Wetley Rocks
| Wetley Rocks | |
| Staffordshire | |
|---|---|
 Main Road, Wetley Rocks | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SJ965490 |
| Location: | 53°2’20"N, 2°3’12"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Postcode: | ST9 |
| Dialling code: | 01782 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Staffordshire Moorlands |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Staffordshire Moorlands |
Wetley Rocks is a village in Staffordshire, about two miles south of Cheddleton and six miles south of Leek.
It is on the A520 road which runs from Leek (to the north) to Stone (to the south), at the junction with the A522 road which runs from Wetley Rocks to Uttoxeter (to the south-east).
The village lies on a small north-south ridge; immediately to the east is the edge of a plateau, and there are rock outcrops of millstone grit along the northern part of the ridgeline; the outcrops have restricted the growth of the village east of the A520. The name of the village comes from these rock outcrops, and from the nature of the pasture land (ley or lea being pasture). A local quarry, part of the same outcrop, provided the stone for many of the original buildings.[1][2]
On the northern edge of the village is a public house The Powys Arms, and a petrol station.
Wetley Abbey, about half a mile south of the village, is a large building built in the early 19th century in Gothic style (it has no religious connections); it is now a care home. It was at one time the home of the 19th-century painter George Hemming Mason.[2][3]
Churches
The Anglican Church of St John the Baptist was built in 1833–34; the architect was James Trubshaw. It was built of locally quarried stone and has a slate roof; it has a west tower with a crenellated parapet. In 1901 the chancel was extended by J. Beardmore, making room for choir stalls. The church is a Grade-II listed building.[4][5]
In 2009 the Parish of Wetley Rocks became a joint benefice with the Parish of St Philip's, Werrington.[5]
St John's Church of England Primary School is adjacent to the church.[6]
There is also a Methodist Church in the village.[7]
References
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Wetley Rocks) |
- ↑ Wetley Rocks staffsmoorlands.gov.uk, accessed 19 Aug 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wetley Rocks visitoruk.com, accessed 17 Aug 2014.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1188801: Wetley Abbey
- ↑ National Heritage List 1294556: Church of St John
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wetley Rocks St John the Baptist: A Short History of the Church A Church Near You, accessed 17 Aug 2014.
- ↑ St John's C.E. (C) Primary School, accessed 19 Aug 2014.
- ↑ Wetley Rocks Methodist Church Find a Church, accessed 19 Aug 2014.