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The Parsonage, as it was called when this photo was taken, stood almost out of sight at the rear of nos. 164 to 172 High Street. It was later known as The Vicarage but closed when a new vicarage was built next to the church. It is now considerably altered as the Poplars Residential Home.
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On the level section of High Street stand nos. 147 and 149 at left, followed by the terraces which start at no. 155.
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The same view on 19 May 2007. A bungalow now stands in place of nos. 147 and 149. To the right is the terrace containing nos. 164-172.
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A closer view of nos. 147 and 149 High Street
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Fact file: No. 163 High Street This is currently Alsagers Bank post office which opened in May 1985. |
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Fact file: No. 165 High Street Edward Hadley is recorded there as a grocer, greengrocer and fruiterer, from 1900 until 1924. His wife Catherine continued the business until 1936. |
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Fact file: No. 164 High Street William Whalley, a draper is recorded in 1932. It was then Wright’s sweet shop and finally, from 1957 until the 1970’s, the chemist shop of James Basford. |
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Fact file: No. 172 High Street George Hancock was a grocer there from 1880 until 1916. On part of the land belonging to no. 172 was a wooden building which was demolished by 1930. It was used from 1918 by a Mr Parker, a butcher. |
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The wooden butcher’s building may be the one at the right of this view, at the end of the terrace alongside no. 172.
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Another row of terraces seen on 19 May 2007, with no. 177 at left. On the right is no. 194, just past the fencing which fronts a large space where nos. 176, 180 and 184-186 once stood.
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Fact file: No. 181 High Street In 1880 it was the outfitter’s shop of Henry Burgess Shufflebotham and continued so until 1916. In that year the insurance agent David Norcup shared the property. He had married Ann Shufflebotham, Henry’s daughter, in 1904. He continued until 1940, but from 1932 until 1940 his wife Ann is also recorded there as a shopkeeper. She sold sweets. Hilda Bosworth followed and then a Miss Baxter, who was there in 1957, used it as a lock-up shop. |
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Fact file: No. 186 High Street William Scott had a shop there in 1910 and from 1916 to 1939 Thomas Warburton, a boot dealer. This is the same Thomas Warburton who was licensee of the Railway Inn in Halmer End from 1908 to 1910. Following his death in 1939 the shop was continued by his wife Mary Emma and daughter Doris Henshall. |
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The central section of High Street with the terraces at left beginning with no. 191. On the immediate right is a shop at no. 202, with the Bovril sign.
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The same view on 23 June 2007 with no. 202 still standing.
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Nos. 194 (right) to 202
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Fact file: Rose Cottage, no. 196 High Street The property was sold by auction in 1912 when it was occupied by a Mrs Sumnall. The house contained three bedrooms, parlour, kitchen, scullery and side entrance to back premises. Gas and water was laid on. George Sumnall, selling fruit and vegetables, was there from 1916 to 1940. |
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Fact file: No. 202 High Street This is one of the oldest properties in Alsagers Bank, built as four back-to-back cottages which were later converted into a single property with a shop fronting the High Street. The land on which the property was built was conveyed on 11 April 1763 by Mr George Booth, yeoman of Audley, to Thomas Gibson, yeoman of Gravenhunger in the parish of Mucclestone, for the sum of £30. A messuage or tenement on the land was in the holding of Thomas Proctor. The four cottages are mentioned in 1832 but it is not clear when they were built. By 1901 the property was the home of George Jones and his wife Ann (née Dean). Living with them was Ann’s son Frederick Thomas Dean, a stationer. He is recorded at the property from 1905 until his death in 1930, as a grocer, newsagent and stationer. His wife Martha Ellen continued the business with their sons Walter and Reginald Harry Dean. The shop was bought by Frank and Marjorie Mawdsley in 1969 and continued for some years until closure. It is now a private house.
