Leek is a
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
in the county of
StaffordshireStaffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, on the
River ChurnetThe River Churnet is a river that flows in Staffordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Dove.- Etymology :The origins of the name "Churnet" are unknown, though it is thought to derive from the pre-English, British name for the river.- Course :...
. It is an ancient borough and was granted its
royal charterIn medieval Europe, royal charters were used to create cities . The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was "founded", regardless of when the locality originally began to be settled.At one time a royal charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be...
in 1214.
It is the administrative centre for the
Staffordshire MoorlandsStaffordshire 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...
District Council.
King JohnJohn , King of England, reigned from 6 April 1199 until his death. He acceded to the throne as the younger brother of King Richard I, who died without issue...
granted Ranulph de Blundeville,
Earl of ChesterThe Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England. Since 1301 the title has generally been given to heirs-apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales.- Traditional power base...
, the right to hold a weekly Wednesday market and an annual seven-day fair in Leek in 1207.
Economy
The town has had a regular cattle market for hundreds of years , reflecting its role as a centre of local farming. During the
industrial revolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in the United Kingdom. The changes subsequently spread throughout Europe, North...
it became a major producer of textiles. Though this industry has declined somewhat, it has continued through the large number of
clothingA feature of nearly all modern human societies is the wearing of clothing or clothes, a category encompassing a wide variety of materials that cover the body....
manufacturers in the town, and the prominence of
dyeingDyeing is the process of imparting colours to a textile material in loose fibre, yarn, cloth or garment form by treatment with a dye. PRESENTED BY SABBIR AHMED-Dye types:...
and allied trades.
The mills from the town's textile era still remain. Many are currently being turned into houses. The town's markets still remain active to this day.
Britannia Building SocietyThe Britannia is a financial services institution and trading name of the Co-operative Bank Plc in the United Kingdom.Before the merger with the Co-operative, Britannia was a mutual building society, with headquarters in Leek, Staffordshire...
has its headquarters based in the town and is a major local employer.
Alton TowersAlton Towers is a theme park and resort located in the grounds of a former stately home in Staffordshire, England. It attracted 3.1 million visitors in 2008, making it the second most visited theme park in the UK after Pleasure Beach Blackpool. Alton Towers is the 11th most visited theme park in...
is situated in the
Staffordshire MoorlandsStaffordshire 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...
district and therefore employs a large number of people from Leek and the surrounding area.
Geography
Most of the town is at or above and is surrounded by the even higher countryside of the
Staffordshire MoorlandsStaffordshire 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...
which is situated on the southern uplands of the
PenninesThe Pennines are a low-rising mountain range in northern England and southern Scotland. They separate the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East....
.
Leek is built on the slope and crown of a hill which is situated just a few miles south of
The RoachesThe Roaches is the name given to a prominent rocky ridge situated above Leek and Tittesworth Reservoir in the Peak District of England. The ridge with its spectacular rock formations rises steeply to ....
; a gritsone escarpment which rises steeply to 505m.
Leek is situated at the foot of the
Peak DistrictThe Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
National ParkThe national parks of England and Wales are areas of relatively undeveloped and scenic landscape that are designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949...
and is therefore often referred to as the Gateway to the
Peak DistrictThe Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
, although the town is more often referred to as the Queen of the Moorlands.
Architecture & development
Many
VictorianThe term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. As with the latter, the period of building that it covers may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria after whom it is...
period, and older, buildings still stand in the town, many built by the family architectural practice of the Sugdens. In 1849 William Sugden (b. 1821 in
KeighleyKeighley is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of Bradford and is at the confluence of the River Aire and the River Worth...
) came to Leek. He was an architect and his work on the design of the stations for the Churnet Valley Railway brought him to the area. In the following year William’s son, Larner Sugden, was born. After schooling in
YorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the British Isles. Because of its great size, functions were increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as...
, Larner returned to Leek in 1866 to be apprenticed to his father as an architect, and thus was formed the famous Sugden & Son (Architects), whose influence on the town was to be profound. The firm had offices in Derby Street. The building still survives, the ground floor now being occupied by Boots the Chemist. Larner was a great supporter of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, and so Leek’s development was in sympathetic hands.
The architectural output from Sugden & Son was both prolific and varied. Mr. Poole showed numerous slides which illustrated this point well. Some of the buildings designed by the Sugden’s are as follows: the
Congregational ChurchCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
with its 130’
spireA spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from Anglo-Saxon, so it is related to "spear," rather than the Romance languages and "spirit."...
