ENDON
ENDON 1991
Endon was formerly a township in Leek parish
2,303 a. (932 ha.) in area (fn. 6) and later part of a civil
parish which included Longsdon and Stanley
until 1894. That year a new civil parish called
Endon and Stanley was formed, excluding
Longsdon. (fn. 7) The area is mostly pasture, but there
is much suburban housing in the south-west
along the main road between Leek and the
Potteries. The boundary follows brooks on the
east and south (fn. 8) and ridges on the west. A
boundary change in 1934 added 86 a. from
Horton, with the loss of 2 a. to Biddulph. (fn. 9) A
further boundary change in 1988 transferred a
block of land along the west side of Endon to
Brown Edge civil parish, whilst adding to
Endon the Brown Edge part of Stockton Brook
in the south-west. As a result the area of
Endon and Stanley civil parish was reduced
from 2,827 a. (1,144 ha.) to 2,682 a. (1,086 ha.). (fn. 10)
This article deals only with the former township
of Endon.
The land lies at its highest, 900 ft. (274 m.), in
the north-west part of the township. It falls
gradually to the south-east and is 645 ft. (196
m.) at Endon Bank, a promontory in the centre
of the township overlooking the valley of Endon
brook. The land drops sharply beneath Endon
Bank and is 482 ft. (146 m.) on the main Leek
road. To the south-east it rises to 710 ft. (216
m.) at Reynolds Hay Farm. The underlying rock
is sandstone of the Millstone Grit series, apart
from Endon Bank which is Bunter Sandstone.
There is Boulder Clay in the south-east part of
the township and alluvium along the brooks.
The soil is mostly fine loam, with an area of
coarse loam in the east around Hollinhurst
Farm. (fn. 11)
Forty people in Endon were assessed for hearth
tax in 1666. (fn. 12) The population was 445 in 1821,
487 in 1831, 571 in 1841, and 658 in 1851. (fn. 13) The
population of Endon and Stanley civil parish was
1,354 in 1901, 1,583 in 1911, 1,512 in 1921, and
1,471 in 1931. By 1951 it was 1,907. The population thereafter rose steadily, chiefly as a result
of the building of housing estates in Endon: it
was 2,697 in 1961, 3,792 in 1971, and 3,793 in
1981. In 1991, after the 1988 boundary change,
the population was 3,288. (fn. 14)
A Bronze Age axe-head found at Henridding
Farm on the west side of the township may
indicate prehistoric settlement. (fn. 15) The site of a
settlement called Endon in 1086 may have been
in the area of Endon Bank, which is presumably
the hill (dun) from which Endon takes its name. (fn. 16)
By the later 13th century much of the township
was parkland and settlement may have been
limited: several tenants of Endon manor in 1308
were stated to have no houses attached to their
land. The parkland had been converted to farmland by the mid 16th century, with a resulting
pattern of scattered farmhouses. (fn. 17)
The oldest surviving house is Sutton House on
the east slope of Endon Bank. Of the 16th
century and possibly built for Richard Sutton
(d. 1547), (fn. 18) the house was enlarged in the 17th
and 18th centuries. It stands at the junction of
a road which formed part of the route between
Newcastle-under-Lyme and Leek before the
early 19th century (fn. 19) and Hallwater Lane, so
called in 1495. (fn. 20) To the east Hallwater Lane
meets the present main Leek road and becomes
Park Lane, a road which runs across the former
parkland in the east part of the township. The
earliest settlement in that area was possibly at
Hollinhurst, on a hill north of the road near the
eastern boundary. The site was occupied by
1574, (fn. 21) and the present Hollinhurst Farm retains
a date stone of 1656. On Park Lane itself
Reynolds Hay Farm, Lawn Farm, and Manor
Farm are all of the 17th century, as is Hallwater
Farm in Hallwater Lane. Manor Farm, probably
the home of the Tomkinson family in 1607, was
rebuilt in 1637 for Roger Tomkinson and his
wife Mary. (fn. 22) The house was extended on the
north side in the 18th century and remodelled
in the early 19th century. Park Farm is of the
early 19th century and may have been built for
William Hand, a tanner, who lived there in 1816. (fn. 23)
In the former parkland in the north part of the
township there was a house by the later 16th
century called the Ashes, on the road to Horton.
The present 17th-century house with early 18thcentury additions was built either for John Bellot
(d. 1659), who was joint lord of Horton from
1625, or for his son Sir John (d. 1674). (fn. 24) Gate
House Farm to the south-west is partly of the
17th century, and there was a house at Woodcock
Hurst near the Horton boundary by the later
17th century. (fn. 25) West of the Horton road there
was a house on the site of Hole House by 1561, (fn. 26)
and one by 1607 in Holehouse Lane on the site
of Knowles Farm. (fn. 27) Both the present houses are
of the 19th century. Further west the site of
Hollin House was occupied by the later 16th
century, as was that of Ladymoor Farm on the
north-western boundary. (fn. 28) The present Hollin
House is of the 17th century; Ladymoor Farm
was rebuilt in the 19th century. Lanehead Farm
in Holehouse Lane was so called in 1648 (fn. 29) and
the present house is mostly of the 18th century.
