Lulworth House, 51, High Street, Cheadle - 01538 753519 mail@cheadlestaffordshire.co.uk

Cheadle is an historic market town dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, being referred to in the Domesday Book. It was (and still is, but not for administrative purposes) in the historic Staffordshire Hundred of Totmonslow; nowadays it is part of the Staffordshire Moorlands area.

Cheadle appears in the Domesday Book as "Celle" held by the lord of the manor, Robert of Stafford, at the time the area covered 6 miles by 3 miles and listed 9 families. In 1176 the Basset family acquired the manor of "Chedle" and in 1250 Ralph Basset was granted a market charter and annual fair by King Henry III.

In 1309, 75 families are recorded as using a corn-grinding mill sited near Mill Road. Fifty years later, a new church was built in the village replacing a 12th-century structure and this church remained in use until 1837.

In 1798, 10 weavers houses were built. The weavers lived downstairs and the looms for the manufacture of tape were upstairs. By the 1820s the looms were transferred into a factory in Tape Street. This tape factory closed in 1972, and is now a shop. In 1851 silk and narrow fabric mills were built in Cheadle. They employed hundreds of operatives, and closed in 1981.

In the Brookhouses area of Cheadle in 1725, the Cheadle Brass and Copper Company started production, transferring to the Oakamoor area 100 years later under the company name Thomas Patten. It was bought in 1851 by Thomas Bolton of Birmingham. In 1890 Bolton’s opened a factory at Froghall and the Oakamoor works were eventually closed in 1963.

St Giles' Catholic Church opened in 1846. Its 200 feet (61 m) spire still dominates the town today. It was built by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, who was commissioned by John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury to create a church that "would have no rival". To achieve his aim, Talbot gave Pugin unlimited resources with which to build it. The church is more commonly known as 'Pugin's Gem', and is the centre of a local tourist event known as 'Discover the Secret'.

At the turn of the 20th century the first open air swimming baths were constructed at Brookhouses, and telephone installation began in 1904. In 1901 Cheadle was linked to the railway network by the Cheadle Railway, operated and later owned by the North Staffordshire Railway, with the building of a railway station at Majors Barn, giving access to further industries and movement of passengers. At a later period sand, gravel and aggregates used for building purposes were transported from the station as well as coal.

The first motor car arrived in Cheadle in 1903, and the first licensed omnibus service - Cheadle to Longton - commenced in January 1914.

One of the British Signals Intelligence Y-stations called RAF Cheadle was situated at Woodhead Hall, from land purchased by the Air Ministry playing a vital role in helping intercept German Luftwaffe radio communications during WWII.

Cheadle is a base for exploring the Peak District National Park area, which is popular with walkers and rock climbers. Surrounded by lofty hills, Cheadle is the gateway to the wooded Churnet Valley and the Staffordshire Moorlands. It is also just a short distance from the Alton Towers Resort.

Cecilly Brook Local Nature Reserve is in the centre of town. It is one of the most important breeding sites for water voles in Staffordshire. There are 42 acres of landscaped lakes at the JCB factory. Local leisure facilities are at Cheadle Recreation Ground and South Moorlands Leisure Centre.

The High Street of Cheadle has many old buildings and is little changed from how it looked in the Victorian era.

The Cheadle Discovery and Visitor Centre located within Lulworth House, is the town's heritage centre. It is managed by the Cheadle Discovery Group and has a permanent display relating to Pugin and regular rolling displays about local history. It also acts as a voluntary tourist information point.