References

The following is from Edgar tooth's book the distinctive surnames of north Staffordshire (Churnet valley books): - Mow Cop is important for a third reason - it is one source of the surname Mole/moule/mowl in north Staffordshire, for early spellings of the locality in the Tunstall manor court rolls comprise " moule" in 1348, " mouhull " in 1362 and " mool "in 1512, whilst in the parish registers at Wolstanton it occurs as " moll " in 1605 and as " mole " in 1694. These forms suggest a hill with a boundary cairn.

In 1851the Biddulph population census stated that Williamson's Row ( later Welsh Row ) had 28 households and a population of 152 , for whom coal mining was the almost exclusive economic base .

Also in the same census Congleton Edge and Mow Cop Edge housed a mainly industrial community of miners in coal , stone and sand ; women worked in silk weaving or domestic service . Here there were 38 inhabited houses with a population of 210 .
Source . Biddulph ( By the Diggings )
A Local History .
Edited by Joseph Kennedy .
University of Keele Department of Adult Education .
Local History Publications , New Series No 2 .

Josiah Wedgwood (I) to Thomas Bentley, no date autumn 1767 (WE-E25-18188) from para 2 page 152 The Lunar Men, Jenny Uglow. Publ. faber and faber 2002 isbn 0-571-19647-0 talking about strata and lava and the fact fossils occurred in Harecastle Hill but were found below the Coal Measures as though the strata had seemed to be liquid 'and to have traveled along what was then the surface of the Earth. Something like the Lava from Mount Vesuvius'

'and we have one great Hill, Mole Cop*, which seems to have been formed entirely by them, as the mines are all turned by it, some to the East, & others to the West. But I have done. I am got beyond my depth. These wonderful works of Nature are too vast for my narrow, microscopic comprehension. I must bid adieu top you for the present & attend to what better suits my small capacity, the forming of a Jug or Teapot'

As so often, Wedgwood found a perfect image for the relation of the minute in general, the trivial to the universal. (It was from this interest in geology and in particular the Derbyshire flurospars that he was able to develop Jasper ware bodies over 20 years later to the benefit of the Potteries. When he died he left £25,000 from an initial wealth of £10. DW.)

Note the spelling of Mole as spoken in -1760. In a Welsh Dictionary for 'Mole/Moele' and 'Cop'. Suggest an urgent study into local held names. not map names of fields and places on the high areas and even over to the Cloud. Suggest look at 'Clawdd', pronounce Clow-th....actually as in Offa's Dike its the cross-sectional shape of the ditch being referred to as in the escarpment of The Cloud..not the high point's specific peak name (my idea). These are barriers derived from the Roman idea of a ditch to mark a site , ritual ploughing as done by the Etruscans...marks the edge of military area on Hadrian's wall. The Vallum, a sort of enter over this ditch at your peril..as indeed Offa's Dike was sort of like dog run boundaries to aitrfields... Hen (see Welsh) Cloud, Thorpe (viking name for village) Cloud plus all the Tors 9as in Dat moor Tors)..Celtic for Peak. Suggest prioritise quest for complete name list working out from Mow Cop castle and aiming as a project for older community reminiscences under Community Regeneration Project Funding..ownership of facts revealed to be held in Trust by? "The Old Mow Cop Society"?