Biddulph

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Biddulph
Staffordshire

Biddulph High Street
Location
Grid reference: SJ8857
Location: 53°6’52"N, 2°10’24"W
Data
Population: 17,241  (2001)
Post town: Stoke-on-Trent
Postcode: ST8
Dialling code: 01782
Local Government
Council: Staffordshire Moorlands
Parliamentary
constituency:
Staffordshire Moorlands

Biddulph is a town in Staffordshire, about seven miles north of Stoke-on-Trent and south-east of Congleton, Cheshire.

Origin of the name

Biddulph's name may come from the Old English bi dylfe meaning "by the pit or quarry". A local theory has it that the name Biddulph is a corruption of the Saxon Bidulfe, signifying "Wolf Slayer", and as a result the Biddulph family crest is a wolf rampant.

The town

A new supermarket opened in Biddulph in November 2010 and several derelict and semi-derelict buildings are currently being refurbished or rebuilt by private developers or by the council, all in line with the intentions of the "Town Centre Area Action Plan" of 2007,[1] which aims to reverse the spiral of decline that has threatened the long-term viability of the town centre since the early 1990s.

A new café for youngsters, 'Biddulph Young People’s Place' opened in March 2011 at Kingsfield First School after a year of planning and fund-raising.

in 2011 Biddulph, which has a population of approx. 20,000, was left without a post office for 4 months when the small supermarket in which it was situated closed down. A temporary Post Office was eventually set up in the town hall car park. [2]

Main sights

Biddulph Grange

Within the bowl created by the ridges of Mow Cop and Biddulph Moor, there are ancient burial mounds; evidence of the Civil War; the bubonic plague; Black Bull Colliery; tombs of possible Crusader knights; an Iron Age fort; and the site of a meeting of the Methodist movement with John and Charles Wesley.

Near Biddulph is Biddulph Grange, a house and landscaped gardens owned by the National Trust.

References

  1. Biddulph Town Centre Area Action Plan, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (February 2007)
  2. "Temporary Post Office opens in Biddulph after four-month wait". This is Staffordshire. 2011-10-28. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Temporary-Post-Office-opens-Biddulph-month-wait/story-13688954-detail/story.html. Retrieved 2013-05-29.