Endon village grew up in the 17th century
where the Newcastle-Leek road forded a brook
north-east of Endon Bank: cottages of the 17th
and early 18th century survive in Brook Lane and
in a road called the Village. There was an inn,
the Black Horse, by 1802. (fn. 30) It was moved to its
present site on the new line of the Newcastle-
Leek road east of the village presumably after
that line was constructed between 1816 and
1820. (fn. 31)
By the 17th century there were houses elsewhere along the Newcastle-Leek road. One was
recorded in 1607 at Woodhouse Green about
½ mile from where the road enters the township
on the west; it was possibly on the site of Clay
Lake Farm, so called in 1678. (fn. 32) East of Woodhouse Green the road drops into a valley, where
it meets a road from Stanley at a place called
Lane End in 1648. A house there then was
probably the predecessor of the present Lane
Ends House, which is mainly of the 18th century. (fn. 33)
North-east of Lane End there was formerly a
row of cottages where the road, as Church Lane,
begins to climb Endon Bank. One cottage had a
stone showing a skull and crossbones with the
date 1663 and was possibly used as a stoppingplace for funeral parties going to the parish
church in Leek, before Endon acquired its own
church in the early 18th century. (fn. 34) Another
cottage was occupied by 1816 as the Plough
inn, (fn. 35) whose present south-facing front is an
extension of the original building and dates from
after the construction of the new line of the
Newcastle-Leek road. Half-way up Church
Lane stands Bank House Farm, of the 18th
century and possibly on the site of a house
recorded at Endon Bank in 1677. (fn. 36) Bank House
to the north-west on the summit of Endon Bank
almost certainly incorporates what in 1808 was
called Endon House, then described as pleasantly situated on an eminence with gardens,
nurseries, and fish ponds. (fn. 37) In 1815 it was the
home of John Daniel, one of the owners of the
New Hall pottery works in Shelton, in Stokeupon-Trent. (fn. 38) Daniel was a free thinker, and
when he died in 1821 he was buried without
religious ceremony in unconsecrated ground
near the house. His sister Alice was buried there
in the same manner in 1827. (fn. 39) In the later 19th
century the house, then known as Endon Bank,
was enlarged by a Leek solicitor, George Smith
(d. 1892). (fn. 40)
ENDON (detail) 1991
In the south-west part of the township there
was a house at Moss Hill called the Moss in 1750
and Moss Hall in 1772, and one in 1750 to the
north at Endon Edge. (fn. 41) The former Waterfall
Cottage in woodland at the south end of Endon
Edge was occupied in 1841 by Elizabeth Basnett
and in 1851 by James Basnett, a stone cutter and
the owner of a beerhouse near the Caldon canal. (fn. 42)
Rock Cottage to the north-west was built as a
cottage ornée in 1846 for Abner Wedgwood, who
died there in 1869. It was enlarged after being
bought in 1890 by James Slater, director of art
at the Doulton pottery works at Burslem. In
1983 a private nursing home was opened in the
house, which was extended in 1984 and 1985. (fn. 43)
By the later 18th century there was a hamlet
at Hill Top on the township's north-western
boundary. In the earlier 19th century it was
occupied chiefly by miners who worked in
Brown Edge. The hamlet had a beerhouse in
1841, possibly on the site of the present Rose
and Crown inn, recorded from 1871. (fn. 44)
The character of the south-western part of the
township changed after the construction in the
later 1840s of Leek Road and the opening of
railway stations in 1867 and 1896. (fn. 45) The improved communications with the Potteries led
to the building of detached and semi-detached
houses. The former Endon Hall on the west side
of Leek Road had been built by 1854, when it
was occupied by James Bateman Wathen, the
owner by 1864 of a pottery works in Fenton. It
was remodelled in 1877. (fn. 46) Orford Road at the
north end of Leek Road was laid out in the
1870s, (fn. 47) and was probably named after William
Orford (d. 1897), for whom Endon Lodge near
the Plough inn had been built by 1868. (fn. 48) In 1881
a house in Orford Road was the home of a
ceramic artist and painter Herbert Wilson Foster
(d. 1918). (fn. 49) The road to Stanley, running parallel
to Orford Road on the north, was renamed
Station Road, and Alder House at its east end
was built in the late 1870s. (fn. 50) Houses were also
built in the 1870s in Stoney Lane, running west
from Lane Ends House, and on the Newcastle
road to the north. (fn. 51) In 1896 five pairs of houses
were built at Stockton Brook at the south end of
Leek Road, (fn. 52) and a house called Heather Rocks
on the road north from Stockton Brook to Brown
Edge is dated 1901. A fountain was erected in
1898 at the top of Leek Road to commemorate
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. It was demolished in the 1930s, apart from an inscribed stone
which survives as the base of a seat. (fn. 53)
Suburban development was intensified after the
First World War. Houses had been built by the
earlier 1920s on the west side of Leek Road south
of Basnetts Wood Road and by the later 1930s
in side roads to the north, Spencer Avenue,
Platts Avenue, and Brookfield Avenue. (fn. 54) Endon
Hall was demolished in the later 1950s, and
houses were built on its site in what became
Kent Drive, named after the builder. (fn. 55) Houses
were built on the east side of Leek Road from
the 1950s. In the 1970s a large privately-built
housing estate was laid out on the rising ground
west of the Plough inn, along with smaller estates
south-east of the inn and in Brook Side Drive
in Endon village. The western stretch of Stoney
Lane, later Hazelwood Road, is part of another
large privately-built housing estate begun in the
1970s. From the summit of Hazelwood Road the
estate continues down to Leek Road on either
side of Basnetts Wood Road and includes the
site of Waterfall Cottage. Railway Court and
Dorian Way off Station Road were built c. 1990,
and Station Road was then Endon's main shopping area.
