The Adderley Heritage Trail was funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund but was being managed by a group of dedicated volunteers who met every two weeks to make sure things ran as planned.
The project was split into two phases: a construction phase which will saw the creation of a website to host the Geoff Butter Collection and the creation of a walking trail around the historic sites in the village with interpretation boards at key locations.
Phase two provided a series of activities for people in the parish. There were a series of story telling workshops for young and old alike. They worked with the Oral History Society to train volunteers to capture personal histories from members of the community. They were very excited about the curriculum project which brought together Keele University with the school, the children and volunteers to create a lasting legacy for young children everywhere. It was hoped that the work with Keele woulod also provide access to a Phd project which would work with the Shropshire Archive and maybe bring some new insights into the history of Adderley.
The Geoff Butter Collection was already inspiring people to think about the history of our parish and were seeing the beginnings of a History Society which was hoped would grow as more and more people became involved. Adderley has a fascinating history from its Saxon roots when Eldreedeli (a clearing in the woodlands) was held by Eric The Wild. Eric was finally defeated by Roger of Montgomery and it 1066 he held the four manors of Adderley, Shavington, Spoonley and Cloverly. At that time the population consisted of four tenant farmers and two herdsmen.
Adderley was the largest of the settlements and became a stop on the salt route from Nantwich so that a market was held here. The market cross originally stood close to Frog Hall on what is now Rectory Lane and it is believed that the remains of the market cross form the base of the sud dial which you can see outside St Peter’s Church.
All of this was only just beginning. With so much more to come they were very excited to be able to bring the Geoff Butter Collection to everybody.
Geoff Butter invited me to attend your event yesterday but I was unable to come. I research the history of the Cheswardine Estate and the Hudson, Donaldson and Donaldson- Hudson families who used to live at Cheswardine Hall. I visited Geoff a few weeks ago because of my interest in Hersey Muriel Corbet who was married initially to John Donaldson-Hudson. However it is reputed that his father, Ralph, had an affair with Hersey resulting in John being disinherited by his father. I am most impressed by your collective efforts and am encouraged to do something similar for Cheswardine. You could Google ‘Cheswardine Manor’ which is my own website.