Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town in
Cheshire,
England with a population of around 50,688 (2001 census for Macclesfield urban sub-area). It is the main settlement and administrative centre of the
Borough of Macclesfield, and is considered to be one of the 30 wealthiest towns in Britain.
Macclesfield is located on the edge of the
Peak District, on the
River Bollin and the
Macclesfield Canal. It 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 un-employed weavers.
It is the home to famous furniture store
Arighi Bianchi, local football club
Macclesfield Town,
The King's School, Macclesfield which dates from the
16th Century and the
King's Girls School, Macclesfield, a much more recent development; both are low-to-middle ranking public (i.e. private, fee-paying) schools (
regional GCE league table). Other local High schools include
Henbury High School, All Hallows, and
Fallibroome high school . The fine
Georgian Town Hall was designed by
Francis Goodwin in
1823.
The town was the birthplace of
Hovis bread. Present day industries include:
pharmaceuticals,
textiles, light
engineering,
paper and
plastics.
In
2004, research was published in
The Times naming Macclesfield and its borough the most boring or uncultured town in Britain. This was based on its lack of theatres, cinemas and other cultural facilities. The last remaining cinema in Macclesfield closed in
1997 . Discussions have taken place regarding the possibility of building a multiplex cinema (
1), however, similar attempts to build a cinema have thus far been unsuccessful. In
2005 a temporary cinema was set up in the Heritage Centre. Called Cinemac, its first showing was
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It is actually a large sheet hung up in a room with all the curtains closed. In
2002 the town also featured in the national media, focussing on the work of Cheshire Constabulary pioneering the use of
ASBOs to control anti-social behaviour at
Thornton Square.
|
St. Michael's Church, Macclesfield |
It is thought that Macclesfield got its name from "Michael's field" - referring to
St. Michael, as in St. Michael's church.
Macclesfield, known as Hamestan in the
Domesday Book, 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.
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 Hundred of Macclesfield, which occupied most of east Cheshire. 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. 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. Macclesfield is perhaps the first place to have factory working. 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.
Waters Green was once home to a nationally known horse market which features in the legend of the Wizard of
Alderley Edge.
Macclesfield has appeared in film: it was used as the location for
Sir John Mills' film
So Well Remembered in 1947. Some of the locations are still recognisable, such as Hibel Road.
*
Eckernförde,
Germany (since
1953)
*
Marshall Lancaster, star of BBC's
Life on Mars (TV series), The Lakes, The Street and Clocking Off, was born and still lives in the town.
* The wildlife painter
Charles Tunnicliffe was born and raised in
Langley, a nearby village. He studied at the Macclesfield College of Art, now the Silk Museum.
*
Ian Curtis, lead singer of
Joy Division, was brought up in Macclesfield, and his ashes are buried in the local crematorium.
*
Stephen Morris of
New Order was born here and still lives nearby.
* Twice Olympic gold medal winning sailor
Ben Ainslie was born in Macclesfield.
*The
Macc Lads – a band notorious for bad language in their lyrics – came from the town.
*
Brian Redhead, who hosted the
Today programme on
BBC Radio 4 for many years, lived in nearby
Rainow and called Macclesfield "the centre of the universe".
*
John Mayall, most well known for
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, lesser known for the discovery of
Peter Green and
Eric Clapton. Often called 'Godfather of British Blues' was born in Macclesfield and raised nearby.
*
Greg Scott, British Television Presenter of
Quizmania and formerly of
Price-Drop tv was born in Macclesfield and now lives in
Sandhurst, Berkshire.
* Stuart Wilson, (contestant on
Big Brother reality TV show)
*
John Charles Ryle, the first
Bishop of Liverpool was born in the town.
*
Mr. Methane, Macc born and bred.
* Television presenter
Heather Stott was born in Macclesfield.
*
Peter Crouch, footballer who currently plays for Liverpool FC.
*
Geoff Lloyd, radio presenter on
Virgin Radio*
David Dickinson (the orange one) former host of Bargain Hunt lives near the town.
*
Tim Wonnacott, host of BBC One's
Bargain Hunt used to live in the town.
*
Douglas Burton, great-grandson of Montague Burton who founded the '
Burton' menswear company.
*
Nick Robinson, Political Editor of the BBCAndy Till Session Bass Player and television actor born Macclesfield, featured on BBC New St Law, ITV Cracker, supported some names in Pop Ronan Keating, the Animals.
*
Bollington*
Prestbury*
Poynton*
106.9 Silk FM , local radio station
*
Macclesfield Borough Council*
Macclesfield museums