, (now Trinity Church), built in the Victorian
Gothic Revival styleThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began in the 1740s in England. Its popularity grew rapidly in the early nineteenth century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval forms in contrast to the classical styles prevalent at the...
(1863), Myatt’s Mill in Earl Street (1864), Mill Street Methodist Chapel and Ragged School (1870), the Cottage Hospital, in memory of silk manufacturer James Allsop (1871), their own houses in Queen Street, complete with monograms for William, Larner and for Larner’s
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
wife (1877), West Street School (extended in 1881), the District Bank, which exhibits a strong Richard Norman Shaw influence (1882) and the Leonard Street Police Station in Scottish Baronial style (1891). This last was probably the last joint venture of the father-and-son team because William Sugden died in 1892.
The Sugden masterpiece was, perhaps, the Nicholson Institute, built in the Queen Anne style, in 1882. The fact that this building is tucked away behind the
17th centuryThe 17th Century was that century which lasted from 1601 to 1700 in the Gregorian calendar.The 17th Century falls into the Early Modern period of Europe and was characterized by the Baroque cultural movement, the French Grand Siècle dominated by Louis XIV, and the beginning of modern science and...
‘Greystones’ is a further indication of Larner’s regard for old buildings. Larner would not countenance demolition of the old building, and so, as the Nicholson’s owned the land to the rear, that is where the Institute was built. Larner cleverly incorporated the busts of Shakespeare, Newton, Reynolds and Tennyson into the building representing 400 years of artistic and scientific achievement from the 16th to the 19th century and embracing literature, science, art and poetry.
In 1899 came the Technical Schools and the Co-operative Society Hall. Although the original town centre cattle market was demolished and replaced with a
bus stationA bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the sidewalk, where buses can stop...
and shopping centre in the 1960s. The new cattle market was built on the edge of town adjacent to the railway station. Later, this was one of the stations closed following
Dr. BeechingRichard Beeching, Baron Beeching , commonly known as Doctor Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer...
's recommendations. It was later replaced with a
supermarketA supermarket, also called a grocery store in some parts of North America, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
now owned by
MorrisonsWm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
.
Notable residents
Leek was the home of
James BrindleyJames Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
, the
18th centuryThe 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini/Common Era numbering system.However, Western historians sometimes specifically define the 18th century otherwise for the purposes of their work...
canal engineerA canal engineer is a civil engineer responsible for planning related to the construction of a canal.The names of canal engineers include:* James Brindley* James Dadford* John Dadford* Thomas Dadford* Thomas Dadford, Jr....
. He built a water-powered corn mill in 1752. This
watermillA watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping...
is now preserved as
Brindley Water Mill and MuseumThe Brindley Water Mill is a water mill situated in the town of Leek in the English county of Staffordshire. The current mill was used for grinding corn and was built by James Brindley, the famous canal builder, in 1752, although previous mills existed on the site several centuries earlier...
.
William MorrisWilliam Morris was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artist, writer, socialist and Marxist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement. Morris wrote and published poetry, fiction, and translations of ancient and medieval texts...
, founder of the
Arts and Crafts MovementThe Arts and Crafts Movement was a British, Canadian, Australian, and American aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century...
, lived and worked in Leek between 1875 and 1878. He studied dyeing and it was Leek which provided his firm with silk.
Local rumour suggests that he founded the
Society for the Protection of Ancient BuildingsThe Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was founded by William Morris and Philip Webb in 1877, to oppose what they saw as the insensitive renovation of ancient buildings then occurring in Victorian England.Morris was particularly concerned about the practice, which he described as...
in 1877 as a result of his successful campaign to prevent the demolition of the building that now houses Greystones tearoom, winner of the Tea Council's Tea Room of the Year award for 2000. It was through the SPAB that he came into contact with Larner Sugden, the local architect, who went on to publish some of Morris' speeches and essays in a series called the Bijour of Leek.
Terry Ferns, former Leyton Orient footballer and now groundsman at
Leek Town F.C.Leek Town Football Club is an English football club based in Leek, Staffordshire, currently playing in the Northern Premier League Division One South...
. Kept up his passion for the game, local youngsters affectionately nicknamed him 'Nosha'.