Endon association for the prosecution of felons
was formed evidently in 1801. It still existed in
1838. (fn. 56) Endon had a village policeman in 1847.
His successor in 1851, William Hand, was still
the policeman in 1871. (fn. 57)
A post office was opened in Endon village in
1853, possibly at the corner of Brook Lane and
the Village, its site in the late 19th century. (fn. 58) By
1912 it was also a telephone call office. (fn. 59) There
was a post office at Stockton Brook by 1898. (fn. 60)
An isolation hospital on the south-western
boundary was opened for Leek rural sanitary
district in 1894. Rebuilt in 1915, it was closed
in 1931. (fn. 61)
Much of the township had a mains water
supply by 1914. A sewerage scheme was completed in 1918, with a works in the west part of
Longsdon; the works was rebuilt in 1970. (fn. 62) An
electricity substation was opened at Stockton
Brook in 1932, and by 1940 electricity was
apparently available for the whole of Endon.
There was a gas supply by 1940. (fn. 63)
Communications.
The road between Newcastleunder-Lyme and Leek crossed over Horton
brook east of Endon village by a bridge in
existence by 1367 and mentioned as a stone
bridge in 1561. (fn. 64) The road was turnpiked in
1765. A tollgate was set up east of the junction
with the road to Stanley in 1766, and by 1767
there was a tollhouse. (fn. 65) Between 1816 and 1820
a new line was constructed from the Plough inn
to the present Black Horse inn, avoiding the
steep rise up Endon Bank. (fn. 66) The road was
disturnpiked in 1879. (fn. 67) A cast-iron milepost
dated 1821 originally stood at Woodhouse
Green, where it marked the 7-mile point from
Newcastle. (fn. 68) In 1991 it stood on Leek Road in
front of Endon county high school. Other mileposts on the Newcastle-Leek road were replaced
in 1879 by the present cast-iron posts. (fn. 69)
Leek Road, which enters the township at
Stockton Brook and joins the Newcastle road at
Lane End, formed part of a turnpike road from
Stoke-upon-Trent. It was built under an Act of
1840 apparently in the later 1840s. (fn. 70)
The Caldon canal, opened probably in 1778, runs
through Endon. (fn. 71) East of Park Lane the canal
originally ran along the line of the later railway,
but it was realigned to the south in the 1790s, in
connexion with the building of a branch to Leek. (fn. 72)
There was a wharf on the canal near Park Lane
by 1860. (fn. 73) A basin and wharf south-west of
Endon railway station were built probably in the
1910s, and in 1917 a mechanical chute was
installed, designed to discharge stone brought by
rail from Caldon Low. (fn. 74) Abandoned in 1961, the
canal was reopened for leisure boats in 1974. (fn. 75)
A railway opened in 1867 from Stoke-uponTrent to the Churnet Valley line at Leekbrook
south of Leek ran through the south part of
Endon, and there was a station on the road to
Stanley. (fn. 76) Another station was opened at Stockton Brook in 1896; it was closed in 1956. (fn. 77) Endon
station was closed in 1960 when passenger services were ended, but the railway continued in
use as a mineral line until 1989. (fn. 78)
Social and cultural activities.
A welldressing festival was started in 1845. (fn. 79) That
year Thomas Heaton (fn. 80) built a fountain in Endon
village, and it was decorated to mark Oak Apple
Day (29 May). By 1852 what had become an
annual event began with an afternoon procession
to the church, where a sermon was preached,
followed by a visit to the fountain, which had
been decorated with flowers; tea was then
served, and there was dancing in Jaw Bone field
on the east side of the Methodist chapel in the
village. An estimated 300 people attended the
event in 1852 and 400 in 1853, some of whom
came from the Potteries. An organizing committee
had evidently been established by 1856, when
admission to the grounds at Jaw Bone field was
by 1s. ticket only. A quadrille band was engaged
in 1861, and for many years from 1864 music was
provided by Endon brass band.
