Moorcourt Park 1861 -2016
My stated aim in these topics is to create awareness of Moorcourt and to keep it has intact as possible for future generations, otherwise it will be destroyed, purely out of greed.
Heritage history of Moorcourt Park
1861 onwards the family seat of the Boltons, predominantly Thomas Bolton who took over the Patten works of Oakamoor.
Copper was to be the main material produced and in particular electrical cables and other items associated with electricity, famous for several including the first trans Atlantic cable.
Oakamoor benefited in employment at the factory in the village, the Bolton’s providing the first (it is claimed) public electric lighting.
Further manufacturing was introduced by the Boltons at Froghall.
The Boltons were well known in motor sport and their love of the automobile would have played a part in the expansion of the trade.
Not only did Boltons develop Moorcourt they also had gardens and a farm. The gardens were of importance due to a link with Kew Gardens in the form of a gardener, a Mr Skan who worked and trained at Moorcourt and married a lady from Oakamoor, before moving to the prestigious Kew.
Further education also played a part, the Boltons dedicated a large parcel of land in Stoke on Trent, now known as Cauldon College. Please see this link:
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/centenary/key_f ... ed_bolton/
http://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.u ... hemeID=490
We therefore have to acknowledge the fact that Moorcourt has important history and is part of the valleys heritage, in fact it plays an important part of our heritage.
I need to add here and courtesy of Motor Sport Magazine, a link to Mr Bolton's cars:
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archi ... ltons-cars
Moorcourt is made up of several individual properties, four of which are listed as Grade ll. Built mainly from locally quarried stone.
In or around 1957 the Boltons sold the estate to the Prison Commission, for the whole estate to form a womens open prison. This use continued until 1982, and eventually the estate consisting of 58 acres was sold to an investment company called Goldstone Investments Ltd. As far as I can recall there were about 12 lots made available including houses, land and agricultural buildings. All the properties conveyed had conditions which applied to all the properties.
All the properties were sold as equal in status without any reservation whatsoever.
Most if not all the lots were sold by 1985, and mainly used as private dwellings. Some commercial use (in breach of restrictive covenants) has been put to various properties but for one reason or another have failed, perhaps it is because in reality no business activities should be undertaken at Moorcourt.
As of August 2016 the property breakdown is as follows
http://www.rottentothecore.co.uk/images/Moorcourtproperties.jpeg
As far as I am aware the details of the properties are accurate.
Masonic Connections
The gate in the middle of the estate, which is invariably closed and securely locked, bears symbols of the Knights Templar, which is undoubtedly Masonic, how that has affected Moorcourt I do not know nor do I know for certain that Masonic influence exists to day. I will explore this a little further.
Moorcourt and the Churnet Valley
At a recent meeting of the Churnet Valley Conservation Society (CVCS) here is a link:
http://www.churnet-valley-conservation.org/
I was amazed that such a gathering of people had very little or no knowledge at all of Moorcourt, despite having 3 members of the Society living on the estate. The reasons for this are wide and varied and as if to keep Moorcourt out of the public eye for their own collective benefit?
The CVCS have been very active opposing developments in the valley which would, in their view, be detrimental to the locality. It seemed very strange that proposals and previous uses at Moorcourt, despite being at odds with CVCS aims and objectives, are ignored.
To be continued
