St. Edward’s Hospital

Not far from Leek, the Cheddleton Asylum, later called St Edward’s Hospital, was the third County Asylum to be built in Staffordshire. This vast institution, initially designed to accommodate 618 patients in 16 wards, was intended to relieve chronic overcrowding at the Stafford and Burntwood Asylums. The site at Bank Farm, Cheddleton, near Leek, was decided upon in preference to the original proposal of land at Bramshall Park Farm, Uttoxeter, because it was on elevated land; a criteria considered essential to provide a healthy environment for the patients.