There was an estimated attendance of 1,200 in
1864 and of over 2,000 in 1872. By then it was
normal to keep the well decorated and the field
open for a second day, and the festivities included a May queen and maypole dancing. In
1906 it was decided to hold the event over a
weekend, beginning on the Saturday nearest 29
May and ending on the Monday. In 1916 there
was a further change to Whit weekend. In 1991
the festival was held on the weekend of the
spring bank holiday. (fn. 81)
By 1860 it was the custom to distribute the
profits of the festival, by then some £25, among
the poor of the area on St. Thomas's day (21
December). (fn. 82) The festival's growing popularity
created problems for those arranging the event,
especially as regards the disposal of the money
raised. In 1868 Thomas Heaton, then of Alton,
vested the fountain in a body of trustees, whose
main function was to administer the funds. They
were also to ensure that the festival was conducted in an orderly manner; it was Heaton's
wish that the well-dressing should provide
'innocent recreation and enjoyment' for the
inhabitants of Endon village and the neighbourhood 'without giving encouragement to any act
of intemperance or vice'. (fn. 83) The trustees included
the recently appointed vicar, James Badnall, (fn. 84)
who emphasized the church's role in the festival
by engaging visiting preachers to deliver sermons. Under the terms of the trust the profits
were to be distributed in bread to the poor of
Endon village and the immediate neighbourhood on 21 December and were also to be used
for the Church of England Sunday school, the
Wesleyan Methodist Sunday school, and 'the
free grammar school' (Endon parochial school).
A Scheme of 1974 reorganized what was by then
called the Endon Well Dressing Festival Charity. The beneficiaries in 1991 included both
Sunday schools and other youth groups and
voluntary organizations in Endon. (fn. 85)
In 1854 James Basnett advertised the opening
of his gardens and 'new pleasure grounds' at
Waterfall Cottage during Stoke wakes' week,
beginning on Monday 7 August. The main
attraction was the woodland walk to a waterfall.
The opening apparently became an annual
event: it still took place in 1867. In 1865 the
grounds were also opened at the time of the
well-dressing festival. Basnett's house became a
private school in 1868, and the public use of the
grounds presumably ceased. (fn. 86)
Endon friendly society was established in 1820.
By 1876 it had 416 members and assets of nearly
£3,800, derived partly from the tenancy of the
Plough inn. The society acquired the tenancy in
1859 and surrendered it in the 1870s. By 1878
the society had a reading room, probably in the
Plough inn. (fn. 87) The society still existed in 1899. (fn. 88)
A Women's Institute was formed in 1920. (fn. 89) The
Endonian Society, an all-male body devoted to
record the history of the area, was established in
1961. (fn. 90)
A parish room opened in 1905 probably stood
west of Alder House in Station Road: land there,
with a building used as a parish room and later
as a village hall, was given in 1915 to the
Lichfield Diocesan Trust by E. W. Hollinshead
of Endon. (fn. 91) A recreation ground south of the hall
was acquired in 1927 as a war memorial. (fn. 92)
Endon had a cricket club in 1871, and by 1898
its ground was at the north end of Station Road.
A ground near Moss Hill was used from c. 1950
until 1962 and one in Stanley from 1963. (fn. 93) A
football club was established in 1876, (fn. 94) but
nothing further is known about it. Endon Tennis
Club existed by 1896, (fn. 95) and in 1991 its courts
were on part of the former cricket ground in
Station Road. Courts south of Moss Hill, in
existence by the earlier 1920s, (fn. 96) were used in
1991 by Stockton Brook Tennis Club.
MANOR.
Before the Conquest ENDON was
held by Dunning and in 1086 by the king. It
may have passed later to the earls of Chester and
then back to the Crown in 1237. (fn. 97) By 1273 it had
passed to John de Verdun of Alton, and in 1299
and 1308 Endon was held of Theobald, Lord
Verdun, by homage only. (fn. 98) When Theobald died
in 1316 he left four daughters as heirs, none of
whom seems to have claimed the overlordship
of Endon, and later the same year it was held by
Margaret, Baroness Stafford, who received a
rent of 5s. as service. (fn. 99) The Staffords were
overlords of Horton, which was held by the same
undertenant as Endon, and that presumably
explains the change in overlordship. The
Staffords remained overlords of Endon in
1411, when it was last mentioned as a separate
manor. (fn. 1)
Henry de Audley evidently held Endon in
1246 (fn. 2) and his son James was the undertenant in
1252. (fn. 3) The manor descended with the Audleys'
adjoining manor of Horton.
There was evidently a manor house in 1246
when the bishop visited Henry de Audley at
Endon. (fn. 4) It probably stood on the moated site at
the north end of Park Lane. (fn. 5)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Agriculture.
Endon
was stated in 1086 to have land for one or two
ploughteams. (fn. 6) In the early 14th century the lord
of the manor had no arable in demesne, presumably because much of Endon was by then
parkland. (fn. 7) The conversion of parkland into
farmland by the mid 16th century resulted in
the creation of small holdings: of the 590 a. held
by customary tenants in 1607, half was in holdings of 25 a. or less. (fn. 8) Lady moor in the
north-west part of Endon belonged to the lord
of the manor in 1399. It was regarded as common
waste by the early 17th century and was then
being encroached upon. (fn. 9)
The 10s. which by the late 1460s the Audleys
took each year from the works (de operibus) of
Endon suggests the commutation of labour services.
The sum was still demanded in 1509. (fn. 10) In the
mid 16th century and in 1607 the Audleys also
took 'worksilver' at Michaelmas from three tenements in Endon. (fn. 11)
Dieulacres abbey, the owner of the tithes of
Endon as rector of Leek, had a tithe barn in
Endon. (fn. 12)
Of the 762 ha. of farmland returned for Endon
and Stanley civil parish in 1988, grassland covered 734.7 ha. and there were 16.3 ha. of rough
grazing. Dairy farming predominated, with
1,761 head of cattle. There were 399 sheep and
lambs and 3,000 hens. Of the 34 farms returned,
31 were under 49 ha. in size and 3 were between
50 and 99 ha. (fn. 13)
Warren And Park.
