Macclesfield

Situated in the ancient Hundred of Hamestan,[4] the town is recorded in the Domesday Book as "Maclesfeld" and in 1183 it was referred to as "Makeslesfeld".[5] The English Place-Name Society gives its name as being derived from the Old English name, Maccel, and field, yielding the meaning "Maccel's open country".[6]

Although "Silk Town" seems to be its preferred nickname, the traditional nickname of Macclesfield is "Treacle Town". This refers to an historical incident when a horse-drawn wagon overturned and spilt its load of treacle onto the street, after which the poor scooped the treacle off the road.[7]

Before the Norman Conquest, Macclesfield was held by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, who also held much of the east of the county.[8] Three crosses survive from this period, originally located in Sutton,[9] and J. D. Bu'Lock speculates that there might have been a Pre-Conquest church.[10] The area was devastated by the Normans in 1070, and had not recovered by 1086; the Domesday Book records the manor as having fallen in value from £8 to 20 shillings.[11] Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester held the manor himself after the Conquest; there was a mill, meadow for oxen, and woodland 6 leagues by 4 leagues.[12] A Norman castle was built at Macclesfield.[13] Macclesfield was granted a borough charter by Ranulf de Blondeville, Earl of Chester, in the early 13th century, and in 1261 a second charter was granted by the future King Edward I, allowing a market, fair and judicial court.[14][15] The medieval town stood on the hilltop, centred on the parish church of All Saints,[15] which was built in 1278, an extension of a chapel built in approximately 1220.[16] In 1357, a hall was built in the town for the mayor's court and the borough court (portmote).[14] The town lacked industries at this date and was described as poor,[14] remaining a small market town until the end of the 15th century, with a population numbered in the hundreds.[17]

The borough had a weekly market and two annual fairs: the Barnaby fair on St Barnabas day (11 June), the other on the feast of All Souls (2 November).[18][19] In recent years the Barnaby fair has been reinvented as the Barnaby Festival, a cultural festival in mid-June. The weekly market no longer happens but on the last Sunday of each month the Treacle Market is held, a large market selling locally produced food and handmade items such as clothing, handmade goods and pottery.

Macclesfield was the administrative centre of the Hundred of Macclesfield, which occupied most of east Cheshire.[4][20] The Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield was very large, and its boundary extended to Disley. The manor house was on the edge of the deer park, on the west of the town. In the 14th century, it had a king's chamber and a queeen's hall, as well as a large stable, and the manor served as a stud farm for Edward the Black Prince.[21] The Earls of Chester established the Forest of Macclesfield, which was much larger than its present-day namesake. It was used for hunting deer and pasturing sheep and cattle. By the end of the 13th century, large areas of the forest had been ploughed because of the pressure of population growth. In 1356, two trees from the forest were given to archer William Jauderell to repair his home.

Macclesfield as viewed from the railway station

Macclesfield Castle was a fortified town house built by John de Macclesfield in the later Middle Ages. Construction began in 1398, and that year an application was made for a licence to crenellate, or fortify, the building.[15] Two chantries were founded in the town: one in 1422 by the Legh family, and one in 1504 by Thomas Savage.[22] In 1502, Macclesfield Grammar School was founded by Sir John Percyvale.[17]

No proof exists that Macclesfield was ever a walled town. When the settlement was first established and for some centuries afterwards there would have certainly been some sort of ditch and palisade round the western side of the town which was not naturally defended. This was necessary in order to keep out undesirable people and stray animals. No physical trace of a ditch remains though measurements and the shape of certain streets suggest where such a ditch could have been and most of the medieval building were within this area. It is unlikely that the ditch and palisade were succeeded by a wall for no record has been found of a murage tax, which would certainly have been levied to keep the wall in repair. The suffix "Gate" in the names of several Macclesfield streets has been taken to indicate the former presence of a gate in the sense of a guarded opening in a wall, however, this is very unlikely as the term 'gate' is derived from 'gata', Scandinavian for road, which became gate in Middle English.[23] Therefore, Chester Gate, the Jordan Gate and the Church Wall Gate (some sources give the name Well Gate for this gate), are simply referring to the road to/from Chester or the road leading from the church to the well. These names are preserved in the names of three streets in the town, Chestergate, Jordangate and Back Wallgate.[24]

