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Concept
Leek, Staffordshire
Summary
Leek is a market town and civil parish in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is situated about north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214.
It is the administrative centre for the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council. King John granted Ranulph de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, the right to hold a weekly Wednesday market and an annual seven-day fair in Leek in 1207.
Leek's coat of arms is made up of a saltire shield. On the top is the Stafford knot, either side is the Leek double sunset and below a gold garb. The crest is a mural crown with three mulberry leaves on a mount of heather on top of which a moorcock is resting his claw on a small-weave shuttle. The motto Arte favente nil desperandum translates to: Our skill assisting us, we have no cause for despair.
The town had a regular cattle market for hundreds of years, reflecting its role as a centre of local farming. Following the Industrial Revolution it was a major producer of textiles, with silk working in particular coming to dominate the industrial landscape. However, this industry has now ceased.
The mills from the town's textile era remain and many have now been converted into housing.
Britannia Building Society, had its headquarters in the town and was a large local employer.
Most of the town is at or above and is surrounded by the higher countryside of the Staffordshire Moorlands which is situated on the southern uplands of the Pennines.
Leek is built on the slope and crown of a hill which is situated just a few miles south of the Roaches; a gritstone escarpment which rises steeply to .
Leek is situated at the foot of the Peak District National Park and is therefore often referred to as the Gateway to the Peak District, although the town is more often referred to as the Queen of the Moorlands.
Leek (Lee, Leike, Leeke) formed part of the great estates of Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia; it escheated to William the Conqueror who held it at the time of the Domesday Survey.
Official source
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