Biddulph, Staffordshire
Historical Description
Biddulph, a parish in Staffordshire, 3 miles SE of Congleton, with stations at Gillow-Heath and Black Bull, on the North Staffordshire railway. It consists of the four hamlets and manors of Over-Biddulph or Overton, Nether-Biddulph, Middle-Biddulph, and Knypersley. The post, money order, and telegraph office is at Bradley Green. Acreage, 5671; population of the civil parish 5290; of the ecclesiastical, 4316. Biddulph Hall, a picturesque Tudor edifice, was anciently the seat of the Biddulph family, but is now mainly a ruin, and partly a farmhouse. Biddulph Grange, the seat of the lord of Knypersley manor, is a modern mansion in the Italian style. The land is chiefly moorish and hilly, and a peak of it, called Mow Cop, 1091 feet high, commands fine prospects, even to the Mersey. Coal, ironstone, and limestone are extensively worked, and several kinds of manufacture are carried on. Remains of a Druidical temple, known as the Bride Stones, and of three curious artificial caves, are on the N border. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield; net value, £226. The parish church is a substantial edifice, with an embattled tower, and contains an ancient altar-tomb and some brasses. Knypersley Church is a structure of 1849, in the Early English style. There is a Wesleyan chapel. Bradley Green, a village 1 mile S of Biddulph Church, has chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Staffordshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Biddulph St. Lawrence | |
| Hundred | Pirehill | |
| Poor Law union | Congleton |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register of St. Lawrence dates from the year 1558.
Findmypast, in association with the Staffordshire & Stoke on Trent Archive Service have the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials online for Biddulph
Churches
Church of England
Childerplay Mission Church, Childerplay
The Mission church at Childerplay, erected in 1880 at the expense of Robert Heath esq. is an edifice in the Early English style, consisting of chancel and nave.
St. Lawrence (parish church)
The church of St. Lawrence, on the high road to the Potteries, is a building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 6 bells: in the church are brasses to William Bowyer of Knypersley, patron of the church, 1602, his wife Ann (Heywood) 1603, and 15 children: there is also an altar tomb to Sir William Bowyer kt. dated 1640, and in a side chapel is a handsome marble monument, with life-sized figures of Our Saviour and two angels, erected in memory of Wm. and Mary, son and daughter of B. Heath esq. of Biddulph Grange: there are also two memorial windows to the same persons; a window filled with glass brought from Belgium, and various fragments of old glass representing incidents in Scripture history. The font, of Transition Norman date, is circular; it stands on four dwarf shafts and is adorned with interlaced arches. The carved oak pulpit was presented by Mrs. Heath in 1875; the organ and clock were given by the parishioners: in 1894 the church was re-seated, new floored and a new organ chamber added in memory of the late Robert Heath esq. of Biddulph Grange: there are sittings for 324 persons. In the churchyard lie a number of grave slabs incised with circular-headed crosses, swords and axes, and there is also a cross of the Late Decorated period.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Brownlees
The Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in 1910 at a cost of about £1,600.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Biddulph from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Biddulph (St. Lawrence))
Land and Property
A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Staffordshire is online.
Maps
Online maps of Biddulph are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Staffordshire newspapers online:
- Staffordshire Advertiser
- Tamworth Herald
- Lichfield Mercury
- Staffordshire Sentinel
- Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser
Villages, Hamlets, &c
Bradley GreenKnypersley