Cannock Chase in 1914
Industry
The industrial profile of Cannock Chase was dominated by coal mining from the 1850s. The Cannock Chase Coalfield became the most important in Staffordshire and was producing seven million tons of coal by 1914. This year saw the opening of West Cannock No. 5 pit along the Rugeley Road. Wages for those working on the Chase coalfield ranged from two shillings per day for boys aged fourteen to a minimum of six shillings and sixpence for stallmen working in dangerous conditions at the coalface.
Education
There were a number of established schools for infants and juniors in Cannock Chase by 1914. A school inspection report for St. Peters Voluntary Junior and Infants Mixed School, Hednesford, from the 1910s records that pupils were taught English, Mathematics, History, Geography, Science and Drawing/Art. Engineering also formed part of the curriculum in the form of Woodwork for boys and Needlework for girls.
Talbot Street Girls’ School in Rugeley was enlarged for a second time in 1913 and provided spaces for 300 girls. From 1912 the New Institute on Anglesey Street in Hednesford provided training for those involved in mining and engineering. A similar institute was opened in 1913 in Chasetown. 1914 saw a series of public lectures provided by the Gilchrist Educational Trust held at the New Hall in Cannock.
Housing
The coal mining industry contributed to the development of much housing in Cannock Chase including many of the houses in Heath Hayes and Norton Canes between 1890 and 1914. The Cannock and Rugeley Company had also built 96 cottages for mine workers in Rawnsley by 1914. The majority of miners in the District lived in privately rented accommodation during the early 1900s, although housing was increasingly becoming available to buy.
Population
The population of the area which we identify today as
Cannock Chase was around 40,146 persons in 1911.
Community Safety
Community safety issues in Cannock Chase during the early 1900s included illegal gambling – particularly cock fighting - drunkenness and violent disturbances. The 1912 National Coal Strike which preceded the Minimum Wage Act saw rioting at Littleton Colliery and there were recurrences of atrocities on animals associated with the infamous ‘Wyrley Gang’ animal maimings between 1912 and 1915.
Religion
Cannock Chase’s Churches and Chapels played a prominent role in community life during the early twentieth century, particularly through local Sunday School parades. The year 1914 saw the installation of a new organ in St. Luke’s Church, Cannock. St. Augustine’s Parish Church in Rugeley had been extended a few years earlier in 1906 to accommodate a congregation of around seven hundred people.
Sport & Leisure
Alongside the tradition of training race horses on Cannock Chase, many sports have a long heritage in the District, including football and bowling. Hednesford Town Football Club, founded in the 1880s, completed the 1914/1915 season before matches were suspended during the Great War. Similarly, no matches were held on Cannock’s Bowling Green, with some members of the Bowling Club directing their energies into the Cannock Prisoner of War Committee.
Cannock Town was the home of a number of amenities during the early 1900s, including The Hippodrome Theatre in Market Place, the Crown Hotel and the Royal Oak Inn. Shoal Hill was a popular beauty spot on Cannock Chase, alongside Beaudesert with its Grand Lodge which was popular for scout and guide camps in 1912. The Cannock Chase Flower Show was a fashionable seasonal community event attracting residents from across the District.
Transport
The towns of Cannock Chase were linked by regular omnibus services in the early twentieth century and the London and North Western Railway Company (LNWR) linked its stations at Cannock, Hednesford and Brownhills, with LNWR trains also crossing the Chase.
To understand the impact of the First World War in Cannock Chase, it is important to consider what life was like in the District in the period leading up to the outbreak of War.
