Longnor
The pretty village of Longnor is situated on a ridge between the infant rivers Dove and Manifold, in the Staffordshire Moorlands area of the Peak District National Park.
Longnor is sited at an important junction of roads which date back centuries. By the side of the crossroads are the remains of an old waymarker and cross shaft. At Longnor’s heart is a small cobbled marketplace and Victorian Market Hall. The village is very much a farming community, surrounded by hill farms and smallholdings that rear cattle, sheep, poultry and pigs. Dairy herds of Friesian and Holstein cattle can be seen in summer months grazing on the rich Peak District pasture, however there is very little arable farming due to the high altitude and small field formations.
Many of the quaint cottages and individually styled houses in Longnor were built of local stone, with limestone from the east or gritstone from the west, sometimes culminating in a mixture of both which give added charm and character.
For some time the village belonged to the Harpur-Crewe family of Calke Abbey in South Derbyshire who became lords of the manor of Longnor in the mid 16th century. By the end of the 17th century the Harpur-Crewe’s land in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire extended to some 33,000 acres, vying for size with the estates owned by the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth. However, by the 1970’s the Harpur-Crewe estates had been greatly reduced to some 12,300 acres and then at the end of the century to 4,000 acres.
Sir Vauncey Harpur-Crewe is best associated with Longnor as it was he that paid for the building of the Market Hall in 1873 which is located at the top of the cobbled market-place. A plaque above the door, which dates from 1903, still displays the charges for buyers and sellers such as a pen of sheep or livestock costing the seller fourpence and a basket of eggs one penny. These payments were collected by the agent in the Harpur-Crewe Arms, a former coaching inn at the bottom of the market place which is an unusual red brick construction amid properties built of stone. The expensive bricks would have been transported from south of the region and were used to indicate the importance of the building.
In 1972 Longnor was chosen by a television company to be featured in a reality TV style documentary. The whole community gave up smoking for one week, and no cigarettes or tobacco could be purchased locally. After six months the researchers discovered that at least a dozen people had not returned to their habit.
Longnor was noted in the past for its saddlery and shoemaking industries. In the 20th century its claim to fame was from the export of banana plants to Senegal and pineapples to Trinidad from a microplant establishment in the village. Local crafts currently being produced around Longnor include a pottery at nearby Crowdecote and country furniture from a workshop at Reapsmoor. Longnor Craft Centre is located in the old Market Hall in Longnor which also serves as a tearoom.
Outdoor pursuits are popular with residents and visitors to Longnor as there are fabulous footpaths, tracks and bridleways in all directions providing access to spectacular scenery and breathtaking views. The upper Dove valley is particularly popular due to its dramatic landscape and strange shaped hills.
Upper Limits in Longnor provide an indoor climbing wall as well as tuition in recreational climbing for individuals and groups ranging from abseiling and orienteering to fast walking and navigation.
The Church of St. Bartholomew in Longnor was rebuilt in 1789 to an Italianate style that includes an embattled tower with pinnacles. It replaced an earlier church on the site that dated back to the 12th century, the only surviving feature of which is the Norman font, a rare example of its kind. By the back wall of the churchyard is a gravestone to William Billinge who was a well known resident of the parish. He was born in a nearby cornfield in 1679 and died within 150 yards of his birthplace in January 1791 at the grand age of 112. Having lived through seven reigns, William Billinge was a soldier for most of his active adult life, and took part in the capture of Gibraltar in 1704. He served under the Duke of Marlborough in the campaign at Ramillies in 1706 when William was wounded by a musket shot. He reputedly helped in the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745 when according to records he was aged 66. The fascinating epitaph on William’s gravestone reads “Billeted by death, I quartered her remain. When the trumpet sounds, I’ll rise up and march again”.
Other places of interest around Longnor include the pretty little hamlet of Crowdecote which can be found at the side of the Dove that forms the county border between Derbyshire and Staffordshire. A former packhorse route leading across the river here is remembered in the name of the local hostelry – The Packhorse Inn.
Hollinsclough has a history of silk weaving, a cottage industry which supported the silk mills around Macclesfield. It is surrounded by spectacular reef knoll hills including Parkhouse Hill, Hitter Hill and the amazing Chrome Hill, also known as The Dragon’s Back or Sleeping Dragon.
Glutton Bridge is now just a cluster of cottages and houses but at one time contained a local cheese factory. Its name is believed to originate from a wild and ferocious creature rather than a healthy appetite!
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