CHESHIRE. [KELLY's
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4.50 SA~DBACH. CHESHIRE. [KELLY's I deanery of Congleton, archdeaconry of !Maccle;;field and brick buildinq holding 300 person~, is at present (1896) diocese of Chester. The town is on the Trent' and• :Mersey used' as an Infant School in connection with the National Canal and the small river Wheelock, whic-h supplies School. water-power to the largest of the silk mills. The Literary and Scientific Institution, High town, The "Local Government .Act, 1858," was adopted. by erected in 1857 at a cost of £2,700, is a structure of bri'* the township April 4, 1862, but under the provisions of ornamented with stone in the Perpendicular style, from the "Local Government. .Act, 1894" (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) plans by the late .Sir G. Gilbert Scott R.A. and contains on the town is governed by a District Council of 15 mem the ground floor a reading room and library of 1,500 bers; it is lighted with gas by a company, from) works volumes, and on the first floor a large room in which the in Union street erected in 1847, and well supplied! with pet.ty sessions, county court and1 meetings of the High. pure water, also. from works the property of the Urban way BoardJ are held. District! Council, constructed in 1891 by the late Local The County Police Station, Bold street, erected 1857 at Board·, at a cost of £7,ooo: the water gravitat.e•s fram a cost of £Boo, is an edifice• of brick and stone, comprising springs at Taxmere, a dlistrict about I~ miles from1 the offices, cells and a residence for the chief officer. works, and after being purified &c. is forced into a water The Fire Station, on Scotch Commons, erected in 1873, tower, 68 feet high, wit.h reservoirs, holding 65,ooo gal is' a plain structure of red brick, and consists of engine lons, and from thence. descends into the mains which house only. · supply the town. Some of the streets in the more ancient The· G Company, sth Battalion ·Cheshire Regiment, part are narrow, but since the increase of manufactures about 94 rank and file ; head quarters at Congleton. Th& the. thoroughfares hav.e been considerably improved; the rifle butts are at .Arclid', about 1! miles from Sandbach. town is remarkably clean and the houses well built·, The armoury is on Scotch commons. The parish ohurch of St. Mary, standing on an emi The Savings Bank, at the west end of High street, a nence, is an embattled' edifice of stone in the Perpen building in the Elizabethan style, was ere'Cted in l85+ dicular styl•e', consisting of chancel, with north and! south from fund•s accumulated in the hands of the actuary of chapels, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch, and1 an the bank. open arched tower at the west end with pinnacles, con r.l"he chief trade is in salt, chemicals andt fustian !;Ut taining 8 bells .and a. clock with chimes and\ illuminated ting. Boots and shoes are also manufactured, and there dials on the north and south, present.e·ru in I8qo by Henry are brine springs, e<xtensive salt works, and steam and Holbrook esq. in memory of his mother, Elizabeth, and water corn mills· in the parish. other members of his family: the building was ;reca.sed The town was formerly celebrated· for the goodne1>s of outside, andJ extended at the east end 40 feet, and the its malt liquor, and worsted yarn and stuffs for country tower rebuilt from the foundation in the years• 1847-8-g, wear were manufactured in large quantities by its in at a cost of £6,ooo: the font is of C'aen stone, andJ all the habitants. Sir John Ratcliff, of Ordsall, in Lancashire, fit.tings of oak: the east wind10w andl sevent•een others are in 1578 obtained the grant of a market, to be held on stained': there is a monument to the Rev. John Armit Thursday, and two fairs to be held on the Tuesday and stead M.l.A. vicaT 1828-65, with a three-quarter length "Yednesd'ay in Easter week, and on Thursdny and Friday figure habited! in a surplice: the monument is of white before. the nativity of Our Lad·y: the market is still held marble, and: was executed in 1876 by H. F. Watt·~' R.A. on Thursday, and fairs· are held on Easter Tuesday, the and George Nelson, sculptors; it was the gift of the late first Thursday after the nth of September and the 28th Charles Hilditch Rickards esq. of Manchester: ther·e' are of December; the latter is a great cattle an<i pleasure other memorials to George William Latham esq. M.P., fair, and on the same dtay is a statute fair foT hiring J.P. of Bradwall Hall, d. 1886, erected! by his tenantry; servants. E:izabeth .Anne, d1. 