Description:The village of Grindon is situated high up in the Staffordshire Moorlands between the Hamps and the Manifold rivers and about seven miles from Leek.
The name Grindon is a descriptive name, derived from the Old English ‘grene dun’ meaning ‘green hill’. In the Domesday Survey of 1086 it was recorded as part of the extensive lands of Robert de Stafford but was described as waste land with no population The description is probably not surprising for the time, given its high moorland location.
By the 16th century, however, Grindon was a sizeable village. In 1532-1533, 45 households were recorded in the village including the rector and two chaplains and one ‘syngulman’ or bachelor. By the time of the Hearth Tax assessment of 1666 there had been a slight increase. 52 households were listed then as eligible to pay the tax. The largest houses belonged to William Browne and William Bagnald with five hearths each. By 1851 the population was 404.
There was a church at Grindon in the 12th century and the font is a Norman survival. The dedication is to All Saints. The present building dates from 1845 and is notable for its dominant church spire, a local landmark which has led to descriptions of the church as the ‘cathedral of the moors’. The position of the church which has a screen of sycamore trees is much admired.
In 1942 a Wellington aircraft crashed at Grindon with the loss of eight of its nine crew members. Five years later in the bad winter of 1947 there was a similar accident when an RAF Halifax aircraft crashed on Grindon Moor. It has been dispatched to bring food and supplies to the village cut off in blizzards. The crew of six airmen and two press photographers were killed. A later enquiry sadly showed that such a flight had not been necessary. Memorials are to be found in Grindon church.
A free school was founded in 1724 by Humphrey Hall and the Revd S Norton for the education of 10 poor children. This was to become the public elementary school in the early 20th century.
Farming was the predominant recorded occupation in Grindon in the 19th and 20th centuries.