Dave Hill, vocalist for English
New Wave of British Heavy MetalThe New Wave of British Heavy Metal is a heavy metal movement that started in the late 1970s, in Britain, and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Sometimes compared to Beatlemania, the era developed as a reaction in part to the decline of early heavy metal bands such as Deep...
band
DemonDemon are an English heavy metal group, formed in 1980 by vocalist Dave Hill and guitarist Mal Spooner, both hailing from Leek, Staffordshire. They drew their initial audience from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement in 1980....
, lives and works in Leek.
Former 5 time world professional darts champion
Eric BristowEric Bristow MBE is a British darts player, whose skill at the game in the 1980s helped turn it into a worldwide spectator sport.- Early career :...
lives in the town and is currently a pub landlord.
Tourist attractions and leisure
Nearby
Rudyard LakeRudyard Lake is a reservoir in Rudyard, Staffordshire constructed by the engineer John Rennie, for the Trent and Mersey Canal company in 1797/98 to feed the Caldon Canal....
is a popular tourist attraction and home to the
Rudyard Lake Steam RailwayThe Rudyard Lake Steam Railway is a minimum gauge railway and the third railway of any gauge to run along the side of Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire. The railway runs for on the track bed of an old standard gauge North Staffordshire Railway line. After the NSR line closed down, a small narrow gauge...
, running along its eastern shores. Other nearby local attractions are the local football club
Leek Town F.C.Leek Town Football Club is an English football club based in Leek, Staffordshire, currently playing in the Northern Premier League Division One South...
,
Alton TowersAlton Towers is a theme park and resort located in the grounds of a former stately home in Staffordshire, England. It attracted 3.1 million visitors in 2008, making it the second most visited theme park in the UK after Pleasure Beach Blackpool. Alton Towers is the 11th most visited theme park in...
, the cultural and leisure facilities of the city of
Stoke-on-TrentStoke-on-Trent 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 and Kidsgrove, Stoke forms the The Potteries Urban Area...
, and the Peak District National Park. Leek's "Double Sunset" on Midsummer Day also attracts many tourists.
Leek is also visited regularly by people from its twinned town
Este, ItalyEste is a town and comune of the Province of Padua, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Euganei Hills. The town is a centre for farming, crafts and industry worthy of note.-History:...
, with many events taking place throughout the year.
There are also several restaurants from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds that people will be surprised to find in such a small place (Mexican – Guava Guava, Thai - So Thai, Chinese - Laurel Inn and Indian - Qarma Tandoori, to name but a few.
In May of every year, Leek Arts Festival takes place, celebrating the cultural heritage of the town. According to the festival's website, it began as a weekly event but soon expanded to last a whole month.
Just outside the town is
Blackbrook Zoological ParkBlackbrook Zoological Park is a wildlife attraction in central England which exhibits the largest collection of birds in the country. It is known for its excellent breeding record with many rare bird species, with over 300 successfully breeding species to date.. The zoo also has a growing...
, which is renowned for its large collection of birds.
The surrounding countryside of the
Staffordshire MoorlandsStaffordshire 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...
and the
Peak DistrictThe Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
naturally makes the area a popular tourist destination.
Local transport
The town of Leek is served by First with a regular number 18 bus service (or 16 on an alternative route via Cellarhead). There are also frequent bus services to
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base...
and the nearby town of
BuxtonBuxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
using 118 bus.
Leek was served by
Leek railway stationLeek railway station was a railway station that served the town of Leek, Staffordshire. It was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway in 1849....
which was opened by the
North Staffordshire RailwayThe North Staffordshire Railway 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....
on July 13, 1849, but has since been closed.
Sport
Leek is home to two football clubs.
Leek Town F.C.Leek Town Football Club is an English football club based in Leek, Staffordshire, currently playing in the Northern Premier League Division One South...
, founded in 1946, are based at
Harrison ParkHarrison Park is a stadium in Leek, Staffordshire. It is home to Leek Town F.C. currently of the Northern Premier League. Capacity is 3,600.-Overview:...
and currently play in the
Northern Premier League Division One SouthDivision One South is one of the two second-tier divisions of the Northern Premier League. It is at Step 4 of the National League System, placing it seven divisions below the Premier League...
. The club played in a variety of local leagues, including the
Staffordshire County LeagueThe Staffordshire County League was an English football competition based in the county of Staffordshire. It existed from at least 1957 until 2005, when it merged with the Midland League to form the new Staffordshire County Senior League, with the former County League teams forming Divisions One...