In 1252 James de Audley
was granted free warren in Endon. (fn. 14) Endon park
was mentioned in 1273, when its pannage and
herbage were valued at 10 marks (£6 13s. 4d.). (fn. 15)
The park was extensive, stretching across Endon
to the south-eastern boundary. A reference in
1308 to the 'Old Park' suggests the existence of
an additional area of parkland by that date; (fn. 16) in
1341 there was mention of Hanley park, which
lay between Park Lane and Endon brook and
extended into Cheddleton. (fn. 17) The name of
Reynolds Hay farm at the south end of Park
Lane may indicate an enclosure associated with
the park, and Lawn farm was known in the
earlier 17th century as the Laund, a name
meaning woodland pasture and possibly referring
to grassland reserved for deer. (fn. 18) A nest of sparrowhawks or falcons was stolen from the park in
1283, and Richard the parker was assessed for
tax in Endon in 1333. (fn. 19) The parkland had been
converted into farmland by the mid 16th century. (fn. 20)
Mill.
There was a mill at Endon in 1273, and
in 1276 it was stated to be in the park. (fn. 21) What
was called Hanley mill in 1401 stood on Endon
brook east of Endon village, and the bridge
taking the Leek road over the brook was known
as Mill bridge in 1679. (fn. 22) The mill no longer
existed by 1732. (fn. 23)
Trade And Industry.
There was a fulling mill
on Endon brook near the site of Hanley mill in
1738 and 1756. (fn. 24) A dyer, William Whieldon,
lived in Endon village in 1721, possibly in the
cottage in Brook Lane which carries the date
1710 and the initials ww. There were two dyers,
Richard Johnson and his son Richard, in Endon
in the 1740s. (fn. 25) All three may have been associated with the fulling mill.
A tanner, Daniel Nickson, lived in Park Lane
in 1721 and 1728. (fn. 26) In 1816 William Hand of
Park Farm in Park Lane had a tanyard south of
his house. It was still run by Hand when offered
for sale in 1839. (fn. 27) The tanhouse owned by John
Sutton in 1740 (fn. 28) probably stood on the site of a
tanyard in Hallwater Lane in 1816. When
offered for sale in 1829, the yard included a
barkmill with a new engine; there was also a
warehouse, which survived in 1991 as Hallwater
Cottages. (fn. 29)
In 1838 there was a quarry west of Moss Hill,
producing stone which was used in the pottery
trade and as ballast for railway tracks. (fn. 30) The
quarry was still worked in the late 1930s. (fn. 31) Stone
was probably quarried in the wood south of
Endon Edge by 1851. Two stone masons and a
stone quarryman then lived in a row of cottages
there, which had possibly been built by a stone
cutter, James Basnett of the nearby Waterfall
Cottage. (fn. 32) A quarry west of the cottages was
disused by the late 1870s, but another quarry
was then worked north of Waterfall Cottage; it
was apparently disused by the early 1920s. (fn. 33)
A brickmaker named Thomas Potts lived at
Endon Edge in 1859, and Charles and John
Heath, also of Endon Edge, worked as drainpipe makers in 1861. (fn. 34) In the late 1870s there
was a brickworks in Stonehaye Wood on the east
side of Endon Edge. Run by Philip Kent in 1880,
the works was closed between 1892 and 1896. (fn. 35)
Land Surveyors.
Charles Heaton, recorded as
a surveyor in 1804, lived at Endon by 1815. He
died there in 1859. (fn. 36) Two of his sons also
practised as land surveyors: Thomas (d. 1875),
who probably worked with his father, lived in
Endon in 1856 but had moved to Alton by
1860; (fn. 37) Edwin, based in Leek in 1850 and in
Cheddleton in 1860, moved between 1872 and
1876 to Hallwater House in Endon. (fn. 38) After
Edwin's death in 1896 (fn. 39) the practice moved to a
house dated 1897 on the Leek road south-west
of the Plough inn, where it continued in 1991 as
E. Heaton & Sons.
A surveyor named Robert Cleminson lived at
Hallwater House in 1868. When Edwin Heaton
came to live there c. 1874, Cleminson moved to
Springfield House in the Woodhouse Green
area, where he remained in practice until his
death in 1893. (fn. 40) A surveyor named Charles
Trubshaw lived at Stockton Brook in 1839 and
1840, (fn. 41) and Francis Figgins, a surveyor and
engineer, lived there in 1842. (fn. 42)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Endon manor had
its own court in 1278, and in 1293 the lord,
Nicholas de Audley, claimed view of frankpledge, assize of bread and of ale, waif, and
infangthief. (fn. 43) In 1308, however, Endon was subject to the Audleys' court at Horton, sending a
frankpledge to the twice-yearly view by 1351. (fn. 44)
It was still part of Horton manor in 1795. (fn. 45)
Stocks at Endon were mentioned in 1694 as
out of repair. (fn. 46) A pinfold, which apparently
stood next to the tollgate near the Plough inn,
was removed in 1889. (fn. 47)
The township was part of the Endon quarter
of Leek parish, and in the 1660s its poor were
relieved jointly with those of Longsdon and
Stanley by the quarter's overseer. (fn. 48) The poor
were still relieved jointly in 1834, but separate
assessments for each township were made by
1750. (fn. 49) Endon became part of Leek poor-law
union in 1837. (fn. 50)
There was a surveyor of the highways for
Endon in 1700. He was answerable to Horton
manor court. (fn. 51)
CHURCH.
