Quarnford
Quarnford is a small village (population 242 at the last census) and rural parish in the Staffordshire Moorlands, on the western edge of the Peak District National Park. Situated between Buxton and Leek, the parish includes the village of Flash, which has the accolade of being the highest village in England. It’s surrounded by stunning open countryside with breathtaking views in all directions, looking over the moors of Staffordshire, the hills of Derbyshire and the Cheshire plain.
Flash Head, just east of the village, is the source of the Rivers Dove and Manifold, which flow on into the beautiful Manifold Valley and into Dovedale. In the other direction the River Dane rises to the north west of Flash.
The name was first recorded in 1227 and is believed to be derived from the Old English ‘cweorn’, meaning a quern or millstone, and ‘ford’, meaning the crossing point of a river, the river in question being the River Dane. The name ‘Quarnford’ therefore probably referred to a crossing place of the river on a route for the transportation of millstones.
Historically, Quarnford was a township in the parish of Alstonefield. There are records of a settlement here since the early 1300s. A dairy farm was noted in the area as far back as 1308, and farming has always been the primary industry for the area, as it still is today.
There is evidence of mining contributing to the area’s economy too, however, with coal pits in the Goldsitch Moss area noted in 1564 and coal workings at Black Clough in the north part of the township in 1602. There were 32 coal miners and colliers in the township recorded in 1851, a sizable proportion of the population. Mining continued until the early 20th Century, when the last mine in the area – Hope Colliery – closed in the late 1930s.
While the men and boys worked in the mines, it seems that the women and girls in Quarnford worked as button makers; there were 34 recorded in 1851. Buttons were still made by hand in Quarnford and Flash until the start of the 20th Century.
Quarnford today is a small but beautiful settlement, overshadowed by the larger neighbouring village of Flash, which boasts a shop, a pub, and a church. It’s a peaceful, pretty area to visit, with walks to the beauty spot of Three Shire Heads and on to the rocky ridges of the Roaches.
