Description:The village is situated 800 feet above sea level, hence the name Heaton meaning 'high settlement' in Old English. The small hamlet of Heaton is situated close to Rushton Spencer, with the River Dane forming its northern border with Cheshire, and to the south-east the hill known as Gun separating the area from Leekfrith. The population today is around 270, but it has been much higher in the past, and in 1841 stood at 430. The economy has always been dominated by agriculture, although the cotton mill at Danebridge and the grindstone quarry pits close to Gun also provided employment for locals between about 1830 and 1900. Heaton had its own church for a time (1905-1977), paid for by Philip Brocklehurst and his wife Annie. Following its closure the building was converted into a house, and church-goers returned to worshipping at Rushton Spencer, formerly the local church. The Brocklehursts also provided funds for a school c1900, and this served the area until 1981 when it became a village hall. Another of the village's Victorian buildings, the Primitive Methodist Chapel of 1864 was closed in the 1960s, and later turned into Gun End House.