Maer, Staffordshire

Maer
Maer is located in Staffordshire
Maer
Maer
Location within Staffordshire
Population489 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSJ787382
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNewcastle
Postcode districtST5
Dialling code01782
PoliceStaffordshire
FireStaffordshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Staffordshire
52°56′28″N 2°19′05″W / 52.9412°N 2.3181°W / 52.9412; -2.3181

Maer is a rural village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, to the west of the pottery manufacturing city of Stoke-on-Trent.

The parish church of St Peter dates from 1612.[2] It has a funeral monument to Sir John and Lady Bowyer.[2]

Maer's main feature is the large 17th-century stone-built country house, Maer Hall, built on a slope above a small lake, or "mere", which gave the house and estate its name. The hall became the home of Josiah Wedgwood II and was frequently visited by his nephew Charles Darwin, who went on to marry Josiah's daughter Emma at St. Peter's Church, which stands higher on the hillside, close to the hall. When she was young, Emma helped her older sister Elizabeth with the Sunday School, which was held in Maer Hall laundry, giving sixty village children their only formal training in reading, writing and religion. The grave of Josiah Wedgwood II and his wife Elizabeth in the churchyard has a view down over the hall.

Nearby is Berth Hill, an Iron Age hillfort.

  1. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Mabe - Maidstone Pages 208-216 A Topographical Dictionary of England". British History Online. S Lewis, London 1848. Retrieved 9 April 2023.