SLATER's CHESHIRE DIRECTORY for 1883 Extract for STOCKPORT
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SLATER's CHESHIRE DIRECTORY for 1883 extract for STOCKPORT (Hazel Grove, Bramhall, Davenport at end) Published by www.davenportstation.org.uk STOCKPORT, WlTH THE TOWNSHIPS OF £[EATON NORRIS, BRIloI""NINGTON-WITH-POR'I'WOOD, BREDBURY, .' '. 'bmRTON, CHEADLE BULKRLEY, CHEADLE MOSELEY (WITH CHEADLE HULME AND ADS 'WOOD), .AND THE'VILLAGES ~l) H..:UfLETS OF WOODLEY, HATHERLOW, BUTTERHOUSE GREEN, EDGELEY, ~l) BRTh-xBWAY. &O~ORTis a market town, township, and borough, J called) was fonnally dedicated to the use and recreation of both corporate and parliamentary, and a parish: the latter i the people, and publicly opened, the previously rude .and ~ery populous; situate in' the hundred of Macclesfield,! uncultivated site ha'dng been tastefullylaid out and planted county of Chester, 183 miles x.w. by x. from London, 5~: at the expense of the Corpcratioll. It is admirably situated, ~.E. from Manchester, 46t 1'-£. by E. from Chester (by! and comlIlands a picturesque amphitheatrical ,iew of the Grewe), IH x. from Macdesfield, and 79t x. by w. frOIll : magnificent \,oodland scenery for miles around, backed by 1 :Biinlingham-'-these distanees are by rail. From London, 1 the Yorkshire and Derbyshire hills. Its seven terraces, Dj' road it is 179 miles, from Ashton-under-Lyne 7, and approached by zig-zag flights of steps, are greatly admired. fr0In: B.m.:ton I?,. -. Muc.h controversy has. ari?en among ety- i 1'hcy ov,:r1ook the splendid w.aterfall called S!ringer's Weir, mologists andantlquarmns upon the derIvatIOn of the name I on the rl,er Goyte, and the rIch scenery of W oodbank. The of the town, the spelling of which is at ,ariance with all the I park is adorned with fountains, a greenhouse, and other . old authorities. In a deed, three centuries .ago, it was I conveniences, presented by the public, and a handsome . ~r1tten-St<pfOTd; in the Civil wars, when occupied by the) building for a museum, erected by the then borough mem . ~llameritary forces from Manchester, it was spelled Stop-! bel'S (Messrs. Kershaw and Smith) in 1860..In 1873 a tract .- 1i;iiT:t1i and in the twelfth century it was written Stopport-j of land called Cl'owther's Fields, situated between 1lfanches .. £lie laSt, most probably, a corruption from Stoke port. Cer- I ter road and WelJ1ngton road North, Heaton Norris; was tiilidt is, 'that in the survey the place is not mentioned, but! purchased by the Corporation, assisted by prinite subscrip... its great antiquity is undoubted, and it was made the I tions, to be used as a recreation and play ground, for which grand centre of many di,erging Roman roads. The country \ purpose it is admirably adapted, being elevated and .healthy. in the ncinity of the town is pleasant and picturesque, the The original manufacture of this town was silk, the first prospect from some points is bold, and on all sides is rich in .) mills in England for winding and throwing silk upon the wood and water. The Tame and Goyte glide through the Italian principle being established here; but cotton spin valley at the east end of the town, to their confluence below \ ning and manufacturingare nowthe staple tradesof the town Portwood Bridge, where, upon their junction, the stream \ and neighbourhood, and Stockport ranks amongst the prin... takes the name of the Mersey. The town of Stockport is cipal seats of this important and influential branch. The irregularly built upon ground in some parts precipitous, works of Messrs. Hanson, Scott & Co. Stockport Ropery. with an ascen~ from the north.. Great impro.eme.nts !Ia;e1~orlll an... important. feature in this town. They are sit,:"ted ·been affected III the.town and the approacbes to It W1thm III the New Zealand road, where they carry on the busllless the last half century; amongst these the vVellington road i of rope, twine, and cotton band makcrs. 'l'hey ha,e also stands most conspicuous. This fine thoroughfare was I erected a hemp and flax spinning mill adjacent to the ropery. effected by the commissioners of the ~Ianchesterand Buxton IFor calico printing, bleaching and dyeing, there are exten turnpike road, and extends from Heaton Chapel to Rowcroft sive works in the town and its vicinity; also large corn Smithy; it avoids the narrow and sudden turnings and I mills, iron foundries, machine shops, breweries, and tobacco precipitous ascents and declivities of the town, and crosses! manufactories. The manufacture of hats is a branch that the Mersey without descending from the high grounds on Ihas long been established here, and continues to increase. either side, to the level of the ,ale of that river. This was The con,eyance of merchandise and passengers to all parts affected