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Macclesfield

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For the Borough of Macclesfield, see Macclesfield (borough).
For other uses, see Macclesfield (disambiguation).
Macclesfield
Macclesfield Town Hall
Population50,688 
OS grid referenceSJ9173
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMACCLESFIELD
Postcode districtSK10 SK11
Dialling code01625
PoliceCheshire
FireCheshire
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cheshire

Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, with a population of about 50,688 (2001 census for Macclesfield urban sub-area). A person from Macclesfield is sometimes referred to as a "Maxonian".

History

St. Michael's Church, Macclesfield
Churchill Way, Macclesfield

Situated in the ancient Domesday Hundred of Hamestan,[1] the Domesday Book lists Macclesfield as "Maclesfeld", whilst in 1183 it was referred to as "Makeslesfeld".[2] It is thought that Macclesfield got its name from "Michael's field" - referring to St. Michael, as in St. Michael's church. The English Place-Name Society gives it name as being derived from the Old English for Maccels' open country.[3]

Later, Macclesfield was granted a borough charter by the Lord Edward, the future King Edward I, in 1261. There is evidence that the borough had originally been founded by Ranulf III, Earl of Chester, early in the thirteenth century. The parish church of St Michael was built in 1278, an extension of a chapel built in approximately 1220.[4]

The borough had a weekly market, and two annual fairs: the Barnaby fair, was on St Barnabas day (11 June), the other on the feast of All Saints (1 November).

Macclesfield was the administrative centre of the later Hundred of Macclesfield, which occupied most of east Cheshire.[1][5] The Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield was very large, and its boundary went as far as Disley. The manor house was situated on the edge of the deer-park, on the west of the town.

Macclesfield as viewed from the railway station

In addition, the Earls of Chester had established the forest of Macclesfield, which was much larger than its present-day namesake. It was used for hunting deer, as well as pasturing sheep and cattle. By the end of the thirteenth century, large areas of the forest had been ploughed up because of the pressure of population growth. In 1356, two trees from the forest were gifted to archer William Jauderell to repair his home.

The so-called 'Macclesfield Castle' was a fortified town house built by the dukes of Buckingham in the later Middle Ages.

In the uprising of 1745, Charles Stuart and his army marched through Macclesfield as they attempted to reach London. The Mayor was forced, reluctantly, to officially welcome the Prince, and this welcome is commemorated in one of the town's famous silk tapestries.[6] At one point, Macclesfield was the world's biggest producer of finished silk; now, the four Macclesfield Silk Museums display a huge range of information and products from that period. At one time the silk manufacture was home-based but as machinery was introduced large sheds were built to accommodate it and the workers were expected to move into them. Paradise Mill is a working mill museum which demonstrates the art of silk weaving to the public.[7]

Between 1826 and 1831 the Macclesfield Canal was constructed,[8] linking Macclesfield to Marple to the north and Kidsgrove to the south.

Waters Green was once home to a nationally known horse market which features in the legend of the Wizard of Alderley Edge.

Macclesfield railway station opened on 1 July 1873.

Macclesfield is said to be the only Mill Town left unbombed in the Second World War.[9]

Geography

Macclesfield Canal flows through the town.

Macclesfield is located in the east of Cheshire, on the River Bollin, a tributary of the River Mersey. It is close to the county borders of Greater Manchester, (to the north), Derbyshire, (to the east) and Staffordshire, (to the south). It is near the towns of Stockport, (to the north), Buxton, (to the east), and Congleton, (to the south). It is 30 miles, (45 km), to the east of Chester, the county town of Cheshire. To the west of the town lies the Cheshire Plain and to the east lie the hills of the Peak District. The town is most famous for its once thriving silk industry, commemorated in the local Silk Museum. Although "Silk Town" seems to be the preferred nickname these days, Macclesfield's traditional local nickname is "Treacle Town" — supposedly from an incident where a merchant spilt a load of treacle on Hibel Road, and the poor rushed out to scoop it off the cobbles. Another, less picturesque, reason has it that the mill-owners used to provide barrels of treacle to the unemployed weavers.[citation needed]

Landmarks and tourist attractions

It is the home to furniture store Arighi Bianchi, a local football club Macclesfield Town, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca, and The King's School, Macclesfield which dates from the 16th century. The fine Georgian Town Hall was designed by Francis Goodwin in 1823. Present day industries include: pharmaceuticals, textiles, light engineering, paper and plastics.

