Maer, Staffordshire
Encyclopedia
Maer is a rural village
and civil parish
in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire
, England
, to the west of the pottery manufacturing town of Stoke-on-Trent
.
Its main feature is the large 17th century stone built country house Maer Hall
built on a slope above a small lake, or "mere", which gave the house and estate its name. The Hall became the home of Josiah Wedgwood II
and was frequently visited by his nephew Charles Darwin
who went on to marry Josiah's daughter Emma
at St. Peter’s Church which stands higher on the hillside, close to the Hall. When she was young Emma helped her older sister Elizabeth with the Sunday School which was held in Maer Hall laundry, giving sixty village children their only formal training in reading, writing and religion. The grave of Josiah Wedgwood II and his wife Elizabeth in the churchyard has a view down over the Hall.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 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...
, England
England
England 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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to the west of the pottery manufacturing town of 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...
.
Its main feature is the large 17th century stone built country house Maer Hall
Maer Hall
The large 17th century stone built country house and estate of Maer Hall dominates the village of Maer, Staffordshire. Its location in the district of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, is attractively rural, but fairly close to the pottery manufacturing area around Stoke-on-Trent which...
built on a slope above a small lake, or "mere", which gave the house and estate its name. The Hall became the home of Josiah Wedgwood II
Josiah Wedgwood II
Josiah Wedgwood II , the son of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood, continued his father's firm and was Member of Parliament for Stoke-upon-Trent from 1832 to 1835...
and was frequently visited by his nephew Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
who went on to marry Josiah's daughter Emma
Emma Darwin
Emma Darwin was the wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, scientist and author of On the Origin of Species...
at St. Peter’s Church which stands higher on the hillside, close to the Hall. When she was young Emma helped her older sister Elizabeth with the Sunday School which was held in Maer Hall laundry, giving sixty village children their only formal training in reading, writing and religion. The grave of Josiah Wedgwood II and his wife Elizabeth in the churchyard has a view down over the Hall.