The Development of Bowdon Since 1766
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF BOWDON SINCE 1766 A Paper Presented to the Bowdon History Society by Ronald Trenbath St. Mary’s Church, Bowdon 3 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BOWDON SINCE 1766 By Ronald Trenbath DA, FRSA, ARIBA THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF BOWDON FROM 1700 The parish of Bowdon, on the north side of the lower reaches of the Bollin Valley, originally stretched from Hale Barns in the east to Warburton in the west, and included the Manor of Dunham Massey, the market town of Altrincham and the village of Bowdon, and no study can be made of one of these three communities without reference to the other two. In the nineteenth century the village of Bowdon, which has a hill in the centre of the parish, was developed for expensive and prestigious residential use by entrepreneurs from the industrial belt north of the Mersey. Why, one might ask, is Bowdon so special that it is worthy of any consideration? Large conurbations have always had salubrious areas which evolved over many years into affluent suburbs. The answer to that question is that Bowdon was not a suburb but a self-governing entity which, when studied in the context of the Social Revolution of the time, reflects the changes which occurred both nationally and locally! Buildings mirror the character and culture of those who live in them! The elegance of classical Greece is embodied in the Temple of Nike Apteros in Athens, the might and brutality of Ancient Rome is seen in the Coliseum, the spiritual magnitude of medieval England is celebrated in Salisbury Cathedral and for the technical genius and criminal administrative incompetence of twentieth-century England one need look no further than the Millennium Dome, and in Bowdon one can read the story of those who have lived there. Any development is governed by three factors: Accessibility, Availability, and Suitability. Accessibility in the form of transport by land, water or air; availability of land for development, and the suitability of the land for the project. All of these factors were satisfied after the Romans extended 4 Watling Street northwards from Chester, through the centre of the future parish and the elevated nature of the locality made it essentially suitable for future development, but it was not until the beginning of the eighteenth century that the potential of the area was really exploited, as it was events during that period that Bowdon, as we know it today, really took shape and it is of interest that much of the development was influenced by women. The first of these women was Mary Oldbury, the estranged wife of George Booth, the 2nd Earl of Warrington, an interesting and eccentric woman whose extensive dowry on her marriage in 1702 provided the money for a vast scheme to transform a totally neglected estate into a thoroughly viable enterprise, commenced by her husband and continued by their brilliant and talented daughter Mary, Countess of Stamford, who inherited the estate on the death of her father in 1758. Prior to this period the Booths had shewn more interest in politics than in attending to their own affairs, first supporting Cromwell, then following disillusionment accepting the Restoration and then risking their lives and estates in replacing the Stuarts with William and Mary, for which they were enabled. The Second Earl concentrated all his efforts into restoring the near- bankrupt estate and shunned politics, except for a pamphlet advocating that England should become a republic with a Bill of Rights and provision for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. A vast scheme was put in hand to include modernising the hall replanting and landscaping the park to a Dutch design, afforestation, a rational policy of farm tenancies, the building of large numbers of new farmsteads, some of which were very big with dormitory accommodation for workers and new cottages to a high standard of construction. The Royal Society showed interest in these innovations and sent observers to report. The Salt Works at Dunham Woodhouses was expanded by Thomas Walton, the Salt Master, to be a very viable enterprise and it provided a boost to the local economy as well as contributing to the fortune made by Walton, who died in 1757 leaving provision in his will for a local charity which included the building of Bowdon Grammar School. 5 The increase in wealth gave rise to an increase in crime, mainly highway robbery and murder, and travellers on the Chester Road resorted to taking circuitous routes to avoid Bowdon and members of my family were always armed with pistols, powder and shot. A practice known as salt smuggling was rife throughout Cheshire, whereby salt produced for export, and therefore exempt from tax, was sold locally and the revenue kept by the vendor. To combat this practice my ancestor, William Trenbath, was appointed Salt Revenue Officer in 1766 to deal with the problem, in spite of the fact that his brother, John, was engaged in smuggling at home in Cornwall. Improvements to the Chester Road, with the introduction of the turnpike system and more satisfactory facilities of hostelries, livery stables, staging posts and farriers, facilitated better accessibility for trade and communications, and the construction of the Bridgewater Canal through Altrincham and Dunham Massey provided for commercial and industrial expansion. Warehouses and works were developed along the canal to the north of Altrincham and regular fast passenger packet barges provided facilities for travellers with meals being served for long journeys, so that Altrincham became a thriving market town with local industry and, according to the British Directory of Trade, Commerce and Manufacture at the time, it was an area to be “much esteemed and resorted to on account of its cleanliness and pleasant situation.” Increased prosperity resulted in elegant town houses in Altrincham and the arrival of jewellers and silversmiths, lawyers and doctors. The latter accepted fee-paying pupils who started training by making pills and studying anatomy for which the doctor would dissect corpses from the local workhouse or bought from body snatchers in Bowdon. When Chartist Dissenters from Manchester marched on Bowdon and Altrincham, the Earl of Stamford placated them with ale and baskets of bread and cheese, and the Yeomanry was mobilised to prevent further trouble, until the passing of the County and Borough Police Act of 1856 brought about the formation of the Cheshire County Constabulary which helped to restore law and order. 6 Prior to the nineteenth century land locally was held in fragmented ownership of small parcels of distributed over the district between three parties: the Church of England, the Stamfords, and the Assheton-Smiths, until the parties concerned agree to consolidate their holdings on a give- and-take basis. Under this arrangement the Church held land between the River Bollin and the hill, the Assheton-Smiths received land on the south downs of the hill east of the church, and the Stamfords retained most of the remaining land. The Assheton-Smith holding was quite small compared with that of other land owners and as it was too far removed from their main estate to be viably managed they sold it for residential development as it was eminently suitable for this purpose being an elevated south-facing site, in a very healthy position, suitable for domestic drainage and made accessible by local omnibus services between Altrincham and Bowdon Village. This development is interesting in view of the great social changes taking place both in Britain and Europe following the Napoleonic Wars and it would be helpful at this point to consider these changes as they are relevant to the development of Bowdon Parish. Prior to this period most people, other than the aristocracy who owned land estates and town houses, lived in either a town or the countryside, there were not marginal subdivisions between urban and rural areas. When a town expanded development continued outward without any change of character. At Chester the property on one side of the walls does not differ from that of the other side. Citizens of all classes were content to live mainly in terraces near to their work. Merchants would live next door to their factories and bankers would live over their banks with their workers living alongside, but expansion of the population in rural areas in the late 18th century caused farm workers to become surplus to requirements and emigrate to the towns in search of livelihoods, resulting in urban overcrowding and the formation of slums. Although commerce and industrial development fluctuated, the introduction of steam power and the lack of competition due to the 7 Napoleonic Wars in Europe made Britain the major trading nation of the world, bringing in immense wealth and power to the middle-class entrepreneurs, and diminishing much of the power of the aristocracy. Under these conditions middle-class society aspired to escape from the overcrowded towns into more salubrious environments, which requirement was first met when John Nash designed Regents Park, a landscaped country park with elegant terrace houses designed as Roman Palaces, surrounded by village development in romantic style, to which the nouveau-riche could escape, and copied in Liverpool when Sefton Park was built. The biggest influence on development however was the vast improvements in transport during the early years of the 19th century, due to the introduction of lightweight, fast-moving, horse-drawn carriages of various descriptions and the upgrading of primary and secondary roads after Macadam was appointed Surveyor General of Roads in 1827. The introduction of the horse-drawn omnibus about 1824 followed by the formation of the London General Omnibus Company in 1856 provided the first public transport system connecting areas in a local conurbation allowing the public to travel to work rather than live next to it.