A charter of 1595 established a town governing body consisting of the mayor, two aldermen and 24 "capital burgesses", and the powers of this body were increased by a charter of 1684.[25] By the Tudor era, Macclesfield was prospering, with industries including the manufacture of harnesses, gloves and especially buttons, and later ribbons, tapes and fancy ware.[26][27] Coal was mined from the 16th century.[28] In 1664, the population was around 2,600, making Macclesfield the third-largest town in the county, after Chester and Nantwich, although the town had expanded little from its medieval extent and had fewer large houses than Nantwich and Stockport.[29] By around 1720, the number of households had increased to 925, and this rapid population growth continued throughout the 18th century, reaching 8,743 in 1801.[30]

In the 1580s, Macclesfield was one of the earliest towns in the county to have Puritan preaching "Exercises", and it was also an early centre for the Quakers. By 1718 an estimated 10% of the population was Nonconformist.[31] Towards the end of that century, the town had a large Methodist congregation, and Christ Church was the only Anglican church in the county to invite John Wesley to preach.[32]

Armoury Towers

During the Civil War, in 1642 the town was occupied for the King by Sir Thomas Aston, a Royalist.[23] In the Jacobite Rising of 1745, Charles Stuart and his army marched through Macclesfield as they attempted to reach London. The mayor was forced to welcome the prince, and the event is commemorated in one of the town's silk tapestries.[33]

The population was 24,137 by 1841.[34]

Armoury Towers was completed in 1858[35] and the Bridge Street drill hall was completed in 1871.[36]

Industry

Main article: The Silk Industry of Cheshire § Macclesfield

Paradise Mill

Macclesfield was once the world's biggest producer of finished silk. A domestic button industry had been established in the town by the mid-16th century, although the first mention of silk buttons is not until 1649.[26][27] In the mid-18th century, when metal buttons became fashionable, the silk-button industry transitioned to silk manufacture in mills. Macclesfield's first silk mill was founded by Charles Roe in 1743 or 1744.[15][37] The mills were initially powered by water, and later by steam.[15] There were 71 silk mills operating in 1832, employing 10,000 people, but a crash occurred in 1851 and many mill-workers emigrated to the American silk town of Paterson, New Jersey.[15] The silk industry remained active in the town in the 1980s, but no longer dominated.[38] Paradise Mill reopened in 1984 as a working mill museum, demonstrating the art of silk throwing and Jacquard weaving.[39][40] The four Macclesfield Museums display a range of information and products from that period.

A short-lived copper-smelting operation was established by Roe in 1750, processing ore from mines at Alderley Edge and Ecton (Staffordshire), and later from Anglesey. The business switched to copper processing and the manufacture of brass in 1767, before closing after Roe's death in 1781. The industry is reflected in some of the town's street names.[15][41]

Between 1826 and 1831 the Macclesfield Canal was constructed,[42] linking Macclesfield to Marple to the north and Kidsgrove to the south. The canal was surveyed for its Act of Parliament by the canal and roads engineer Thomas Telford, and built by William Crosley (junior),[42] the Macclesfield Canal Company's engineer. It was the last narrow canal to be completed and had only limited success because within ten years much of the coal and other potential cargo was increasingly being transported by rail.

Hovis Mill on the Macclesfield Canal in the town.

Macclesfield is the original home of Hovis breadmakers, produced in Publicity Works Mill (commonly referred to as "the Hovis Mill") on the canal close to Buxton Road. It was founded by a Macclesfield businessman and a baker from Stoke-on-Trent. Hovis is said to derive from the Latin "homo-vitalis" (strength for man) as a way of providing a cheap and nutritious food for poor mill workers and was a very dry and dense wholemeal loaf completely different from the modern version.

Waters Green was once home to a nationally known horse market which features in the legend of the Wizard of Alderley Edge. Waters Green and an area opposite Arighi Bianchi, now hidden under the Silk Road, also held a sheep and cattle market until the 1980s.

