Local History Section
The history of the village and the parish of Caverswall stretches back over the centuries. The settlement at Caverswall is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) and gave its name to the parish.
This was how William White described Caverswall in his `History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire` published in 1851. "Caverswall, vulgarly called Careswell, is a pleasant but irregularly built village, near the source of the River Blythe, three and a half miles west by south of Cheadle, and seven miles east by south of Newcastle-under-Lyme, being only about one mile north of Blythe Bridge Station on the North Staffordshire Railway. Its parish is divided into the two townships of Caverswall and Weston-Coyney with Hulme, and contains 1505 inhabitants and about 5380 acres of land, of which 1570 acres and 567 souls are in Caverswall, and 3810 acres and 938 souls in Weston-Coyney and Hulme."
"Thomas Hawe Parker, Esq is principal owner and lord of the manor of Caverswall, and Charles Coyney, Esq of Weston-Coyney & Hulme. Caverswall has two annual fairs for horses, cattle and swine, held on the second Thursdays in April and October. The most remarkable object in the village is Caverswall Castle, founded in the reign of Edward II by Sir William de Caverswall, who surrounded it by extensive ponds and a deep moat with a drawbridge. The present castle is an extensive mansion and is now a nunnery, being purchased in 1811 by a small convent of Benedictine nuns."
Weston-Coyney and Hulme are two neighbouring hamlets forming a manor, one mile west of Caverswall, and including the hamlets of Adderley and Wherrington, the latter of which is on the Cheadle road, four miles east of Hanley. In the manor are three gentlemen's seats, viz, Weston-Coyney Hall, the seat of Charles Coyney, Esq, Adderley House, the residence of Mrs Walklate, and Park Hall, the seat of Thomas. Hawe Parker, Esq. Cellar Head, a hamlet three miles north of Caverswall, is partly in Cheddleton parish, and has two annual fairs for horses, cattle and sheep, held on 5th May and the first Thursday in November. A few houses in Meir, near Lane End, are in Caverswall parish."(Edited version by kind permission of Mike Harbach GENUKI Project)
Local History Pages
Document Archive
Archive of Historical Documents.
First Footsteps
A look at the landscape and the early settlers.
The Hearth Tax 1666
The return provides a list of persons living in the parish.
The Estates / Tenants of Mary Coyney 1772
A list of Mary Coyney`s tenants in 1772.
The Consall Plateway 1815
The construction of a railway between Consall and Weston Coyney.
Map of the Parish c1830
A map of the parish and surrounding area.
The Census of 1831
Statistics from the 1831 Census.
Survey of the Parish 1839
A searchable database of landowners and tenants in 1839.
Post Office Directory 1868
A list of parishioners in 1868.
Kelly`s Directory 1900
A list of parishioners in 1900
Weston Coyney Estate Sale 1919
A list of properties and tenants 1919
The Home Front 1940
A look at the Home Front in the dark days of 1940.
The Wartime Secret Site
The secret QL Site on Park Hall Hills.
A Child Of the War Part 1
Recollections from the war years.
A Child of the War Part 2
Recollections from the war years.
Spitfire Mk Vb BL391
Spitfire tragedy in 1942.
Wellington Bomber R1538
A Wellington Bomber crashes at Captains Barn Farm in 1943.
Y-Station Cheadle
The Radio Intercept Station at Woodhead Hall.
Venom Fighter Bomber WK390
Venom Fighter Bomber accident in 1954.
The Royal Observer Corp Post
The nuclear attack observation post on Park Hall Hills.
