Macclesfield

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Macclesfield (disambiguation). For the Borough of Macclesfield, see Macclesfield (borough).

Macclesfield
Coordinates: 53.2581° N 2.1274° W
Population	50,688
OS grid reference	SJ9173
District	Macclesfield
Shire county	Cheshire
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MACCLESFIELD
Postcode district	SK10 SK11
Dial code	01625
Police	Cheshire
Fire	Cheshire
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Macclesfield
European Parliament	North West England
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 main settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Macclesfield, and is considered^[specify] to be amongst the thirty wealthiest towns in the United Kingdom.

Contents 1 Description 2 Etymology 3 History 4 Government and politics 4.1 Twin towns 5 Culture and sport 6 Notable Residents 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Description

Macclesfield is located in the east of Cheshire, on the western edge of the Peak District, on the River Bollin, a tributary of the Mersey. 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 un-employed weavers.^{[citation needed]}

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 and the King's Girls School, Macclesfield, a much more recent development; both are middle ranking public schools.^[1] Other local High schools include Fallibroome High School, ranked highest in Macclesfield in results tables^[specify], Tytherington High School, Henbury High School and All Hallows. 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 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.

[edit] Etymology

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.^{[citation needed]}

A person from Macclesfield is referred to as a "maxonian".

[edit] History

Situated in the ancient Hundred of Hamestan,^[3] (later, in the hundred of Macclesfield) 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 Hundred of Macclesfield^{[citation needed]}, also known as Hamestan, 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. 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.

Between 1826 and 1831 the Macclesfield Canal was constructed,^[5] 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.

[edit] Government and politics

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^[6] and have held overall control of the council since 1976.^[7]

[edit] Twin towns

• Eckernförde, Germany (since 1953)

[edit] Culture and sport

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.^[8] The last remaining commercial cinema in Macclesfield closed in 1997. Discussions have taken place regarding the possibility of building a multiplex cinema,^[9] 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 has since become well established; also based in the Heritage Centre is the arts cinema Silk Screen, which gives fortnightly screenings of art house films. Amateur dramatics is well represented in the town by Macclesfield Amateur Dramatic Society which has run for 60 years and has its own theatre in town; there are three art galleries in Macclesfield; 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' film So Well Remembered in 1947. 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.

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.^[10] Other Macclesfield acts to have gained national recognition are The Hardy Normans, 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.

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 is a thriving 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 1950s.

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.[1]

[edit] Notable Residents

• Geoff Lloyd - well-known radio DJ for Virgin Radio grew up in Macclesfield.
• A Guy Called Gerald - musician, record producer and DJ part of the Manchester acid house scene, who was born in Macclesfield.
• Mr. Scruff - British DJ and artist born in Macclesfield.
• Peter Crouch - England international football player, born in Macclesfield.
• William Buckley - a convict transported to Australia who escaped and lived with local aborigines for 32 years, until discovered by the man who first settled Melbourne, Australia
• Ian Curtis - Lead vocalist of the band Joy Division, grew up in Macclesfield.
• John Mayall, OBE - pioneering English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
• The Macc Lads - famous rock group, well known for obsenities in many of their lyrics.
• Ben Ainslie - Olympic gold medal winning yachtsman: born in Macclesfield 1977

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Macclesfield Borough Council
• Macclesfield museums
• Macclesfield Wheelers Cycling Club

The Borough of Macclesfield, Cheshire
Principal Settlements	Bollington • Knutsford • Macclesfield • Wilmslow
Civil Parishes	Adlington • Agden • Alderley Edge • Ashley • Aston by Budworth • Bexton • Bollington • Bosley • Chelford • Chorley • Disley • Eaton • Gawsworth • Great Warford • Henbury • High Legh • Higher Hurdsfield • Kettleshulme • Knutsford • Little Bollington • Little Warford • Lower Withington • Lyme • Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough • Marthall • Marton • Mere • Millington • Mobberley • Mottram St. Andrew • Nether Alderley • North Rode • Ollerton • Over Alderley • Peover Inferior • Peover Superior • Pickmere • Plumley • Pott Shrigley • Poynton with Worth • Prestbury • Rainow • Rostherne • Siddington • Snelson • Sutton • Tabley Inferior • Tabley Superior • Tatton • Toft • Wincle •
Unparished Areas	Macclesfield • Wilmslow