Macclesfield is said to be the only mill town to have escaped bombing in World War II.[43] After the war, two pharmaceutical companies opened facilities in Macclesfield, Geigy (now part of Novartis) and the pharmaceutical division of ICI (now AstraZeneca).[44]

Macclesfield was first represented in Parliament after the Reform Act of 1832, when it was granted two members of Parliament. This situation lasted until 1880, when after problems at the general election that year it was decided to declare the election void and suspend the writ of election (so no by-election could take place). In September 1880 a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate further. A report of March 1881 confirmed the allegations of corruption. As a result, the borough constituency was disenfranchised for corruption. The disenfranchisement took effect on 25 June 1885, when the town was transferred to the East Cheshire constituency. However under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the Macclesfield constituency was recreated with extended boundaries, as a county division, later in 1885. From the 1885 general election it has elected one MP. Macclesfield was for some time considered to be a safe seat for the Conservative Party, having been held by it since the 1918 general election, but the 2017 election showed a significant swing away from the Conservatives.

Currently, Macclesfield is represented by David Rutley, a Conservative and practising Mormon.[45][46] He was selected for this seat in 2010, when Sir Nicholas Winterton, who had been the incumbent for 38 years, announced his retirement following unfavourable press coverage relating to the claiming of Parliamentary expenses. Sir Nicholas' wife, Anne Winterton, held the neighbouring seat of Congleton.[47]

Macclesfield was governed locally by Macclesfield Municipal Borough (see Macclesfield (borough) until 1974 when Macclesfield Borough Council was established, a local government district with borough status. Following the establishment of Cheshire East Council in 2009 the borough was abolished and the Mayoralty transferred to charter trustees. Macclesfield Town Council was established in 2015 following a community governance review which established a civil parish.[48] Macclesfield Town Council is controlled by the Labour Party, with 9 councillors. There are 3 Independent councillors, and no Conservatives.

Macclesfield is also represented by 12 councillors on Cheshire East Council: 9 Labour, 3 Independents.

Macclesfield Forest and the Trentabank Reservoir

Macclesfield is 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 38 miles (60 km) to the east of Chester, the county town of Cheshire.

To the west of the town lies the Cheshire Plain. To the east is Macclesfield Forest, containing Ridgegate and Trentabank Reservoirs which supply the town's drinking water,[49] as well as Tegg's Nose and the Peak District.

The Macclesfield Built-up Area forms an urban area which extends from the town to an area that includes the town of Bollington and the village of Prestbury. The urban area has a population of 63,954.[50]

According to the 2011 census, the gender makeup of the population was 31,266 male and 32,688 female. The ethnic makeup of the whole urban area was under 96.2% white and nearly over 2.2% Asian. Other ethnic minorities were 1.6%. The religious make up of the whole area was:[51]

66.3 - Christian 0.5 - Muslim 24.8 - Irreligious ? - Other religions 6.8 - Not stated

108 steps sign, located on Churchside, at the top of the "108 Steps" down to Waters Green.[52]

The town is famous for its once thriving silk industry, commemorated in the Silk Museum.[53] The Georgian Town Hall was designed by Francis Goodwin in 1823. Macclesfield is home to an Augustus Pugin church, St Alban's on Chester Road.

Arighi Bianchi store, located on the "Silk Road" A523.

Macclesfield is the manufacturing home to AstraZeneca, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. The furniture store Arighi Bianchi was founded in 1829. Other industries include textiles, light engineering, paper and plastics.

Silk Museum

The Macclesfield Amateur Dramatic Society have performed at the Little Theatre on Lord Street since 1954.

Macclesfield has been accused of having 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.[55]

The Northern Chamber Orchestra, the oldest professional chamber ensemble in the North West, has its home at the Macclesfield Heritage Centre and presents a series of eight concerts a year, attracting international guest soloists.[56] The Silk Opera Company was created to perform 'The Monkey Run' at Barnaby.[57]

Macclesfield has four museums including the Silk Museum, a former silk mill, and West Park Museum, which houses Ancient Egyptian artefacts, as well as a number of art galleries.

The Macclesfield Model Railway Group is nationally recognised as a leading railway modelling club, famous for many layouts since its foundation in 1957.[58]

The Macclesfield Literary and Philosophical Society[59] was formed in 2006, partly in response to The Times 2004 article.