Culture and sport

The Macclesfield Amateur Dramatic Society was founded in 1947. MADS performed their first play at the Little Theatre on Lord Street in 1954

Macclesfield has few cultural amenities; in 2004, research was published in The Times naming Macclesfield and its borough the most uncultured town in Britain, based on its lack of theatres, cinemas and other cultural facilities.[10] However, Macclesfield does have a museum which concentrates on the history of the silk industry in the town.[11] The town now boasts an Art gallery in York Chambers, Duke's Court.

Local newspapers include the Macclesfield Express[12] and the Community News.[13] Macclesfield residents have access to Macclesfield Forum, an online message board, for informal discussion of local news and issues.[14] The town is also served by two locally-based radio stations: Canalside Community Radio based at the Clarence Mill in Bollington,[15] just north of Macclesfield, and Silk FM, a commercial independent radio station with studios in the town.[16]

The last remaining commercial cinema in Macclesfield closed in 1997. Discussions have taken place regarding the possibility of building a multiplex cinema,[17] but similar attempts to build a cinema have thus far been unsuccessful. In 2005 a small scale cinema was set up in the Heritage Centre, and Cinemac[18] has since become well established; also based in the Heritage Centre is the Silk Screen arts cinema,[19] which gives fortnightly screenings of art house films. Amateur dramatics is well represented in the town by Macclesfield Amateur Dramatic Society which has run since 1947 and has its own theatre in town. Macclesfield Majestic Theatre Group[5] has been producing musicals in the town since its inception in 1971, initially at the Majestic Theatre (hence the title) which was on the main street, but latterly at various other locations after the theatre was converted into a public house, by the new tenants. Most recently shows have been produced at the Heritage Centre, Evans theatre Wilmslow, and MADS theatre on Lord Street Macclesfield. Several members of the society have gone on to the professional stage , most famously Marshall Lancaster, and Jonathan Morris.

There are three art galleries in Macclesfield;[20] Gawsworth Hall hosts an annual Shakespeare festival as well as many arts and music events throughout the year.However, during the recent outlining of plans for the new Macclesfield town centre, a large cinema has been given the go-ahead after many years of pressure from the residents.

Macclesfield has appeared in film: it was used as the location for Sir John Mills' film "So Well Remembered" in 1947.[21] Some of the locations are still recognisable, such as Hibel Road. A fictionalised version of Macclesfield's railway station appeared in the 2005 football hooliganism film Green Street.[22] It was also the location of the 2007 film Control, a biopic film about Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division who grew up in Macclesfield.

Musically, Macclesfield is best known as the home town of bluesman John Mayall as well as Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris of Joy Division, and Gillian Gilbert who along with Stephen Morris were members of New Order. A memorial to Curtis is located in Macclesfield Crematorium.[23] Other Macclesfield acts to have gained recognition include The Macc Lads and Marion. The Macclesfield band Silk Brass have also gone on to receive a National Champion title in the brass band movement in 2003.

In literature, Macclesfield is the second principal location of the fantasy novels The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner.

Macclesfield's professional football club, Macclesfield Town, first gained league status in 1997, and currently play in League Two. The club play their home games at the Moss Rose in the south of the town. Youth football teams include Macclesfield Juniors FC, Macclesfield Saints JFC and Tytherington Juniors. Macclesfield RUFC, the town's rugby union club, play in National Division Two (North), the fourth tier of rugby union in England.

Macclesfield's cycling club Macclesfield Wheelers[24] is a local club for all cycling activities - from pleasure riding to racing. World famous cyclist Reg Harris produced "Reg Harris" bikes in Macclesfield for 3 years during the 1960s. The local cycling campaign group is known as MaccBUG (Macclesfield Borough Bicycle Users Group).[25] Formed in 1999 they campaign for better cycling provision for leisure and utility cyclists.

Macclesfield Chess Club is one of the oldest chess clubs in the country having been founded in 1886.[26]

Barracks Square was the home of the Cheshire Militia from the 1830's. It is now a Grade 2 listed residential area.

In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of Macclesfield were the 3rd most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 29.3% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.[27]

In 2008, the borough was named as the fifth happiest of 273 districts in Britain by researchers from the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester, who used information on self-reported personal well-being from the British Household Panel Survey.[28][29]

Education

Macclesfield is served by four state high schools; Macclesfield High School, Fallibroome High School, Tytherington High School and All Hallows Catholic College.

