Harriseahead
The village of Harriseahead on the northern edge of the Potteries (Stoke on Trent) is of historical interest.
Harriseahead
Harriseahead is a village in the county of Staffordshire, England,just north of Stoke on Trent and about 2 miles south-west of Biddulph and very close to the border with Cheshire.
The etymology is unknown; although the "-head" ending of the name, from Old English heafod indicates the town's high situation in the Staffordshire Moorlands.
Mow Cop Castle is on top of a hill just under a mile north of the village. It has been in the care of the National Trust since 1937, but has a history linking it with Methodism.
Harriseahead was heavily involved with the coal mining industry for many years and now is a commuter village serving the urban conurbations of Stoke on Trent and as far away as Manchester and Birmingham. Along with other urban villages on the North Staffordshire Coalfield the reliance on mining has been replaced, as the industry as a whole has declined both locally and nationally. The landscape still exhibits features of its former industrial heritage, including disused fustion mills the rebuilt winding house on Biddulph Road, the derelict buildings of Red Lion Pit, and the disused tramway which can be seen in the local fields.
Links with Methodism
The link with Methodism came when Hugh Bourne moved to Harriseahead in 1800 having bought an oak woodland there to supply pit props in Stonetrough Colliery and other local mines.[1][2] In 1801 to 1802 he built a Methodist Chapel which became the centre of Methodist activity in that area and beyond. The Primitive Methodist movement grew out of this..
The village used to have both a Primitive and Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, however a single functioning chapel remains in the form of the Methodist Memorial Chapel found on the corner of High Street and Chapel Lane. The Chapel continues to have its annual Anniversary Sermons and Flower Festival which are well received locally.
References
External links
- [1] A brief History of Harriseahead and Newchapel
External links
Media related to Harriseahead at Wikimedia Commons