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Mow Cop/ˈmaʊˈkɒp/ is a village on theCheshire-Staffordshire border, England, 24 miles (39 km) south of Manchester and 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Stoke-on-Trent, on a steep hill of the same name rising to 335 metres (1,099 ft) above sea level.[1] The village is at the edge of the southernPennines, with theCheshire Plain to the west.
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The 335-metre (1,099 ft) hill on which the village lies is amoorland ridge composed ofsandstone andMillstone Grit rising eastwards above the Cheshire Plain. It is at the western edge of theStaffordshire Moorlands, forming the upland fringe of the southern Pennines, most of which are in thePeak District National Park to the east.[2] On a clear day, the hill offers views extending to theWest Pennine Moors, Welsh mountains (includingSnowdonia),Manchester,Shropshire Hills andCannock Chase.[citation needed] The Cheshire section is the highest settlement in the county.
The name is first recorded asMowel around 1270 AD, and is believed to derive from either theAnglo-SaxonMūga-hyll, meaning "heap-hill", withcopp = "head" added later, or theCommon Celtic ancestor of Welshmoel (= hill), with Anglo-Saxoncopp added later.[3]
At the village's summit, men once quarried stone to make intoquerns, used since theIron Age for milling grain; this trade ended during theVictorian period. The village also has a long history of coal mining. A 65-foot (20 m) rock feature called the Old Man O'Mow in one of the quarried areas is believed to be the site of an ancient cairn.[citation needed]
Arailway station, opened by theNorth Staffordshire Railway, served the village from 9 October 1848 to its closure in 1964.[citation needed]
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The most dominant feature of the village isMow Cop Castle, afolly of a ruined castle at the summit of the hill, built in 1754. Both Mow Cop Castle and the Old Man O'Mow are under the management of theNational Trust and on the route of theCheshire Gritstone Trail, a long-distance walking route.
Mow Cop is noteworthy as the birthplace of thePrimitive Methodist movement. Starting in 1800,Hugh Bourne fromStoke-on-Trent andWilliam Clowes fromBurslem began holding open-airprayer meetings. On 31 May 1807, a large 14-hourcamp meeting was held, leading to the founding of the Primitive Methodist Church in 1810. These camp meetings became a regular feature at Mow Cop, being held to celebrate the 100th, 150th, and 200thanniversaries of the first camp.[4]
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The village and castle are featured prominently in the 1973 novelRed Shift, byAlan Garner. This novel was filmed by the BBC in the 1970s, and later released on a restored HD DVD in 2014. Mow Cop and its castle also feature in Alan Garner's 1966 photo-story book for children,The Old Man of Mow.
The castle has attracted artists, and has been featured on paintings, postcards and ceramics made in the nearby Potteries. An engraving of it also featured on a Royal Mail stamp book in 1981.
Since the late 20th century, Mow Cop has been known for its Killer Mile, a one-mile running race from the railway level crossing on the western side of the hill up to the castle. The race was first organized in the early 1980s by John Britton.[5] The climb is also well known among local cyclists and features in the100 Greatest Cycling Climbs in Britain.[6]
On 22 December 1990, the body ofStoke-on-Trent taxi driver Steven Johnson, a 25-year-old married father of two children, was discovered by a dog-walker on a farm track near Castle Road in Mow Cop. His body was found close to his taxi. Johnson had last been seen picking up a fare in Hanley Road,Hanley to be dropped off inPackmoor at around 03:30 on 22 December. He then drove from Packmoor to Mow Cop. Johnson had been assaulted inside his taxi and his throat was cut, causing his death. It was reported byStaffordshire Police that cash and valuables were not taken from the taxi and the motive for the murder was unknown. The crime was featured in the March 1991 edition ofBBCCrimewatch and reconstruction was filmed. One male suspect was arrested in 2014[7] and released on bail for five months, but no further action followed. The murder remains unsolved as of November 2020.[8]
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The following references are listed in the two books by Philip R. Leese:
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