Macclesfield | |
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![]() ![]() Macclesfield shown within Cheshire |
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Population | 50,688 |
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OS grid reference | |
District | Macclesfield |
Shire county | Cheshire |
Region | North West |
Constituent country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | MACCLESFIELD |
Postcode district | SK10 SK11 |
Dialling code | 01625 |
Police | Cheshire |
Fire | Cheshire |
Ambulance | North West |
European Parliament | North West England |
UK Parliament | Macclesfield |
List of places: UK • England • Cheshire |
Macclesfield is a market town in Cheshire, England with a population of about 50,688 (2001 census for Macclesfield urban sub-area). It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Macclesfield. A person from Macclesfield is referred to as a "Maxonian".
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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.
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.[3]
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][4] 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.
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.[5] 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.[6]
Between 1826 and 1831 the Macclesfield Canal was constructed,[7] 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.
Thornton Square is situated in a mainly residential area of Macclesfield. In 2002, the square came to national media prominence in the UK as a result of ‘The Thornton Square Affair’ – an eighteen month police operation leading to the issuing of some of the earliest multiple ASBO (anti-social behaviour orders) in respect of five youths accused of being verbally abusive and threatening, stealing from shops, behaving drunkenly and public micturition. The case was subsequently used by a number of UK police forces, including Cumbria and London Metropolitan, as a training case-study and an example of how to run similar operations.[8]
See also: Macclesfield (UK Parliament constituency), Macclesfield (borough)
Macclesfield gives its name to a parliamentary constituency which covers the town and the surrounding area. The current MP is Sir Nicholas Winterton, who was first elected in 1971. On a local government level, Macclesfield town hall is the headquarters of Macclesfield Borough Council, which administers the Macclesfield parliamentary constituency and the neighbouring constituency of Tatton. Both the parliamentary seat and the council are held by the Conservatives, who have held the parliamentary seat since the 1918 general election[9] and have held overall control of the council since 1976.[10]
The entire borough of Macclesfield is twinned with Eckernförde, Germany.[11]
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 to the towns of Stockport, (to the north), Buxton, (to the east), which is on the western edge of the Peak District and to Congleton, (to the south). It is 30miles, (45km), to the east of Chester, the county town of Cheshire. To the west of the town lies the Cheshire Plain. The town is most famous for its once thriving silk textile 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.
It is the home to furniture store Arighi Bianchi, local football club Macclesfield Town, AstraZeneca, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, The King's School, Macclesfield which dates from the 16th century, the King's Girls School, Macclesfield, a much more recent development and Beech Hall School; all are private schools.[12] Other local High schools include Fallibroome High School, Tytherington High School, Macclesfield High School and All Hallows Catholic College. The fine Georgian Town Hall was designed by Francis Goodwin in 1823. Present day industries include: pharmaceuticals, textiles, light engineering, paper and plastics.
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.[13] However, Macclesfield does have a museum which concentrates on the history of the silk industry in the town.[14]
Local newspapers include the Macclesfield Express[15] and the Community News.[16] Macclesfield residents have access to Macclesfield Forum, an online message board, for informal discussion of local news and issues.[17] The town is also served by two locally-based radio stations: Canalside Community Radio based at the Clarence Mill in Bollington[18], just north of Macclesfield, and Silk FM, a commercial independent radio station with studios in the town.[19]
The last remaining commercial cinema in Macclesfield closed in 1997. Discussions have taken place regarding the possibility of building a multiplex cinema,[20] but similar attempts to build a cinema have thus far been unsuccessful. In 2005 a small scale temporary cinema was set up in the Heritage Centre, and Cinemac[21] has since become well established; also based in the Heritage Centre is the Silk Screen arts cinema,[22] 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; there are three art galleries in Macclesfield;[23] 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.[24] 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".[25]
Musically, Macclesfield is best known as the home town of Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris of Joy Division; a memorial to Curtis is located in Macclesfield Crematorium.[26] 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. Since 2004 Maccattack Promotions, and friends, have promoted a flourishing local music scene, with live acts playing at The Queens Hotel, Cuban Knights, The Townhouse and now The Swan With Two Necks. The King Edward Musical Society (KEMS) Orchestra and Macclesfield Light Orchestra both reside and give regular concerts in Macclesfield.
Pub Culture is very much a part of Macclesfield life, past and present. The vast majority of Macclesfield's Pubs, Bars and Restaurants have been documented and reviewed in detail at Pub Toilets - Macclesfield.
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. Macclesfield RUFC, the town's rugby union club, play in National Division Three (North), the fourth tier of rugby union in England.
Macclesfield's cycling club Macclesfield Wheelers [27] is a local club specialising in all forms of 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).[28] 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.[29]
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.[30]
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.[31][32]
Macclesfield is served by four state high schools; Macclesfield High School, Fallibroome High School, Tytherington High School and All Hallows Catholic College. There is also an independent school, The King's School.
The school 'Henbury High School' has now been re-located and re-named to 'Macclesfield High School'.
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