Cheadle, Staffordshire

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Cheadle is a small market town in Staffordshire, England, with a population of around 15,000. It is roughly 15 miles from Stoke-on-Trent, 50 miles north of Birmingham and 50 miles south of Manchester. It is also around 5 miles from the Alton Towers leisure park.

Cheadle is an historic market town dating back to Anglo-Saxon times. Some of the shops in the High Street have attractive Tudor frontages.

Of particular interest in the town are the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches both of which are dedicated to St. Giles. The Catholic church, built 1841-6 at the expense of the Earl of Shrewsbury was designed by Pugin who, in collaboration with Sir Charles Barry, also designed the rebuilt Houses of Parliament. The Anglican Church was totally rebuilt in 1837-9 to the design of J. P. Pritchett but incorporating fragments and furniture from the earlier church.

Cheadle has had a varied and eventful history, and used to be a mining town having a coal seam running straight underneath the town. The mines have now closed, and the people generally work in the care industry and at nearby tourist attraction Alton Towers. Another large local employer is JCB, the makers of agricultural and construction plant and earth moving equipment.

Schools

Painsley Catholic College [link]
Cheadle High School [link]
Bishop Rawle C.E. (Aided) Primary School [link]

References

"The Buildings of England - Staffordshire" by Nikolaus Pevsner

External links

[The Cheadle Town Website]

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