There are also two independent schools, The King's School and Beech Hall School.

Macclesfield High School is made up of students from the former school Henbury High School, and also took in the students left over when the secondary school Ryles Park closed 2004. It is on the site as Macclesfield College and Park Lane Special School as part of the Macclesfield 'Learning Zone', which was opened in 2007.

Rail services

Macclesfield railway station has frequent services to Manchester Piccadilly (25 minutes away), Stoke and London Euston (1 hour 47 minutes) by Virgin Trains, and to Birmingham New Street and beyond provided by CrossCountry. Northern Rail's stopping service between Manchester and Stoke calls at Macclesfield.

Notable people

See also

Armoury Towers
Armoury Towers



Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ a b Finney, Isaac. "Macklesfelde in ye olden time". Retrieved 2007-01-12.
  2. ^ Scholes (2000). page 104.
  3. ^ English Place Name Society database at Nottingham University
  4. ^ "A History of the Church". St. Michael's Macclesfield. Retrieved 28 November 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Clayton, D. J. (1990). pages 32, 33.
  6. ^ Silk Tapestries of Macclesfield. Retrieval Date: 15 October 2007.
  7. ^ Paradise Mill website. Retrieval Date: 15 October 2007.
  8. ^ Tim Boddington. "The Macclesfield Canal". Retrieved 28 November 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Missing movie classic unearthed by Macc Lad - News - Macclesfield Express
  10. ^ Hoyle, Ben (8 November 2004). "Is charming Macclesfield really such a cultural cul-de-sac?". The Times. London. Retrieved 29 November 2006. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  11. ^ Macclesfield Silk Museums. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008.
  12. ^ Macclesfield Express. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008
  13. ^ Community News Group. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008
  14. ^ Macclesfield Forum. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008
  15. ^ Canalside Community Radio. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008
  16. ^ Silk FM. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008
  17. ^ "Cinema may replace Tesco and Hughes stores as new star in town". Macclesfield Express. Retrieved 29 November 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  18. ^ Cinemac. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008.
  19. ^ Silk Screen Cinema. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008.
  20. ^ Art galleries of Macclesfield. Cheshire County Website. Retrieval Date: 15 October 2007.
  21. ^ So Well Remembered. International Movie database website. Retrieval Date: 15 October 2007.
  22. ^ Green Street (US title: Hooligans) International Movie Database website. Retrieval Date: 15 October 2007.
  23. ^ "Getting to know Dad". Macclesfield Express. Retrieved 29 November 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  24. ^ Macclesfield Wheelers Cycling Club. Official website. Retrieval Date: 16 December 2007
  25. ^ Macclesfield Borough Bicycle Users Group (MaccBUG). Official website. Retrieval Date: 1 October 2007.
  26. ^ Furness (1988). page 126.
  27. ^ Active People Survey. Sport England website. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008.
  28. ^ "Britain's happiest places mapped". news.bbc.co.uk. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  29. ^ "A step-by-step ESDS Longitudinal guide: Guide to British Household Panel Survey". www.esds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  30. ^ Biography about David Shrigley. www.davidshrigley.com. Retrieval Date: 18 February 2008.
  31. ^ Peter Moores. Cricket England website. Retrieval Date: 16 February 2008.
  32. ^ (Olympic) Brits to Watch: Ben Ainslie. www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieval Date: 9 December 2008.
  33. ^ World Cup Scouting - Peter Crouch. www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieval Date: 9 December 2008.
  34. ^ About Nick Robinson. www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieval Date: 9 January 2009.
  35. ^ "Biography for Ian Curtis". www.imdb.com. Retrieved 18 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  36. ^ [1] Retrieval Date:2 March 2009.
  37. ^ [2] Retrieval Date:2 March 2009.
  38. ^ [3] Retrieval Date:2 March 2009.
  39. ^ [4] Retrieval Date:2 March 2009.

Bibliography

  • Clayton, D. J. (1990). The administration of the county palatine of Chester, 1442—85. Manchester, United Kingdom: The Chetham Society. ISBN 0719013437.
  • Furness, R. A. (1988). The Cheshire Hundred (1888-1988): The centenary history of the Cheshire & North Wales Chess Association. Cheshire and North Wales Chess Association.
  • Scholes, R (2000). Towns and villages of Britain: Cheshire. Wilmslow, Cheshire: Sigma Press. ISBN 1850586373.
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