WHITE’S HISTORY, GAZETTEER AND DIRECTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE, 1851
MAER is a small village, in a narrow romantic valley, with steep and lofty
acclivities, on the Market Drayton road, 7 miles S.S.W of Newcastle-underLyme. Its parish comprises about 2800 acres of land and 558 souls, of whom
272 are in the district called Maerway Lane, but the houses are generally
scattered in the small hamlets enumerated below. Maer is in Newcastle Union,
and is supposed to have derived its name from a natural lake or mere, which
occupies 23 acres at the foot of the village, and is the source of the Tearn, a
stream that flows westward to the borders of Shropshire, and afterwards falls
into the Severn. At the east end of this lake, stands Maer Hall, which was the
property and occasional residence of the late Josiah Wedgwood, Esq., who,
about forty years ago, re-edified and converted it into an elegant mansion, and
embellished the grounds with plantations. William Davenport, Esq., the present
lord of the manor, and owner of most of the parish, is repairing and enlarging
the Hall for his residence, but now resides at Camp Hill Hall, a neat farm house,
formerly called Slimersdale. The manor was anciently held by the Maers and
the Staffords, from whom it passed to the Oldfield and other families. Maer
Heath, an extensive rugged moor, lying west of the village, was enclosed and
divided among the freeholders about forty years ago; but a portion of it is still in
a state of nature, and much of it is planted with trees, of which 600,000 were
planted by one individual. On the north side of the parish are several rocky
hills, rising abruptly to a considerable elevation, and rendered highly
picturesque by having their summits covered with plantations. One of these
hills, called the Byrth, has had a foss and rampart extended round its summit,
which is nearly a mile in circuit. This and the Camp hill, distant about a mile to
the west, are supposed to have been occupied by two contending armies during
the Saxon heptarchy. Maer Church, (St. Peter,) stands near the Hall, and is a
neat stone edifice, which appears to have been rebuilt in 1610. It contains
some monuments of the Bowyer and Macclesfield families, and its communion
cloth is an old Turkey carpet, brought from Constantinople, by Margaret Tether,
in 1639. The organ was given in 1851, by William Davenport, Esq., the patron
of the perpetual curacy, which has a good residence, two acres of glebe, and all
the tithes of the parish, except on Sidway Hall estate, which is tithe-free, and
belongs to Francis Eld, Esq. The Rev. J.A. Wedgwood has been the incumbent
since 1825. In 1634, William and John Cleyton gave £160 for the purchase of a
yearly rent charge of £8, to be paid out of the Sidway Hall farm, one moiety
thereof to the minister of Maer, to encourage him to take pains in preaching,
and in catechising the ignorant: and the other moiety to be employed in
apprenticing poor children. On the Sunday before Christmas day, 40s, are
distributed amongst the poor, as the interest of £40 left by various donors, and
now in the hands of Wm. Davenport, Esq.
In the following DIRECTORY, those marked 1 reside at Balding date, 2
Blackbrook, 3 Holloway lane, 4 Holly bank, 5 Holmes farm, 6 Maer, 7 Maer-field
gate, 8 Mear heath, 9 Maer moss, 10 Maerway lane, and 11 Radwood.
8 Adam Thomas, gamekeeper
8 Baker Mr Mk
Bishop Mr Thos
7 Bell John, joiner & carpenter.
Bennett Mr Thomas, Maer heath
Bennion Peter, corn miller, &c, Sidway Hall
8 Bishop Mr Thomas
Cotton Mr Robert
8 Cartledge John, shoemaker
8 Caulcott Thomas, bricklayer
8 Clark Peter, weaver, & Richard. higler
8 Dabbs Mr Thomas
10 Foxley Joseph.
13 Davenport Wm., Esq., Maer Hall, and Longport, and London
8 Fox William, wheelwright
8 Gidman Mr Thomas
Harding Thomas.
8 Harding, Samuel, shoemaker
14 Harding Mr William.
10 Jervis John
6 Hill, Benjamin, shopkeeper
8 Hood Mr John
1 Hood Mr. Thomas
8 Hopwood William, schoolmaster
6 Jackson John, butcher
4 Meredith Mr Richard
3 Salt Mrs
14 Myatt James, tailor
6 Noden John, wheelwright. & par. Clerk
6 Phillips Samuel, shoemaker
2 Powner Edward, victualler, Swan Inn
6 Rathbone William, blacksmith
6 Rawlinson Robert, gardener
2 Sale Mr Thomas.
8 Smith Mr Richard.
8 Salt Thomas, beerhouse
2 Mr Thomas
3 Salt Mr Richard
8 Sutton Mr John
2 Skelhorn Richard, blacksmith
8 Taylor Robert, butcher
4 Thomas John, gardener
7 Turner, John, gamekeeper
8 Webb George, shopkeeper
6 Wedgwood Rev. John Allen, incumbent.
Farmers
(* are Owners)
6 Ashley Edward
*10 Barratt Thomas
11 Bennion John
Bennion Peter
10* Birks Samuel
Caulkin John, Camp hill
9 Clarke Joseph
9 Ferneyhough David
11 Foxley Joseph
6 Harding Senior & Co.
9 Harding Thomas.
6 Lea Joseph
8 Lewis Samuel
9 Moore Nathaniel.
12 Moss Charles
5 Selmon John, (bailiff to Wm. Davenport, Esq)
1 Shaw Richard
8 Sutton George
Warner Henry
POST, from Newcastle.