The lord of Endon, Henry de Audley,
had a chapel at Endon in 1246. That year Bishop
Roger de Weseham granted him permission
to have members of his family baptized in the
chapel and to establish a chantry there. As
Weseham took care to obtain approval from
Dieulacres abbey, as rector of Leek, Endon chapel
may have been more than a private oratory. (fn. 52)
The present church was built between 1719
and 1721 by the inhabitants of Endon and
Stanley on land given by Thomas Jodrell. (fn. 53) It
was dependent on the parish church at Leek
until 1865, when the chapelry became a parish,
also including Longsdon. (fn. 54) The benefice, at first
a perpetual curacy, was styled a vicarage from
1868. (fn. 55) In 1889 most of Longsdon was transferred to All Saints' parish, Leek. (fn. 56)
It was not until 1730 that the bishop granted
a faculty for the administration of the sacraments
at Endon. The delay may have been caused by
a dispute over fees, settled in 1731 by an agreement between the vicar of Leek and the curate
and trustees of Endon chapel. The vicar retained
payments made in respect of the Easter roll, the
modus for the tithe of hay in Endon and Stanley,
and other customary dues. He also retained fees
for churchings, marriages, and burials conducted by the curate, but apparently not for
baptisms. The payments were to be collected by
the curate, who was also to forward within three
days the names of those who had been baptized,
married, or buried at Endon for entry into the
register at Leek. The vicar was also to have 'all
the advantages of mourning cloth' in Endon
chapel, probably the income from hiring out a
pall for funerals. Once a year (but not on Easter
Sunday) the curate, having been given at least
10 days' notice, was obliged to assist the vicar in
administering Communion at Leek. (fn. 57) By 1832
the curate retained half the fee for churchings
and part of that for burials. (fn. 58)
John Daintry (or Daventry) subscribed as curate
of Endon in 1724, having been nominated in
1723 by Thomas Jodrell and the chapel trustees.
A rival candidate had been nominated by the
vicar of Leek. (fn. 59) In 1737 the earl of Macclesfield
nominated, evidently in his capacity as patron of
Leek. The earls retained the patronage until
1892 when it was transferred to the vicar of
Leek. (fn. 60)
In 1720 Queen Anne's Bounty gave £200 to
meet a benefaction of £200 from Thomas Jodrell
and others. A further bounty of £200 was given
in 1727 to meet £150 given by Lady Holford
and £50 by the earl of Macclesfield. (fn. 61) By 1738
some or all of the money had been used to buy
a 39-a. farm at Oulton, in Rushton Spencer, and
a 21½-a. farm at Dale Green, in Wolstanton. (fn. 62)
Besides fees the curate then received a rent of
6s. 8d. a year left by William Dudley (d. 1718)
of Lyme House, in Longsdon, for a sermon on
29 May; (fn. 63) a rent charge of £5 given by Thomas
Jodrell; (fn. 64) the income from pasturage in the
churchyard and from an adjoining croft given by
Thomas Jodrell; and some of the pew rents from
the chapel. (fn. 65) The living was worth £120 a year
c. 1830. (fn. 66) In 1887 there were 99 a. of glebe, with
an estimated rental of £140 4s. (fn. 67) The farm in
Wolstanton was sold apparently in 1911 and that
at Rushton Spencer in 1916, and the proceeds
were invested. (fn. 68)
No house for the curate was included in the
original endowment, and in 1732 John Daintry
lived at Dunwood, in Longsdon. His successor,
Enoch Tompkinson, lived in Park Lane at the
time of his death in 1761. (fn. 69) The curate in 1851,
Daniel Turner, lived at Hallwater House, where
he died in 1864. (fn. 70) A vicarage house was built in
1914 off the Leek road south-west of the Plough
inn; it was replaced in the later 1970s by a house
built in the garden. (fn. 71)
In 1830 there were two Sunday services and
Communion was celebrated five times a year. (fn. 72)
On Census Sunday 1851 the attendance was 40
in the morning and 100 in the afternoon, besides
Sunday school children. (fn. 73) The church had psalm
singers and a band in 1815. The singers, still
recorded in 1858, probably survived until 1862
when a harmonium was installed. (fn. 74) A surpliced
choir took part in the opening service for the
chancel in 1879. (fn. 75)
There was a mission room at Hill Top in 1881,
and a mission church was built there in 1900. It
was closed in 1978, and with the adjoining
caretaker's cottage it was later converted into a
dwelling called Mission House. (fn. 76)
There was a chapelwarden by 1802. (fn. 77) A clerk,
recorded in 1738, had his salary fixed at £5 in
1813, when he was also given a house with a garden. (fn. 78)
The present church of ST. LUKE dates
mostly from the 1870s. It predecessor, of
coursed rubble with stone dressings, consisted
of a nave with a small sanctuary and a west
tower. (fn. 79) There were two galleries in 1830, one
presumably at the west end and approached
through the tower by the external stairs which
still survive. (fn. 80) In the 1850s the nave had box
pews, and there was a two-decker pulpit at its
south-east corner. (fn. 81) The church was rebuilt in
ashlar in the later 1870s. The new church had a
south aisle of three bays and a south-west porch,
designed by Jeremiah and Joseph Beardmore of
Hanley, who also designed a chancel arch. The
chancel itself, with a sanctuary and north organ
chamber, was designed by R. Scrivener & Sons
of Hanley and was not completed until 1879.