by the construction of a noble bridge of eleven. of the kingdom is facilitated by the London and North arches across the valley and the river, of which nine are on I Western Railway, which passes through the tOm! parallel the Cheshire and two on the Lancashire side of the Mersey; with the Wellington road. This line is carried over the the arch over the river has a span of more than ninety feet, Mersey a.nd the valley by a stupendous viaduct, which ranks and an elevation forty feet~above the water; it is built of amongst the most surprising of railway wonders. The ex hard white stone from the quarriE;.s_Qt §ll4dIe"orth and treme length of the viaduct is 1,$76 feet; it. has 22 semi Runcorn. The Improvement Aet was obtainea -in' 1824; .Circular arches, each of 63 feet span, four of 20 feet span, and the road and bridge were completed in less I and two at each abutment. The height of the viaduct (to than two years, the former being opened on 3rd July, 1826. ' the surface of the rails) is III feet above the bed of the The toll-house on Wellington Bridge was closed in 1860'1 ri.er, being six feet higher than the' celebrated 1fenai Ve~on ~r1dge, forming a direct conll~un~cation be~ween Bridge. The foundation stone of the viaduct was laid the In~r~or ~f th~ ;own and H~a~on Noms, was buil~ by I?n the 1.oth of March, I8?::l, so ~hat. the time occupied subscnption In 182b-9. The orIgmal. stru<:ture has SlUce ID erectmg and cOt;lpletmg thIS Immense structure been taken d~wn, and a more su?scantJal brIdge er~cte(~_b)" was ~nly a year.and nme months. The quantity of stone the CorporatIon. Another brIdge was erected m 10D/, used III the el'(>ctlOn was 400,000 cubie feet, and the number which affords a direct communication between the centre of of b!'icks about 11,000,000. The cost was nearly £70,000. the town and Portwood. It is built of stone, at a cost er There are branches from Stockport to Yorkshire by the £2,252, and is called the.Victoria Bridge. Highe:- up the Ashton. branch ~ine, and to Derbyshire by the' Disley stream, a fine stone ereetlOn, called the Mersey Bndge, was and "haley Brld,!!;e branch railway. A line of railway cOlumenced in. the same year, so as to connect Heaton Xorris from Stockport to l'imperley was opened in December, with Chestergate, Edgeley, and the hi,!!;her levels of the more 1865, and gives great advantages to Stockport and the southern portions of the borough. The cost of this bridge surrounding districts in the direct communication it affords was. £~,385. BeY0':ld this is a~other stone ?rid,!!;e of greater with Liverpool. Tee proprietory ,,:as formed jointly by antiqUIty, called BrmkiiwayBrIdge, connectmg Hea-ton :\Ier- the :Manchester, Sheffield and Lmcolnshire, the Gre:lt • seyand Heaton Norris with Bririksway, Cheadle Bulkeley, N"orthern, and the Midland Railway Companies_ The sta... and the western part of the Borough. In 1850 a site was tion at 1'iviot Dale is a handsome and commodious struc presented to the Corporation by Lord Vernon, the lord of ture, in the Elizabethan style of architecture erected at a the manor, for public parks, situated at the south-east end cost of about £10,000. Messrs. Mangnall al:d Littlewoods . of the town, and formerly known as Stringers Fields. On of ~Ianchester, were the architects. There are also three the 20th September, 1858, the Vernon Park (as it is now picturesque Gothic roadside stations on the same line of 294 a ill DIRECTORY STOOKPORT railway, namely, at Cheadle, Bagnleyand Northenden, all church, Portwood, is an elegant stone building, With a chaste from designs by the same architects. The comp::my ha,e and lofty spire, and is situated in a denSe1j-popti1a.ted also era<lte::l:l.!l e:.:te:lsi,e gOOD warehouse at \Vellington district, at the north-east extremity of the, to,wri. Xhe road for the convenience of Stockport. The Midland Rail- Roman Catholics ha.e three churches, withschOolii.tta.cbed. way Comp::my ha,e also direct communication with !l'fan- Mount Tabor Chapel, bel~~ing to the Methodist New Con chester by their new line from Ti,iot Dale through Reddish nc:.:ion, is situated in the wellington road South, and is in and Belle Vue., the classic style of architecture.- The building is of brick, The Ca=l to Manchester, in uniting with the Duke of with stone dressings; the whole front, however, being faced Bridgewater's navigation at that town, effects a means of with Darley Dale stone. A well-proportioned Corinthian water communieation with the prineiple navigable ri.ers, portico of four columns, approaehed by a noble flight of ste.ps, and CJl.nals in England, and affords additional convevanee e>:tending the whole width of the building, forms the chief fOr the transmission of the industrial produets of this busy, feature of the design.