Areas We Serve

Macclesfield

Leek Hearing Centre is in Staffordshire about 13 miles south of Macclesfield. It’s also about 10 miles north east of Stoke-on-Trent. Given its Royal Charter in 1214, Leek was part of the great estates originally governed by the Earl of Mercia c1057.

Control passed over to William the Conqueror who was the registered owner in the Domesday Survey of 1086. There is still a regular Wednesday market. Incredibly it dates back to a grant give by King John to the earl of Chester in1207.

Whilst its days as a centre of local farming ended with the industrial revolution it became a major producer of textiles especially silk work. Today it is a beautiful and vibrant English market town and home to our Hearing centre!

Nearby Villages and Towns

Whilst Leek has a population of over 20,000 the nearby village of Cheddleton has a population of just over 6,000. The parish church of St Edward the Confessor was built during the 13th to 15th century. Strangle Cheddlton is also the home of Leek Rugby Union Football club.

Endon, is only 4 miles from Leek and is home to T. E. Hulme (1883–1917) who was an English critic and poet born at Gratton Hall. Endon is also special because of it’s annual fair. The fair still brings the whole village together, a rare thing in villages these days.

Closer still is Longsdon, a mere 1.5 miles from Leek. The parish was only created in 1906 and St Chad’s Church, a Grade II listed building, was consecrated in 1905.

Rudyard is less than 3 miles from Leek. The Rudyard lake was actually built in 1797 by John Rennie and was actually swum by Captain Webb, the first man to swim across the English Channel. Twenty thousand people gathered there to watch him swim across the lake in 1877.

Four miles north of Leek is Rushton Spencer, a tiny village of about 500 people it used to be a single manor in the time of the Norman Conquest in the 11th century. There was actually a church there in 1368, the existing structure has medieval timber-framing and is now a Grade II listed building.

The slightly bigger village of Ipstones is about 6 miles from Leek. With a population of about 1,500 people it’s largely a rural village with an incredible 96 listed building, four of which are listed as Grade II*, the middle of the three grades used by the National Heritage List for England.

The tiny village of Wetley Rocks is also about 6 miles south of Leek and is home to the Anglican Church of St John the Baptist which was built between 1833 and 1834.

Other villages and towns close to Leek and Macclesfield

Slightly further afield, but still only a short drive, is Biddulph. Of a similar size to Leek, Biddulph’s name is though to come from the Anglo Saxon for “beside the pit or quarry”. It also a number of interesting sightseeing opportunities.

Congleton is also only about 20 minute drive from Leek. The first known reference to Congleton dates back to 1282 but Stone Age and Bronze Age artefacts have also been found in the area. Also mentioned in the Domesday Book there is a very rich history here. The mill made it an important part of the textile industry, specialising in leather gloves and lace as well as producing silk. In the other direct, south east, is the hamlet of Winkhill which is part of the Waterhouses Parish.

One of the other larger towns not far from Leek is Buxton. At around 22,000 inhabitants it is not an insignificant Spa town and actually the highest market town in England at 1,000 feet above sea level. Starting out as a Stone Age settlement about 6,000 years ago it was the Romans that much later converted it into a settlement based around the warm water springs.

The geothermal spring, which has a steady flow of warm water emerging at 28℃, created a boom during the 18th and 19th centuries. This lead to the construction of many now historic buildings. The Old Hall Hotel, dating back to the 16th century, is a striking example.

To the west of Leek is Alsager, another Domesday listed town. The building of an armaments factory nearby made Alsager grow quickly. The village became home to many of the workers at the factory.

Stoke-on-Trent

We are only a half hour drive from Stoke-on-Trent too. Also more commonly known as Stoke it is actually the 68th largest city in the UK. With a population of over 250 thousand people it is the home of the pottery industry. Since the 17th century pottery has been done on an industrial scale and it is home to Royal Doulton and Wedgewood to name but the most famous. The decline of UK manufacturing hit Stoke particularly hard in the 80s and 90s.

That said, excellent communications and location as well as affordable business premises make Stoke a fantastic place to establish a new business in the UK.

Slightly closer, to the south, is Cheadle. A fraction of the size of Stoke it is a historic market town dating back to Anglo-Saxon times. Another Domesday Book “member” with nearly a 1,000 years of history, mostly around farming. Later tape weaving became a major employer and later developed into silk and narrow fabric mills. Today JCB and Alton Towers provide most of the employment.

Wherever you live Macclesfield, or any of these places, they all have one thing in common. They are all served by us at Leek Hearing Centre! Please make an appointment, take the short drive to Leek and let us take care of all of your hearing health needs.