The box pews were removed and the pulpit was
replaced by one of stone at the north-east corner
of the nave. (fn. 82) Glass by Morris & Co. was
installed in the east window in 1893 as a memorial to George Smith of Bank House. (fn. 83) A north
aisle was added in 1899, the cost being met by
Thomas Smith of Park Lane in memory of his
wife. (fn. 84) A meeting room created under the tower
in 1820 was extended to the south in 1970 to
include lavatories. (fn. 85) A larger meeting room
which adjoins the church on the north-west was
built in the earlier 1980s. Called the Chapter
House because of its octagonal shape, it was
designed by Wood, Goldstraw & Yorath of
Hanley. (fn. 86)
The church has a silver paten of 1638. (fn. 87) The
single bell is dated 1726. (fn. 88) The furnishings
include four altar frontals made in the late 19th
century by the Leek Embroidery Society.
The registers date from 1731. (fn. 89)
The stone wall around the churchyard and the
lychgate were built in 1874 at the cost of William
Orford. (fn. 90) In 1898 the churchyard was enlarged
on the north. (fn. 91)
NONCONFORMITY.
The only papist returned
for Leek parish in 1705 was Elizabeth, wife of
Andrew Heath of Endon. She was again returned
in 1706, along with Elizabeth, wife of Joseph
Pedley of Park Lane. (fn. 92)
John Reynolds of Clay Lake was recorded as
a Quaker in 1704, and he and his family were
members of the Friends' meeting at Leek in 1735. (fn. 93)
Houses in Endon registered for protestant
worship in 1805, 1814, and 1815 were probably
used by Wesleyan Methodists, who had a society
of 10 members at Endon in 1815. (fn. 94) John Heath
of Bank Farm registered his house for worship
in 1824, (fn. 95) and two years later the society moved
to the home of his brother George in Endon
village. Members also attended the chapel at
Gratton. (fn. 96) A chapel was opened in Endon village
in 1835. In 1851 the average attendance was 18
in the afternoon, besides Sunday school children, and 42 in the evening. (fn. 97) Following the
suburban development of the Leek Road area, a
larger and more conveniently sited chapel, designed in a Gothic style by William Sugden of
Leek, was built in 1874 at the corner of Leek
Road and Station Road. The former chapel was
sold and converted into two cottages. The new
chapel was itself replaced in 1991 by one on the
same site, designed by Hulme, Upright & Partners
of Hanley and incorporating a rose window and
terracotta medallions from its predecessor. (fn. 98)
In 1832 Hugh Bourne opened a Primitive
Methodist chapel at Hill Top; it occupied the
north end of a low stone building, the rest of
which probably consisted of cottages. Bourne
was himself a member of the congregation. On
Census Sunday 1851 the attendance was 45 in
the afternoon and 50 in the evening. (fn. 99) In 1880
the congregation moved to a chapel on the
Norton-in-the-Moors side of the boundary,
known in 1991 as Hill Top Methodist Church. (fn. 1)
John Charlesworth, excluded from the Hill
Top chapel in 1880, formed his own society
called Brown Edge Free Mission. It had a
mission room at Hill Top, served by both
Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist preachers.
The room was closed in 1963, and the site was
occupied by a bungalow in 1991. (fn. 2)
A New Connexion Methodist chapel at the
Stockton Brook end of Leek Road was registered
in 1888. Re-registered as Trinity Methodist
Church in 1937, it was closed in 1977. (fn. 3) It was
reopened by Seventh Day Adventists in 1978.
Services ceased in the 1980s, and in 1991 the
building stood empty. (fn. 4)
EDUCATION.