Frederick Thomas Dean outside the shop
The Dean family at the rear of no. 202 in 1907 or 1908 Standing: servant / Martha Ellen Dean (née Mullinex) / George Jones Sitting: Frederick Thomas Dean / Ann Jones (née Dean) Children: Reginald Harry Dean / Walter Dean / Donald Dean
Reginald Harry Dean inside the shop in 1960
Another view in 1960
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Fact file: No. 205 High Street This was the second post office in Alsagers Bank. William Evans was the postmaster from 1916, followed by Frank Evans from around 1960 until its closure in 1985. Sweets were also sold there. |
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This was Chapel Terrace, a row of 6 houses, nos. 206-216, known locally as “Stir Pudding Row” which stood sideways to High Street. They were demolished some time after 1960.
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The United Methodist Free Church, built in 1870, was later known as the Zion Methodist Church. It closed in 1967 and was demolished soon after.
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Worshippers who attended the final Zion Methodist anniversary sermon in 1967.
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Nos. 222-224 and 230-232 High Street stand between the chapels. All of these buildings were demolished. The photo was taken on a Charity Day when children of the chapel walked round the village in their new clothes, before attending the services and singing to the congregation. (See article on Alsagers Bank School in Audley Historian no. 3)
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The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (right), built in 1855, and the Sunday School, built around 1930. The latter replaced an older one which had been demolished. The chapel was later known as the Epworth Methodist Church. (See article The Concert Party in Audley Historian no. 8)
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The Epworth Chapel |
The chapel interior
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The final service at the Epworth was on Sunday 23 February 1986. The chapel is seen here during demolition, some time before 1988. The Sunday School followed. All of the buildings which had stood between nos. 202 and 240 were replaced by bungalows.
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No. 240 (right) and 248 (left)
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Looking back towards the chapels with no. 250 (shop) at left and no. 233 at right.
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Nos. 229-233 (with extension) are nearest to camera
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Fact file: No. 250 High Street Thomas James, a grocer, was there from 1910 until 1936. By 1940 Arthur Cooper had taken over the shop. It was still Cooper’s in 1957. Finally the shop was K.T.’s General Store around 2000 before closure and conversion to a private residence. |
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K.T.’s store at no. 250. It closed a few years ago, leaving the post office as the last surviving shop in High Street.
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Another view back to the chapels with nos. 250-264 at left. Immediate right is no. 243 (the first property in Woodland Terrace) with no. 235 beyond the entry road.
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A similar view on 28 January 2007 shows nos. 250-264 in the terrace at left. The much altered no. 235 is at right and nos. 229-233 are in the next terrace.
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Fact file: Lily House, no. 235 High Street In 1921 Mrs Alice Elizabeth Poole (née Gwilliam) was recorded there as a confectioner. In 1918 she had lost both her husband and eldest son in the Minnie Pit Disaster in Halmer End. In 1924 she founded a bus company, Poole and Sons, in order to support her young family. The company was financed by the compensation she received from the disaster fund. She also ran a billiards hall in a wooden building (visible in old photo above) adjacent to the house and her sweet shop was in the front room of the house. Alice retired in 1936 and the company became Poole Brothers and later Poole’s Coachways Ltd. The company continued until 1987. It provided regular bus services between Audley and Newcastle-under-Lyme via Miles Green, Halmer End, Alsagers Bank, Scot Hay, Silverdale and Knutton, in addition to hiring out coaches for tours and outings. The bus garage, with an eventual fleet of 15 vehicles, was situated at the rear of no. 235 via an access road between the house and Woodland Terrace. The rebuilt former bus depot is now used by Alsager Kitchens & Bedrooms. |
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Nos. 250 (right) to 264
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Just showing on the left is no. 266 High Street where the first post office in Alsagers Bank was situated. In the centre is the Farmers Boy Inn which is actually no. 1 Scot Hay Road, and at right is no. 264 High Street.
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The view on 28 January 2007 shows the former inn as a private residence.
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The Farmers Boy seen in August 1980 shortly before its closure.
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Fact file: The Farmers Boy Inn
Licensees: Dates are those for which records have been found. The intervening years could be covered by those listed or by an unrecorded licensee.
