Ringway, Manchester

For the airport see Manchester Airport.

Ringway can mean:

• A few buildings round a church on the south border of Manchester Airport. (Distinguish this chapel from the chapel rooms in Manchester Airport.)
• An ecclesiastic parish including land in Manchester Airport and Halebarns
• A civil parish, part of that ecclesiastic parish, on the south border of the City of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England.^[1] It is the only civil parish in the city of Manchester.

British Airways regional affiliate BA Connect (originally BA Citiexpress) before its dissolution had a headquarters in the grounds of the airport in Ringway parish.^[2]

History

The name appears to come from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Hringhæg meaning "circular or enclosing hedged enclosure".^[3]

Ringway Chapel is on Wilmslow Road near the south edge of Manchester Airport.^[4] There are a few other buildings near it.

• 1173: First mention of Ullerwood Castle, which is now in Ringway parish.^[5] It is a shell keep; at that time it was owned by Hamon de Massey.^[6]
• 1515: First mention of 'Ringey Chapel', a chapel of ease in Bowdon parish.^[7][8]
• English Civil War (1642–1651): Dissenters started using the Ringway Chapel.
• 1721 or shortly before: John Crewe of Crewe Hall inherited the Lordship of Ringway.
• 1721 Dissenters were ejected from the chapel, and moved to a barn, and in 1723 re-established themselves at Hale.
• About 1723: Ringway Chapel was demolished, and replaced by a new plain red brick building.
• 1741: The chapel's bell was recast or replaced.
• 1751: Record of baptisms began.
• 1821: Record of burials began: previous burials were at Bowdon.
• 1863: Ringway parish (including all or part of what is now Halebarns) was split off Bowdon parish.^[3] Ringway chapel became Ringway parish's parish church dedicated to All Saints.
• 1894: Ringway church was demolished and rebuilt.
• 20 April 1895: Ringway church was consecrated by the Bishop of Chester.
• November 1967: A new parish church (dedicated to All Saints) was consecrated in Ringway Parish's Halebarns end, because urban spread from Altrincham into Halebarns, and loss of farms near Ringway due to road and airport extensions, had changed the centre of gravity of the parish.
• December 1970: Ringway Church declared redundant by an Order in Council and closed. It became a storeroom.
• 1974: Part of Ringway ecclesiastic parish was brought into the city of Manchester as Ringway civil parish, to bring most of the terminal and hangar areas of Manchester Airport (previously known as Manchester (Ringway) Airport, built during 1935/38, and the location between 1940 and 1957 of RAF Ringway)^[9] within the city boundaries. The parish had previously been in the Bucklow Rural District of Cheshire.
• 1997: Ringway Chapel was restored.
• 2001: According to a census Ringway civil parish had a population of 106.^[10]
• 2011: Currently Ringway chapel is used by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Governance

Ringway Parish Council had nominally consisted of eight councillors, but none had been elected and the parish council was not performing its statutory obligations. In a 2009 review of local governance arrangements in Manchester 35 out of the 88 electors in the parish (100% of respondents) indicated the desire to retain the parish council. From 2010 the number of parish councillors has been reduced to five, and the elections scheduled for 2011 have been brought forward. A further review of local arrangements in planned by Manchester City Council.^[11]

Demography

As of the 2001 UK census, Ringway civil parish had a total population of 106, of which 50 were female and 56 male. The average household size was 2.59.^[10] Of those aged 16–74 in Ringway, 38 (= 43.7%) had no academic qualifications, significantly higher than the 28.9% for all of England. According to the census, none were unemployed and 28 were economically inactive.^[12] Of the residents of Ringway parish, 16 were under the age of 16 and 3 were aged 75 and over; the mean age of the people of Ringway was 37.47. 84 of them described their health as 'good'.^[13]

References

Notes

Bibliography