1839, wife· of John Lat'ham esq. of The market pla.ce contains two ancient obelisks or Bradwall, and their 3 chil<Wen; to the Rev. John Sibson, crosses, respectively r6 feet 8 inches and· II feet II inches many years curate here, d. 1796, and to the Twemlow, in height., independ:ently of the platform on which they Da.y and Salisbnry families (1776-t8B9): the church stand, which increases the height from the !eve~ to 22 affords I,ooo sittings, of which soo are free. The register feet 2 inches: the. faces of the obelisks are covered with dates from the year 1562. The living- is a vicara~e. rude figures• and scrolls of foliage; amongst the former average yearly value from tithe rent-charge £892, net may be clearly traced repr.esentations of the "Birth" income £ggo, with 6o acres of glebe and residence, 'in the and " Crucifixion" of Our Lord, which seem to give gift of and held' sinre t865 by the Rev. John Richarrd authority to a statement in the "Catholic Magazine" .Armitsteacl M. A. of Christ. Church, Oxford that " They were put up in the year 6o8, when Penda Sandibach Heath is an ecclesiastical parish, formed' Nov. returned as a Christian convert from Northumbria, 22, 1861, out of St. Mary's. The church of St. John the attended by four prictts deputed to preach the Gospel Evangelist, e1rected and endowed in 1861 by Miss Sibson through his d1ominions." as a. mem·orial to her father, the Rev. John Sibson, men Sandbach Old Hall, erected in 1656, is a fine example of tioned above, is a cruciform edifice of stone in the· Early the timber-framed buildings common to this county, and English sty.Ie, consisting of chancel, nave, transepts, south is now a well-conducted hostelry, known as a The Old Hall porch and a central tower, with octagonal spire, contain Inn." ing one bell and a clock with two dials. The register The Consolidated charities, consisting of houses and dates from the year 1861. The living is a vicarage, gross land, producing about £2,ooo yearly, are distributed yearly value £170, net £155, with residence, in the gift annually as follows: -£350 yearly for 20 almspeople; of the vicar of Sandbach, and held since 1861 by the Rev. £2oo for the deserving poor of the parish, £tzo for xz Henry Sid:ney Armitstead' M.A. of Christ Church, Ox out-pensioners, £roo to the• National school, £I to the forru, surrogate, andi chaplain of Congleton union. chapelwflrdens of Church Hulme, £2 to the chapelwardens The Catholic church, built in 1865, and dedicated' to St. of Goosetry, £3 3s. to the clergyman of Sandbach for Wine.frid:e, is served from Middlewich. Wheelock sermons, ss. eac·ru to the clerk and! sexton of There are also Wesleyan Methodist, UnitedJ Methodist, Sandbach, and the greater portion of the remainder t~ Primitive Methodist and Congregational chapels. the Grammar school. There are also charities in addi .A piece of land has been added to the churchyard:, which tion to the above, amounting to about £49 yearly, derived was controlled by a Burial Board, but it is now managed from various sources, and distributed every year by the by a joint coonmitte•e' of Sandbach Urban District Council churchward!ens of Sandbach as follows, viz. :-[zo in and Betchton Parish Council. breacL on St. Thomas's day to the· poor of the parish, [4 The 'l'o.wn and Market Hall, High street (the property in shillings to 8o poor people, £5 in food: for poor sick of the township), erected. in t88g at a cost of £s,ooo, persons, £19 in bread to the poor attending the parish from pians by Mr. T. Bowyer, architect, is of red brick church on Sunday mornings, and Ios. to the church with stone dressings in the Early Gothic style, and con wardens of Wheelock and Hassall. tains a spacious marffie·t hall, a large hall occasionally used The Alms houses on the Hill weTe erected in 1865-7 at a for balls, concerts and public meetings, and! holding about total cost of about £2,6oo, from plans by the. late Mr. Boo, and an office for the rate collector; at the south-west Thomas Stringer, architect, of Sandbach, and endowed angle is a square tower, with octagonal turret, containing from the Sandbach ·Consolidated charities. They are a clock with illuminated' dials on three sides, presented arranged for 20 inmates ( eitheT men or women), elected by Mrs. Jane Court, late of Wheelock House, in memory by the governors of the above charities, each having an of her relatives, the Peover family.