Local newspapers include the Macclesfield Express[60] and the Community News.[61] Macclesfield residents have access to Macclesfield Forum, an online message board, for informal discussion of local news and issues.[62] The town is also served by two locally based radio stations: Canalside Community Radio based at the Clarence Mill in Bollington,[63] just north of Macclesfield, and Silk FM, a commercial independent radio station with studios in the town.[64] Local information websites include Visit Macclesfield[65] and the local what's on guide, Canalside's The Thread.[66]

The last remaining commercial cinema in Macclesfield closed in 1997. Discussions have taken place regarding the possibility of building a multiplex cinema,[67] but attempts to build a cinema have thus far been unsuccessful. In 2005 a small-scale cinema, Cinemac, was set up in the Heritage Centre, which[68] has since become well established; also based in the Heritage Centre is the Silk Screen arts cinema,[69] which gives fortnightly screenings of art-house films.

Amateur dramatics is well represented in the town: the Macclesfield Amateur Dramatic Society has existed since 1947 and performs in its own theatre on Lord Street. The Macclesfield Majestic Theatre Group[70] has been producing musicals since its inception in 1971, initially at the Majestic Theatre (hence the title), 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, the Evans Theatre in Wilmslow and MADS Theatre on Lord Street. Several members of this society have progressed to the professional stage, most notably Marshall Lancaster and Jonathan Morris.

Gawsworth Hall hosts an annual Shakespeare festival as well as many arts and music events throughout the year.

Macclesfield has appeared in film: it was used as the location for Sir John Mills's film So Well Remembered in 1947.[71] 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.[72] It was also the location of Control (2007), a film about Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division.

Macclesfield was the home town of Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris of Joy Division, and Gillian Gilbert, who along with Stephen Morris was a member of New Order. A memorial to Curtis is located in Macclesfield Crematorium.[73] Other Macclesfield acts to have gained recognition include The Macc Lads and Marion. Silk Brass Band, the Macclesfield-based brass band, won the National Championship of Great Britain Third Section Final in 2002. Having been promoted from the third section in 2002, they have since consistently competed in the Second, First and Championship sections of the UK's brass band grading system.[74] The blues singer John Mayall was born here in 1933. More recently, local band the Virginmarys has achieved national and international success. Chart-topping UK band The 1975 come from Macclesfield.[75]

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

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.[76][77]

Macclesfield is served by four state-funded academies (previously state high schools); Tytherington School, The Macclesfield Academy, Fallibroome Academy and All Hallows Catholic College.

There are also two independent schools, The King's School which dates from the 16th century and Beech Hall School.

Macclesfield Academy is made up of pupils from the former school Henbury High School, and also took in the pupils left over when Ryles Park secondary school closed in 2004. Ryles Park had been in turn an amalgamation of Ryles Park girls school and the oldest state school in the town, Macclesfield Central boys school, which closed in 1975. It is on the site of Macclesfield College and Park Lane Special School as part of the Macclesfield 'Learning Zone', which was opened in 2007. Macclesfield High School was the name originally given to the girls grammar school on Fence Avenue now forming part of the King's School.

St Michael's Church, Macclesfield

The hilltop church of St Michael and All Angels has views of nearby Kerridge Hill.[lower-alpha 1] The church is approached from Waters Green by a flight of 108 steps, which themselves are a local landmark.

The Big Sunday School

Macclesfield Sunday School started in 1796 as a non-denominational Sunday School in Pickford Street, which catered for 40 children. It was founded by John Whitaker whose objective was "to lessen the sum of human wretchedness by diffusing religious knowledge and useful learning among the lower classes of society".[80] Though chapels set up their denominational schools, the Sunday School committee in 1812 elected to erect a purpose-built school on Roe Street. The Big Sunday School had 1,127 boys and 1,324 girls on its books when it opened.

