In 1794 my fifth great grand uncle Edward Mainwaring (1736–1825), the eighth Edward Mainwaring to inherit Whitmore, succeeded to the estate on the death of his father. A history of the family has it that Edward, continuing the policy of his predecessors, purchased any alienated part of the estate that was ever offered for sale, so building up and integrating Whitmore as a whole.

Edward Mainwaring (1736 – 1825)

Ten years after he inherited, Edward Mainwaring’s concern to keep the estate intact and uncompromised was put to the test. A new road was proposed which would have passed within a few feet of the Hall‘s main door.

In 1804 Edward Mainwaring

… was permitted by the Commissioners, responsible for making the new road from Market Drayton to Newcastle-under-Lyme, to divert the road from its originally intended course which would have taken it immediately in front of the Hall door, and was empowered by them to supervise the construction of the road on its passage through Whitmore. He accordingly arranged for a sunken way to be made, beginning at the present lodge.

Mainwarings of Whitmore page 100

The planned changes to the road would have removed a zig-zag but this straighter route passed close to Whitmore Hall.

The new route implemented by Edward Mainwaring instead went straight from Whitmore Heath and passed on the other side of the Mainwaring Arms and the church of St Mary and All Saints. It thus bypassed the Hall. The effect of having a straighter road was still achieved with the new route.

Ordnance survey map from about 1804 showing the old road between Market Drayton and Newcastle and with the area in front of Whitmore Hall highlighted in red.
From the Ordnance Survey map abt 1889.
The red highlight indicates the area in front of the door of Whitmore Hall.
The green highlight indicates the original coach road that went past the school, now called Rectory Lane..
The blue highlighted road, now the A53, follows the route developed by Edward Mainwaring.
The road passing the Mainwaring Arms at Whitmore in the early twentieth century
From Google streetview September 2023: the A53 from the Lodge at Whitmore near the church heading towards Newcastle-under-Lyme. The sunken way developed by Edward Mainwaring can still be seen.

Christine Cavenagh-Mainwaring wrote in 2013:

It is thanks to this Edward that the Hall has been saved from the worst of intrusions by the present A53 road, which runs from Newcastle to Market Drayton; it carries non-stop traffic-12,000 cars and lorries throughout the day and night. The original main coaching road, which is of great age, ran from Acton through Whitmore over the little Mill Meece stream, up past the Old Parsonage and along what is now a footpath towards Baldwin’s Gate The equivalent of a new motorway was proposed in 1804, to be built from Newcastle, which would have passed in front of the Hall’s front door. This did not meet with Edward’s approval, and thank goodness common sense prevailed. He was allowed to organise the building of the road through his estate by changing the original route and putting it into a cutting; thus, it was hidden from sight and sound from the would be Hall. He had no way knowing that in years to come the motorcar would be invented and the noise they created would penetrate the countryside`s tranquillity; not to mention the height of the buses and lorries, the tops of which appear from time to time above the line of the cutting. But however much one dislikes the noise and danger of the A53, thanks to Edward (8th), its impact on the Hall and parklands has been hugely mitigated.

Whitmore Hall: From 1066 to Waltzing Matilda page 77

The present occupants of Whitmore Hall and the village certainly have good reason to be grateful to Edward Mainwaring’s 1804 plans for straightening the zig-zagging road.

Related posts and further reading

  • Cavenagh-Mainwaring, J. G. The Mainwarings of Whitmore and Biddulph in the County of Stafford. An account of the family, and its connections by marriage and descent; with special reference to the Manor of Whitmore. about 1935. pages 99 – 103, 108, retrieved through archive.org.
  • Cavenagh-Mainwaring, Christine & Britton, Heather, (editor.) Whitmore Hall : from 1066 to Waltzing Matilda. Peacock Publications, Adelaide, 2013. pages 77-80.

Wikitree: Edward Mainwaring (1736 – 1825)