James Brindley was born in the small hamlet of Tunstead, Derbyshire in 1716. He started work at the age of 17 as an apprentice wheel and millwright. It soon became apparent that he was much more qualified than his employer and duly set up his own business in Leek in 1742. He now became involved in all forms of water control systems, both planning and constructing, and in just a few years his services would be in demand across the country. In 1752 he successfully designed and installed the mine drainage scheme at the Wet Earth Colliery in Clifton, Lancashire. Following this, he returned to Staffordshire at the request of Earl Gower of Trentham Hall, to survey a possible canal from Stoke to Wilden Ferry. Although the canal was never pursued, it set Brindley off on a new and very successfull career of canal construction.

Among his designs were the Bridgewater canal, Staffs./Worcester canal, Birmingham and Droitwich canals, all of which greatly benefitted the industries of the areas they covered. But the canal which he will be most be remembered for is the Trent and Mersey. This lay the foundation for the English narrow canal system, designed to carry vessels 70ft. long, 6ft. wide and a load of 20 tons.

It was during this time that Brindley took up residence in Turnhurst Hall, following his marriage in 1765 to Anne Henshall.

The hall was built around 1700 but there was some form of residence on the site prior to this. The earliest documented evidence of which is the General Muster Roll of 1539 which shows a return by a William Rowley of Turnhurst. Brindley finally succumbed to the illness which had troubled him for the last few years and died on Sept.27th 1772. He was buried three days later in St. James churchyard overlooking his home. The hall was demolished in 1929 as a result of subsidence and just a few outbuildings remained to mark the site, these were in turn demolished in 1970. During his time at Turnhurst, Brindley was to develop his finest engineering achievment to date. The canal lock system. Using a water feature that had been built some years previous in the gardens, he built a system that enabled canals to be built virtually anywhere, and not just in areas of flat ground. This was the start of 'The Canal Age' which would serve the nations industries for 80 years until the intriduction of the railways.Over the years there had been various books written about Brindley and several claimed that he had built a model lock in the grounds of the hall. In 1990, planning permission was granted for a public house to be built on the land as part of the development of the area. The site of the model lock was not part of a preservation order and was now in danger of being lost forever. In 1993 work began to locate the lock and canal and a concrete raft was fitted over the findings in 1995 to ensure its survival. The car park of the pub now marks the spot.