Pirehill
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Pirehill is a
hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
in the
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
of
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The Hundred is located in the north-west and toward the upper centre of Staffordshire. It is about 28 miles in length, north to south, and around 8 to 20 miles in breadth. It is bounded on the north-east by Totmonslow (Totmanslow) Hundred, on the east by
Offlow Offlow is a Hundred (county subdivision), hundred in the county of Staffordshire, England, located in the south-east of that county. It is named after a tumulus or mound in the parish of Swinfen and Packington, miles south of Lichfield.The Eng ...
Hundred, on the south by
Cuttleston Cuttleston or Cuttlestone is a hundred in the county of Staffordshire, England, located in the centre of that county, south of Stafford. Cuttleston was the most thinly populated and the second smallest of the five Hundreds of Staffordshire. ...
Hundred, and on the west and north-west by
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
and
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
. The
River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...
rises at its northern extremity and flows through it in a south-easterly direction, passing Trentham, where it becomes somewhat navigable, then
Ingestre Ingestre is a village and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 194. It is four miles to the north-east of the county town of Stafford. ...
, Shugborough and Wolseley; and nearly parallel with that river now runs the
Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middl ...
. It contains the boroughs of Stafford, the county town, the town of
Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...
and the city of
Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...
, which latter includes the Potteries. Besides these, Pirehill has six market towns:
Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in ...
,
Hanley Hanley is one of the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke- ...
, Lane-End,
Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
,
Eccleshall Eccleshall () is a town and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is located seven miles northwest of Stafford, and six miles west-southwest of Stone. Eccleshall is twinned with Sancerre in France. ...
, and
Abbots Bromley Abbots Bromley is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire and lies approximately east of Stafford, England. According to the University of Nottingham English Place-names project, the settlement name Abbots ...
.


Name

A large number of hundred names refer to hills or mounds which were gathering sites. Some of these at least are very conspicuous hills, which afford a commanding view of the countryside for miles around. It seems likely that such moot and mustering sites were chosen as being remote and bare, from which approaching forces would be easily spotted. In this case the Pirehill Hundred was named after Pire Hill (height 462 ft), a hill two miles south of
Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
. The hill was a meeting place for the Hundred Moot and also a mustering point in case of invasion. It is noteworthy that the meeting-places of the two northern hundreds ( Pirehill and
Totmonslow Totmonslow is a Hundred (county subdivision), hundred in the county of Staffordshire, England. The hundred is in the north-east of Staffordshire and is named after the hamlet of the same name, which is a half mile east of Draycott in the Moors. ...
) are in the extreme south of the respective hundreds. Presumably this was to unify Staffordshire's forces with those of the neighbouring hundreds, and thus to meet invaders in force, invaders who might either: i) be travelling as war-bands up the River Trent, navigable to Stone; or ii) renegades invading from Wales and seeking the vital upper Trent crossing at Stone; or iii) pressing down in larger numbers from Northumbria, in which case there would be an urgent local need to fall back south to Stone. The first element of the Pire Hill name may be connected with Middle English ''piren'' 'to peer', in modern English ''peer'', meaning 'to look narrowly'. The meaning of the name would be 'look-out hill'. Alternatively a possible corruption from an earlier Anglo-Saxon derivation of ''spyre'' would give a similar meaning, a ''spyre-mann'' meaning 'one who tracks and sees'. Pire Hill is the highest point for some distance; there is nothing higher between it and the river Trent, and it seems to have a good view down the Trent valley. On topographical grounds there is nothing against such derivations. Old English 'pear-tree' may be possible phonologically, but seems less likely for other reasons A later authority, David Horovitz, suggests in his PhD thesis ''A survey and analysis of the place-names of Staffordshire'' (2003) that it "not inconceivable" that name might also have come from the Latin ''pyra'', meaning bonfire, and "that the name could record the early use of the hill as a beacon".


History

Pirehill is one of the largest of the five hundreds of Staffordshire, having an area of 201,493 acres (314 sq. miles). The origin of the hundred dates from the division of his kingdom by King
Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...
into counties, hundreds and tithings. From the beginning, Staffordshire was divided into the hundreds of Pirehill,
Totmonslow Totmonslow is a Hundred (county subdivision), hundred in the county of Staffordshire, England. The hundred is in the north-east of Staffordshire and is named after the hamlet of the same name, which is a half mile east of Draycott in the Moors. ...
, Offlow, Cuttleston and Seisdon. The importance of the hundreds declined from the 17th century. By the early 19th century the Hundred comprised 42
parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
, 14 chapelries and 5 extra-parochial places, which were subdivided into 126
townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
and containing several hundred villages and hamlets. It was separated into the north and south divisions, under the control of two chief constables. The north and south divisions were of very unequal extent and population. The large parishes of
Adbaston Adbaston is a village and a civil parish in the England, English county of Staffordshire.OS Explorer Map 243: Market Drayton, Loggerheads and Eccleshall: (1:25 000) :
,
Eccleshall Eccleshall () is a town and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is located seven miles northwest of Stafford, and six miles west-southwest of Stone. Eccleshall is twinned with Sancerre in France. ...
and
Seighford Seighford ( ) is a village and civil parish about west of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,793. The ford across a small stream is the origin of the village's toponym. The village ...
, had townships in both divisions, an inconvenience which divided many of their parochial affairs between the two chief constables. Most of the functions of the Hundreds were extinguished with the establishment of county courts in 1867. Yet use of these division continued for much of the 19th Century, by which time Pirehill was the most populous Hundred in Staffordshire, with a population in 1861 of 149,734. By that time there had been centuries of improvements to the land, and the hundred was deemed remarkable for the fertility of its soil, for the beauty and variety of its scenery and the number and magnificence of its stately halls (the seats of the nobility and gentry), as also for the extent and importance of its growing manufactures such as the distinctive pottery making district - the long chain of towns and villages called the Potteries, a renowned place of china and pottery manufacturing. The number of the inhabitants nearly doubled during 1801–1831, as a vast population growth occurred in the Potteries and at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stone and Stafford. The Hundred also contains
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...
and
Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
, which were renowned for shoe manufacturing, thought these industries attracted less workers from the countryside than did the bustling Potteries with its leisure-time attractions. Abandoned although never abolished by legal
statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...
, in 1894 the Hundred was made functionally obsolete with the establishment of urban districts and
rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...
s in Staffordshire. Of the local government districts created in the 1974 re-organisation, Newcastle-Under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent (now a city and unitary authority) fall within Pirehill Hundred, as does the district (or borough) of Stafford except for its southernmost parishes. The districts of Staffordshire Moorlands, East Staffordshire and Lichfield only have one or two parishes each in the old Hundred.


Population statistics

The population of the Hundred, its two divisions and its various parochial units is shown below:


Pirehill North Division


Pirehill South Division


Parochial areas in the parliamentary borough of Stafford (as from 1832)

The Northern Division (91,148 acres) and Southern Division (110,345 acres) were roughly similar in area, but as indicated above, the Northern Division had the vast majority of the population. The Southern Division encompassed an area around
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...
and
Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
, now within Stafford District (but not its westernmost parishes), with the remainder falling in the Northern Division.Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, by John Marius Wilson, 1872 and www.staffordshire.gov.uk


Notes

{{reflist Hundreds of Staffordshire