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Peak District Towns and Villages: Leek

An index to Peak District towns and villages including Leek, Ashbourne, Bakewell, Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Leek, Matlock, Macclesfield and Wirksworth in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire, England, UK.
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Leek

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Local Geography:
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Nearby Villages

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Leek is the principal town of the Staffordshire Moorlands and the most important centre on the south western edge of the Peak District. It stands on a hill in a large bend in the River Churnet and is locally known as 'The Queen of the Moorlands'.

Churchyard cross
Churchyard cross
The town was mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Lec', but there was certainly a settlement here well before that because the churchyard contains two crosses - one is in Mercian style but is damaged and can be dated to the 10th century, while the other is a magnificent 11th century Norse style cross.

The Normans gave this area to the Earls of Chester and Ranulf the 6th earl founded Dieu la Cres abbey here in 1210. Until its dissolution in 1537 the abbey was the major economic and cultural centre of the area. The ruins lie across the Churnet 2km north of the town centre but there is little to see of what must once have been a fine building.

Market square
Market square
Little happened in Leek for the next few hundred years, though Bonny Prince Charlie passed through in 1745, and Thomas Brindley (the builder of the Bridgewater Canal) built a water mill here in 1750 - this has been restored to working order and is now a fine museum.

In the late 18th and 19th centuries the town changed from a sleepy market town to a centre of silk weaving and several large mills were constructed, one of which can be seen looming above the road to Macclesfield. Leek boomed and the population multiplied. However, this all went into reverse in the 20th century and nothing now remains of the silk industry in Leek.

The town still has a lively shopping centre and a market every Wednesday, but it has sufferered a relative economic decline and is overshadowed as a commercial centre by its near neighbour, Stoke. However it has some fine buildings and is a good centre from which to explore the south and west of the Peak.

Nearby Places of Interest

Brindley MillBrindley Mill Leek, a working watermill built by James Brindley, the builder of the Bridgewater Canal.
Cheddleton Flint MillTwo water mills on the river Churnet at Cheddeton. One was a Flint mill, built in the late 18th century and the other was a corn mill, dating originally from the 13th century and converted into a Flint mill in the 19th century.
Churnet Valley RailwayThe Churnet Valley Railway runs from Leekbrook to Oakamoor alongside the picturesque River Churnet in Staffordshire. Operated by volunteers, it runs steam trains most weekends from March to October.
Lud's ChurchLud's Church is natural rock cleft near Gradbach, Staffordshire. It was once a worshipping place for Lollards and inspired the poem 'Gawain and the Green Knight'
Rudyard LakeRudyard Lake is an artificial lake created between 1797 and 1800 as a reservoir for the local canal system. It is now a centre for fishing, rowing, walking and sight-seeing. A narrow-gauge railway runs for 2 km along side the lake.
The RoachesThe Roaches, Hen Cloud and Ramshaw Rocks, are Staffordshire gritstone crags not far from the town of Leek.
Tittesworth ReservoirTittesworth Reservoir, (Severn Trent Water) Meerbrook, near Leek, Staffordshire, produces water for Leek, Stoke on Trent and the surrounding area. There is a visitor centre and nearby lies The Roaches, with many opportunities for walking and rock-climbing
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