St Alban's Church in Chester Road is an active Roman Catholic parish church. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It was designed by A. W. N. Pugin.[81]

Christ Church is a brick-built redundant Anglican church, located on Great King Street. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building,[82] and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The church was in use until 1981. It remains consecrated and is used occasionally for services.[83]

There is a Mormon church located on Victoria Road.[84]

Other churches of architectural merit include:

• King Edward Street Chapel, Macclesfield
• St George's Church, Macclesfield
• St Paul's Church, Macclesfield
• St Peter's Church, Macclesfield
• Holy Trinity Church, Hurdsfield
• Macclesfield United Reformed Church

Macclesfield's professional football club, Macclesfield Town, first gained league status in 1997 as Football Conference Champions; they had won that title two years earlier but were denied promotion as their Moss Rose stadium in the south of the town failed to meet Football League stadium capacity requirements. At the end of the 2019–20 season, the Silkmen were relegated from EFL League Two. In September 2020, Macclesfield Town Football Club were wound up in the High Court over debts totalling more than £500,000.[85]

Youth football teams include Macclesfield Juniors FC, Macclesfield Saints JFC,[86] Moss Rose Juniors FC and Tytherington Juniors.

Macclesfield RUFC, the town's rugby union club, plays in National League 1, following promotion from National League 2 North in the 2013–14 season.

Macclesfield Chess Club is one of the oldest chess clubs in the country having been founded in 1886.[87]

Macclesfield's cycling club Macclesfield Wheelers[88] 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 three years during the 1960s. The local cycling campaign group is known as MaccBUG (Macclesfield Borough Bicycle Users Group).[89] Formed in 1999, it campaigns for better cycling provision for leisure and utility cyclists.

Macclesfield Harriers & Athletic Club[90] is an active club with over 500 members. The club caters for all abilities and ages. There are sections for road running, track & field, fell running and cross country.

Macclesfield Hockey Club[91] is a community club with 8 senior teams and a thriving junior section. They cater for players of all abilities from the age of 5 upwards. At the first team level, the Ladies play in the Regional North Leagues and the men in the North West Hockey Premier League.

In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of Macclesfield were the third-most active in England in sports and other fitness activities; 29.3% of the population participate at least three times a week for 30 minutes.[92]

Macclesfield parkrun, a free weekly timed 5k run, takes place in South Park every Saturday morning at 9.00am.[93]

• Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The official status has existed since 1953, although was submitted to review in 2011 after the formation of Cheshire East Council.[163]

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Macclesfield.

• Listed buildings in Macclesfield
• Cat and Fiddle Road
• Macclesfield Castle
• Armoury Towers
• List of textile mills in Cheshire
• Duke's Court (Macclesfield)
• Macclesfield group power stations

• "Macclesfield" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). 1911.

Bibliography

• Beck, J. (1969). Tudor Cheshire. A History of Cheshire Vol. 7 (J. J. Bagley, ed.) (Cheshire Community Council)
• Bu'Lock, J. D. (1972). Pre-Conquest Cheshire: 383–1066. A History of Cheshire Vol. 3 (J. J. Bagley, ed.) (Cheshire Community Council)
• Clayton, D. J. (1990). The administration of the county palatine of Chester, 1442—85. Manchester, United Kingdom: The Chetham Society. ISBN 0-7190-1343-7.
• 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.
• Driver, J. T. (1971). Cheshire in the Later Middle Ages. A History of Cheshire Vol. 6 (J. J. Bagley, ed.) (Cheshire Community Council)
• Hartwell C., Hyde M., Hubbard E., Pevsner N. (2011). The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2nd edn) (Yale University Press) (ISBN 978 0 300 17043 6)
• Hewitt, H. J. (1967). Cheshire under the Three Edwards. A History of Cheshire Vol. 5 (J. J. Bagley, ed.) (Cheshire Community Council)
• Hodson, J. H. (1978). Cheshire, 1660–1780: Restoration to Industrial Revolution. A History of Cheshire Vol. 9 (J. J. Bagley, ed.) (Cheshire Community Council) (ISBN 0 903119 11 0)
• Husain, B. M. C. (1973). Cheshire under the Norman Earls: 1066–1237. A History of Cheshire Vol. 4 (J. J. Bagley, ed.) (Cheshire Community Council)
• Scholes, R. (2000). Towns and villages of Britain: Cheshire. Wilmslow, Cheshire: Sigma Press. ISBN 1-85058-637-3.
• Tigwell R. E. (1985). Cheshire in the Twentieth Century. A History of Cheshire Vol. 12 (J. J. Bagley, ed.) (Cheshire Community Council) (ISBN 0 903119 15 3)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Macclesfield.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Macclesfield.