"The exact origin of the word 'Talke' ( formerly 'Talk' ) is unclear, although it is certainly linked to the fact that it is situated on a high ridge.The Welsh word 'twlch' (pronounced tulk) means 'hill' or 'height'. Another Welsh word, 'tal' meaning a 'forehead' or 'front end' could also relate to it's high position.It is also thought that it may come from an old Anglo-Saxon word, meaning 'High Place'. Until the end of the nineteenth century it was commonly known as 'Talk' O' Th' Hill'.
Talke and Audley are mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086. A 'Charter of Free Warren' was granted to James de Audley by Henry III in 1253. This, among other things, allowed a market to be held every Tuesday in the 'Manor of Talke'. A stone cross was erected on the site of the market in 1253 and this was restored in 1887. It is situated opposite to 'The Swan' Public House today. Talke was on a major route from London to Carlisle which entered Staffordshire near Lichfield and ran through Stone, Newcastle, Chesterton, Red Street, Talke and Butt Lane. Packhorse trains, wagons, soldiers, peddlers and farmers taking goods to market all passed through Talke which was famed for it's inns ! In 1733 a traveller spoke of 'The Plume of Feathers' in Talke as 'a great waggoners inn' where he had seen 'above twenty teams of a night'." (
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"This ancient stone cross and attractive building are to be found at Talke, also known as Talk-o'-the-Hill, a village on a prominent ridge close to the Staffordshire-Cheshire border. The cross, unfortunately, has no explanatory inscription other than "Erected 1253, Restored 1887." And so, I began searching for something that could be associated with the first date, and, as luck would have it, I came across a Charter of Free Warren granted to James de Auditheley by Henry III in 1253. The charter included the grant of a weekly market in the Manor of Talk to be held on Wednesdays, and a fair of three days' continuance on the Feast of St. Martin, and the days before and after. Both the fair and the market have long since been discontinued, but I would imagine the cross was built to commemorate the granting of the charter and probably stands on the site of the original marketplace.
The house in the background belongs to the County Council, is built from brick and stone and has two two-storeyed bow windows, with columns dividing the three lights.
The origins of the placename remain unexplained. In the Domesday Book it is "Talc," in the Charter Rolls of 1252 it is "Talk," and by 1276 it appears as "Talke." In Domesday, it states that Talke was held by Gamel, a king's thegn, and the extent of land was one virgate, valued at three shillings.
One of the many interesting incidents connected with Talke took place in the summer of 1781, on the descent of the hill. A load of gunpowder, transported by a carrier's waggon, was suddenly ignited by a spark created by friction of the wheels. The explosion must have been terrific, because the man attending the waggon and all his horses were killed, and neighbouring houses reduced to rubble. The heat from the blast reduced the man's fob watch to a solid mass of metal, an exhibit later to be seen in the possession of a Mr. H. Williamson, of Greenway Bank."- Neville Malkin 28th March 1976. (
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