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Warslow
Warslow, which was recorded in the Domesday Book, is situated in the Staffordshire Moorlands on the edge of the Manifold Valley and a distance of some three miles or so from the border with Derbyshire.
Once an estate village to the Harpur-Crewe family of Calke Abbey in South Derbyshire, Warslow is made up of substantial houses and character cottages, built to withstand inclement weather and strong winds which blow off the high moors over this elevated village that stands 1,000 feet above sea level.
Warslow Hall, an attractive Georgian building, can be found in private grounds behind a shelter of mature trees on the outskirts of the village. At one time it served as a family shooting lodge for the Harpur-Crewe family and their guests.
In 1959 a large secondary school set in an 11-acre site was built in Warslow to cater for around two hundred children who lived in the village and surrounding catchment area, at a cost of £100,000. It is one of the most conspicuous of Warslow’s buildings. However, following a review, Warslow School is now occupied by Manifold Primary School as well as being used as a local community centre, older children travelling to school in Leek. The vast grounds still offer sports facilities but several acres of grassland have been leased to a local farmer. In 2009 Warslow School celebrated its 50th anniversary with special events and activities including a visit to Ceramica in Burslem by the nursery class where they made a 50th birthday commemoration plate.
‘The Greyhound Inn’ at Warslow was at one time known as the ‘Greyhound and Hare’. For a year the village of Warslow remained ‘dry’ when the pub closed and a buyer was sought. However, following an extensive refurbishment The Greyhound Inn opened its doors once again in 2007 and the resident’s of Warslow got their local back!
Warslow’s church is dedicated to St Lawrence and can be found in the centre of the village. It is said to have an unusually wide chancel and windows by William Morris as well as a box pew which was used by the Harpur-Crewe family. A commemoration window of stained glass at Warslow Church is dedicated to Sir Thomas Wardle who built Swainsley Hall down in the Manifold Valley. He was a silk mill owner from Leek.
From Warslow you can look across to Ecton Hill on the side of which is an unusual folly with a copper-topped spire. The Hillocks or Castle Folly as it is also known was built in 1933 by Arthur Radcliffe, the Tory MP for Leek at the time as a project to occupy and educate the unemployed men in the area. The copper spire was reputedly taken from a demolished chapel. When first built the house consisted of two storeys with a flat roof, but this leaked water badly and so another storey was added.
Down in the bottom of the valley just a short drive or 15 minutes walk from Warslow is The Manifold Way which was a former narrow-gauge railway line which closed in 1934. Packed with geological features and running beside the rivers Manifold and Hamps, the 8-mile long trail from Hulme End to Waterhouses runs through spectacular scenery in an area of natural beauty.
Warslow Brook trickles and tumbles for almost 4 miles from its source high on the Staffordshire Moorlands at Merryton Low some 1,603 feet above sea level to join the River Manifold near Swainsley Hall below Warslow.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, many residents of Warslow would have been employed at the Ecton copper mine which is located down the hill from the village at the side of the River Manifold. Ecton produced considerable quantities of copper ore and in its heyday was one of the richest and most productive copper mines in the world. Its main shaft reached a staggering depth of 1400 feet, a thousand feet of which was below the river level. The mineral rights at the time were owned by the Duke of Devonshire and the 5th Duke built The Crescent and indoor riding school at Buxton on its profits.
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