In 1750 a school and a master's
house were built on land adjoining the south-east
corner of Endon churchyard. John Wedgwood of
Harracles, in Longsdon, and James Sutton of
Endon gave the land, and the freeholders paid
for the building. (fn. 5) There were 35 pupils in 1751,
taught at their parents' expense. (fn. 6) In 1781
Thomas Sherratt of Endon bequeathed the interest
on £60 to endow free places, and in 1786 his
brother William left the interest on £50 for the
same purpose. The capital was held by the
brothers' nephew, John Hand (d. 1799), and in
1825 John's son William, of Park Farm, paid
£4 8s. as the interest. The number of pupils
supported by the charity money varied; there
were three in 1825, but earlier apparently as
many as 10. (fn. 7) In 1797 the master was given a
garden adjoining his house by Thomas Harding,
lord of Horton manor. (fn. 8) In 1825 a further annuity of
£2 10s. was paid out of the tolls collected at
Endon tollgate, for which the master taught two
pupils free. (fn. 9) By the earlier 1820s the master also
received money for teaching poor children from
Stanley out of the charity of the Revd. Richard
Shaw. (fn. 10)
Only 12 boys and 8 girls were taught at the
school in 1847. (fn. 11) In 1855 the management of
what was then called Endon parochial school was
reorganized under a body of trustees which
included the curate. The school was to take
children from Endon chapelry aged between 6
and 16 years, and weekly pence were to be
charged. (fn. 12) A new schoolroom was opened on the
site of the old one in 1871. (fn. 13) A government grant
was paid from 1872, and a voluntary rate was
levied from 1875. There were 50 children on the
books in 1875. (fn. 14)
In 1930 it was decided that Endon parochial
school, then an all-age school with 84 children
on its books, should become a junior school. The
decision took effect in 1939, when the present
Endon county high school on Leek Road was
opened as a senior school. (fn. 15) The junior school
took controlled status in 1958 as St. Luke's
Church of England (Controlled) primary school. (fn. 16)
It was moved to its present site in Leek Road in
1963, and the former building was demolished
in 1965. (fn. 17) Another junior school, Endon Hall
county primary school in Hillside Avenue, off
Leek Road, was opened in 1969. (fn. 18)
A Church of England Sunday school had been
established by 1826, (fn. 19) and both Endon's Methodist chapels had Sunday schools by 1851. On
Census Sunday that year there were attendances
of 40 at the Church of England Sunday school
and of between 30 and 33 at the Wesleyan
Methodist school; there was apparently no
school that day at the Primitive Methodist
chapel, but the attendance was stated to average 47. (fn. 20)
The curate of Endon, John Salt (d. 1832), ran
a private school in 1825. (fn. 21) There was a girls'
school at Sutton House in 1851, run by John
Minshull and the Misses Minshull. (fn. 22) In 1868
Mary Owen opened a girls' day and boarding
school called Endon New Hall in the present
Stone House in Basnetts Wood Road, and her
husband John ran a commercial day school for
boys in Endon. (fn. 23) The boarding school was taken
over in 1875 or 1876 by John Bailey, who by
1881 had moved it to Orford Road, where he ran
it with his wife and daughter mainly as a day
school. (fn. 24) The school apparently no longer existed in 1884. (fn. 25) In 1940 a preparatory school was
held in West End Villa at Stockton Brook. (fn. 26)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
Thomas Jodrell
(d. 1728), the benefactor of Endon church, left
a third of the interest on £200 for the poor of
Endon chapelry. In the later 1780s the income
was £2 10s. The same amount was disbursed in
the earlier 1820s in 1s. doles. (fn. 27) John Boughey (d.
1749) of Little Chell, in Wolstanton, left the
interest on £10 to be distributed on St.
Thomas's day (21 December) to the poor of
Endon chapelry. By the later 1780s the income
was 8s., charged by 1888 on land at Endon
Bank. (fn. 28) John Ball (d. probably 1749) of Endon
gave the interest on £40 for the poor of Endon
chapelry in the form of a weekly bread dole. In
the later 1780s the income was £2. It was 30s.
in the earlier 1820s, when it was charged on land
at Blackwood Hill, in Horton. Bread worth 1s.
was then distributed weekly, the shortfall in the
cost of the bread being met from sacrament
money. In 1888 the bread was distributed
monthly. (fn. 29) John Wedgwood (d. 1757) of Harracles,
in Longsdon, left half the interest on £120 for
distribution to the poor of Endon chapelry at
Candlemas (2 February). Endon's share in the
later 1780s was £3. It was the same amount in
the earlier 1820s and £1 16s. in 1888. (fn. 30) The
Jodrell, Boughey, Ball, and Wedgwood charities
were administered jointly by 1992, when six
women each received £1. (fn. 31)
Francis Evans (d. 1824) of Lane Ends House
left £50 for the distribution of 30s. worth of
bread to the very poor at Christmas. (fn. 32) Nothing
further is known about the charity.
In 1850 Thomas Wood, son-in-law of Charles
Heaton of Endon, spent £20 on the purchase of
1 a. of land near Lane Ends House to yield 20s.
a year for the distribution of bread to the poor
of Endon chapelry. The charity still existed in
1888, but nothing further is known about it. (fn. 33)
Elizabeth Turner (d. 1865) of Bank House left half
the interest on £100 for the poor of Endon chapelry.
In 1888 a distribution of £1 16s. worth of coal was
made at Christmas. George Smith (d. 1892) of
Endon Bank left £200, the interest to be distributed at Christmas to the poor living within one
mile of Endon village. The first distribution was
made in 1895 and amounted to £6 15s. By will
proved 1896 Edwin Heaton of Hallwater House left
the interest on £70 to be distributed at Christmas
to the poor of Endon in blankets and flannel. The
Turner, Smith, and Heaton charities were administered jointly by 1992, when £8.50 was added to a
charitable distribution made by the churchwardens
out of church funds. (fn. 34)