Although it is now a rural area, it has an industrial past which drew on the natural resources of the Churnet valley.

In the nineteenth century Thomas Bolton's copperworks near the River Churnet supplied copper wire for the first transatlantic telegraph cable.

[citation needed] The company merged with others in 1984 to form “Thomas Bolton and Johnson” with factories elsewhere.

[6] Lightoaks Hall on Cheadle Road dates from the 1820s and was built for the Bolton family.

In 2004 Oakamoor was the subject of a television programme in the Channel 4 Time Team archaeology series, which investigated the remains of The Old Furnace.