,
Manchester LeagueThe Manchester Football League currently known under terms of sponsorship as Bridgewater Office Supplies Football League is a football league in England, covering a 20-mile radius from Manchester Town Hall. It was formed in 1893, although play ceased between 1912 and 1920. The 2008-09 champions are...
, Mid-Cheshire League and
Cheshire County LeagueThe Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales....
, before becoming founder members of the
North West Counties Football LeagueThe North West Counties Football League is a football league in North west of England. As of 2008, the league covers the whole of the North West England region, and part of the West Midlands region, from Stoke-on-Trent, the Peak District in Northern Derbyshire up to the Lake District...
in 1982 and from there progressing to the
Northern Premier LeagueThe Northern Premier League, known in recent years as the UniBond League under a title sponsorship contract, is one of the regional English football leagues which sits directly below the Football Conference. Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England, and the northern areas of the...
in 1987. In 1997 they were Northern Premier League champions and gained promotion to the
Football ConferenceThe Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, but most of them are semi-professional...
, the highest level of English non-league football, although they only spent two seasons at that level before being relegated.
Leek CSOB, founded in 1945, groundshare with Leek Town at Harrison Park and play in the
North West Counties Football League Division OneThe North West Counties Football League Premier Division is a football competition based in England. It sits at step 5 of the National League System. The top club gets promoted to the Northern Premier League Division One North or Northern Premier League Division One South. The bottom club will get...
. They were founder members of the Staffordshire County League in 1984, and were league champions in 1996. In 2005 the club announced plans to build their own stadium.
Leek is also home to Leek
HockeyHockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball, or a hard, round, rubber or heavy plastic disc called a puck, into the opponent's net or goal, using a hockey stick.-Field hockey:...
Club, based at
Leek High Specialist Technology SchoolLeek High Specialist Technology School is an English high school in Leek, Staffordshire. The school achieved specialist Technology College status in 2004.-External links:...
. Leek
Rugby UnionRugby union is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, 100 m...
FC bears the name of the town but is based in nearby Cheddleton.
Twin town
Este, ItalyEste is a town and comune of the Province of Padua, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Euganei Hills. The town is a centre for farming, crafts and industry worthy of note.-History:...
.
Events are held throughout the year between Leek and Este, such as cultural and educational exchanges, many of which involve local schools and organisations.
Trivia
- One legend in Leek is the one of the Mermaid Pool. It is said the pool is bottomless and that the mermaid appears by the lake and draws men to their deaths.
- There is also a yearly phenomenon known as the 'Double Sunset'. This event, first recognised by Dr. Plot, occurs when the sun appears to set behind Bosley Cloud, subsequently reappearing in the hollow of the hill's vertical northern side, before setting again. It occurs three or four days before the summer solstice. The best location for seeing the double sunset is said to be the grounds of the parish church. Dr. Plot's detailed account can be found in his book 'The Natural History of Staffordshire.'
- Leek's coat of arms
A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
is made up of a SaltireA saltire, Saint Andrew's Cross, or crux decussata , is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross or letter X...
Shield. On the top is the Staffordshire Knot, either side is the famous leek 'Double Sunset' and below a gold garb. The crest is a mural crown with three Mulberry leaves on a Mount of Heather on top of which a Moorcock is resting his claw on a small-weave Shuttle. The motto 'ARTE FAVENTE NIL DESPERANDUM' translates to: Our skill assisting us, we have no cause for despair. The Coat of Arms was granted on 7 May 1956.
- Leek High Specialist Technology School
Leek High Specialist Technology School is an English high school in Leek, Staffordshire. The school achieved specialist Technology College status in 2004.-External links:...
uses three local rivers as their house names: "Dane", Manifold" and "Churnet".
- Westwood College
Westwood College, formerly known as Westwood High School is a college for 13–19 year-olds in Leek, Staffordshire. Westwood is a Specialist School, specialising in both Modern Languages and Visual Arts...
uses two towns in Staffordshire as two of their house names: "LichfieldLichfield is a city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. One of seven civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly 25 km north of Birmingham and 200 km northwest of London....
" and "StaffordStafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway...
". It also uses the names of two people associated with the school for the names of the other two houses: "Davenport" after the person who built the old part of the school building and "Johnson" after the person who turned the old part of the school from a manor house into an actual school
- Leek has more public houses per square mile than any other town in the United Kingdom.
- In St. Edward's churchyard
A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird....
there is a gravestone of a person called John Roberts who died in 1788 and supposedly lived for 483 years
Schools
External links