Forsbrook Village Staffordshire Moorlands

FORSBROOK is a civil parish; the ecclesiastical parish was formed May 4, 1849, from the parishes of Dilhorne and Stone, and includes Blythe Bridge, where there is a station on the North Staffordshire railway, and is 3 ½ miles south-west from Cheadle, in the Leek division of the county, hundred of North Totmonslow, and Cheadle union, petty sessional division and county court district, rural deanery of Cheadle, archdeaconry of Stoke-upon-Trent and diocese of Lichfield. The church of St. Peter, erected at a cost of about £1,950, is a building of stone in the Early Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, west porch and a western turret containing one bell: in 1912 the church was enlarged by the addition of a north aisle at a cost of £1,500: the stained east window is a memorial to Charles Harvey esq. of Blythe House, and there are others to the Brammall family, 1899-1903, the late James Marson esq. of Marsh House, and Mr. and Mrs. Scarratt: in 1883 an organ chamber was erected, and an organ built: in 1908 the organ was practically rebuilt at a cost of £250: there are 240 sittings. The register dates from the year 1849. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £245, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Lichfield, and held since 1908 by the Rev. Ernest William Bridgwood, who is also a surrogate. There is a small Methodist chapel here, erected in 1856. Hon. Mrs. Parker-Jervis, who is lady of the manor, Mrs Gallimore, and the trustees of the late George Bennion esq. are the principal landowners. The soil is principally clay; sub-soil, clay, and in some parts sandstone rock. The crops are cereals of all kinds. The area is 1,298 acres; rateable value, £7,878; the population in 1911 was 1,852 in the civil parish and 1,910 in the ecclesiastical parish.
Boundray and Daisybank hamlets are 1 mile north-east.
Sexton, William Goulding.

Post Office. Mrs. Shelia Owen, sub-postmistress.

Letters through Stoke-on-Trent, arrive at 7.30 a.m. & 4-5 p.m.; dispatched at 11.00 a.m. & 8.40 p.m.; Sundays, 8.40 p.m.; postal orders are issued & paid here. Blythe Bridge, one mile distant, is the nearest money order & telegraph office.

BLYTHE MARSH is a hamlet in Forsbrook township, on the river blithe, with a station (Blythe Bridge) on the Crewe and Uttoxeter section of the North Staffordshire railway, 146 ¾ miles from London. Here is a Wesleyan chapel, entirely rebuilt of stone in 1882, at a cost of about £800, and holding about 200 persons; a Sunday school was erected in 1905 at a cost of £950. Every alternate Monday a cattle sale is held at the Smithfield hotel, by Mr. Henry Walters.
Post, M. O., T., Telephone Call & Telephonic Express Delivery Office, Blythe Bridge. - John Harris, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Stoke at 4.50 a.m. & 3.20 p.m.; dispatched at 11.30 a.m. & 8.40 p.m.; Sundays, letters arrive at 4.50 a.m.; dispatched at 8.40 p.m.; telegraph office open on Sundays from 8.30 to 10 a.m.
Wall Letter Boxes - Railway station, cleared at 11.30 a.m. & 8.55 p.m.; The Villas, cleared 9 p.m. daily; caverswall lane, cleared at 10.35 a.m. & 7.50 p.m. week days only; Draycott road, cleared at 9.10 a.m. & 6.50 p.m. week days only; & Stallington lane, cleared at 8.3 a.m. & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 8.45 a.m.

PUBLIC ELEMENTRY SCHOOLS

In 1728 William Amory endowed a small school with 6 ½ acres of land. In 1878 a new school was erected in connection with this foundation, with funds derived from the charity; it was enlarged in 1903 & again in 1910. The school will hold 192 boys; Wm. Higgins; master.
Girls' & infants'. Built in 1857 & enlarged in 1887, & again in 1902, for 210 children; Miss A. Salt, mistress.
Railway Station, Blythe Bridge, Charles John Hammersley, station master.
Assistant Overseer, Charles Beeston