Alan Hodgkiss 1861 Samuel Worrall 1871- 1872 Alfred Cornes 1881-1884 Alfred James Holding 1896 Charles Hulse 1900-1906 Thomas Wainwright 1910 Isaac Green 1912-1928 Alfred Davies 1928 Roland Pratt 1932 John C. Kirkham 1933-1940 George Lovatt 1950 Peter Riley 1960 Doreen Wells 1970
The Farmers Boy closed in 1983 and since then has been a private house. |
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Nos. 266 (right) to 278
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Fact file: No. 266 High Street Mrs Selina Dickin is recorded there as a grocer, greengrocer and draper, from 1900 until 1916. She purchased the property, of which she was previously the tenant, in a public auction at the Gresley Arms on 16 December 1901, paying £450. From 1905 she is recorded as sub-postmistress when the premises contained the first post office in Alsagers Bank. That position came to an abrupt end as a result of her son Samuel Allan Dickin, the assistant sub-postmaster, being sentenced to 18 months hard labour in 1913 for embezzling over £1100 from the Post Office over a period of 6 years. Later Abraham Rogers is recorded as a shopkeeper, from 1936 to 1950. Bertram Henry Allman, the butcher previously at no. 133, followed, and is recorded in 1957. |
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Woodland Terrace, nos. 243-271
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Fact file: Woodland Terrace The houses of Woodland Terrace were all built by Ralph Downing (who married Sarah Wareham). Two of the properties, now nos. 245 and 263 High Street, were built on land purchased from the Heathcote family of Apedale Hall on 12 August 1875. The houses were built in twos and fours over a period of time as money became available. |
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Nos. 293-301
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The last buildings in High Street seen on 28 January 2007. On the left is Waste Farm and on the right are nos. 323-325 High Street. In the middle distance is no. 296. The white building is the Old Smithy. The area marks not only a change in the name of the road, but also the ancient boundary of Audley Parish. This side of the houses is High Lane in the parish of Knutton (formerly Wolstanton parish).
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Fact file: The Old Smithy The smithy can be traced back to at least 1768 when it was conveyed to Richard Gibson, blacksmith, for the sum of five pounds, by John Bowers, blacksmith of the Waste. The Gibson family remained at the smithy until the early 20th century. |
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Waste Farm
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Fact file: Waste Farm This is a very old farm which can be traced back to the 17th century. It is mentioned in Richard Parrott’s 1733 An Account of the Parish of Audley as being “long tenanted” by the Berks family. The tenancy in fact continued for many years after.
Farmers of Waste Farm
Thomas Berks, recorded in a parish rate document in 1665.
John and George Berks, recorded in a parish rate document in 1696.
Joseph Berks, recorded in parish rate documents from 1701 until 1747.
Robert Berks in 1766, when the farm was part of the Apedale estate of Sir Nigel Gresley. Recorded next in 1783 by which time the estate had passed to Gresley’s son, Sir Nigel Bowyer Gresley.
James Myatt in 1818, when the farm of 86 acres was still part of the Gresley estate.
Wilmot Eardley, recorded in parish registers in 1825.
James Heler, recorded in parish registers in 1830. The farm was owned by Richard Edensor Heathcote of Apedale Hall in 1837 when it is listed in the Audley Tithe Award. James Heler died in 1885. The farm varied in size during his tenancy, from 83 acres to 168 acres.
George Madew, son-in-law of James Heler, recorded in a trade directory in 1884 and last recorded in the census of 1891.
Thomas Cooper, recorded in a trade directory in 1892 and last recorded in 1928. In 1910 the farm, with land of 89 acres, was owned by Capt. Justinian Heathcote of Apedale Hall.
William Hughes, recorded in a trade directory in 1932. He remained at the farm until the 1980’s.
John Royall from the 1980’s until the present time. |
| Go to Halmer End Part 1 Go to Audley Church Street Part 1 Go to Old Audley main page Go to 1837 map A Go to 1837 map B Go to 1900 map A Go to 1900 map B |
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For details of Audley Historian and other available publications go to the Publications page on this website. For details of Audley Community News go to the News page on this website.
Additional information and recollections about any of the buildings and businesses would be greatly appreciated, as would any photographs of individual buildings or occupiers, which could be incorporated into the article. Please contact the society with any information.
Several of the old photographs are reproduced from the Thomas Warham Collection by kind permission. Most of the colour photographs are by Clive Millington. Other photographs have been kindly donated.
Many thanks to all concerned for the information and photographs received for insertion into this article. |
