Trent and the much larger North Staffordshire Coalfield...
and in the end the last mine remaining in the coalfield, working for well over 80 years.
However, its beginnings made its future far from uncertain. Originally, the landowner wouldn't let anyone prospect for coal on her land and, when finally a shaft was sunk in 1880 it was called "Manns Pit", instead of Foxfield.
The Pit did though have access to good Coal and the Dilhorne and Woodhead seams were mined. In a sign of the times, when the first Woodhead coal was mined all the colliery's staff were treated to a grand supper at the Wagon and Horses Public House.
The pit continued to grow and by 1893 Foxfield became the first mine in Cheadle to have its own rail connection to the National Rail Network as a three and a half mile branch line was opened to Blythe Bridge
Blythe Bridge
Blythe Bridge is a village situated in the Staffordshire Moorlands District, although it is effectively a south-eastern suburb of the city of Stoke-on-Trent.-Etymology:...
and connection to the NSR Stoke to Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
line.
Foxfield was extensively modernised in the 1930s as all production from neighbouring Parkhall Colliery was moved to Foxfield. New coal screens were built and concrete headgears were constructed. The seams mined were the Dilhorne, Four Foot and Woodhead.
Foxfield, along with the rest of the coal industry was nationalised in 1947 and the pit entered a period of expansion where by 1954 the workforce stood at 550 with 210,000 tonnes mined a year.
However, this was the high water mark and gradually output and manpower decreased. In 1965 Foxfield Colliery was closed by the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
. The Colliery had nearly exhausted its economic reserves,and as it was not fully mechanised the board decided to transfer the majority of the Miners to Florence Colliery in Longton
Longton, Staffordshire
Longton is a southern district of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and is known locally as the "Neck End" of the city. Longton is one of the six towns of "the Potteries" which formed the City of Stoke-on-Trent in 1925.-History:...
where a fully mechanised face in the Moss seam was prepared for the Foxfield men.
Foxfield Colliery is still standing, and today is owned by the Foxfield Steam Railway who run heritage steam traction to the site.
Mining still continued in the Dilhorne area but on a very small scale in small private adit
Adit
An adit is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, and ventilated.-Construction:...
mines. The most prominent was Abovepark Colliery near to Dairy House Farm. This small mine closed in 1998.
Agriculture and Farming
AgricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
in Dilhorne still plays a large part in the village, but the number of farms and workers has dramatically decreased over the years. The main concern of agriculture around the Dilhorne area is dairy farming
Dairy farming
Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...
.
All Saints Parish Church
The parish churchParish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
, All Saints, dates back to the Norman Conquest of England.A feature of the church is its octagonal tower,one of only a few such church towers in the country. All Saints Parish Church is one of the oldest in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
and services are every Sunday. The old parish of Dilhorne has changed a great deal over the last 100 years as outlying areas merged into other parishes or became newer parishes. Dilhorne parish itself is now linked with nearby Caverswall
Caverswall
Caverswall is a village and parish in Staffordshire, to the south west of Staffordshire Moorlands.- Etymology :The name Caverswall is thought to have its origins in the Saxon words Cafhere, a personal noun, and Waelle, which meant spring or well.By the time of the Domesday Book the village was...
as the united beniface of Caverswall
Caverswall
Caverswall is a village and parish in Staffordshire, to the south west of Staffordshire Moorlands.- Etymology :The name Caverswall is thought to have its origins in the Saxon words Cafhere, a personal noun, and Waelle, which meant spring or well.By the time of the Domesday Book the village was...
and Dilhorne.
There is also a Methodist chapel in the Godley Brook area of the village.
Elsewhere in the Village
Within the village there are two fine public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s. The Royal Oak at the top of High Street and The White Lion, which is opposite All Saints Church. The latter was formally named after one of its landlords, Charlie Bassett and was originally known as the Colliers Arms. Another pub which closed a few years ago was the Rose and Crown near Foxfield Colliery in the Godley Brook area.
Dilhorne Hall
Dilhorne Hall
Dilhorne Hall located in Dilhorne, Staffordshire, England was the ancestral home of the Buller family. -History:The Hall occupied an area of approximately four acres but was demolished in the 1930's. Dilhorne Hall was rebuilt in about 1830 by the Buller family...
was the ancestral home of the Buller family who were noted in the legal profession in London during the 19th Century.
There is also a small primary school in the village, the Dilhorne Endowed School which has a very good reputation locally.