| Alderley Edge | |
|---|---|
| village | |
%2c_Alderley_Edge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_5866619.jpg) Village Centre _-_geograph.org.uk_-_7472154.jpg) London Road  De Trafford Arms | |
  Alderley Edge Location withinCheshire | |
| Population | 4,777 (Parish, 2021)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SJ843785 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ALDERLEY EDGE |
| Postcode district | SK9 |
| Dialling code | 01625 |
| Police | Cheshire |
| Fire | Cheshire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
| 53°18′11″N2°14′10″W / 53.303°N 2.236°W /53.303; -2.236 | |
Alderley Edge is a village andcivil parish inCheshire, England, 6 miles (10 km) north-west ofMacclesfield and 12 miles (19 km) south ofManchester. It lies at the base of a wooded sandstoneescarpment,The Edge, overlooking theCheshire Plain. As of the2021 census, its population was 4,777.
The village is known for its affluence, expensive homes and location within Cheshire'sGolden Triangle.[2][3] Its cafes and designer shops attractPremier League footballers, actors and businesspeople,[4] making it one of the UK's most sought-after places to live outside London.[3]
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The Alderley Edge area shows signs of occupation since theMesolithic period, with flint tools found along its sandstone outcrop. Evidence ofBronze Age copper mining has been identified to the south of the area. In 1995, the Derbyshire Caving Club uncovered a Roman coin hoard of 564 coins (dated AD 317–336), now housed in theManchester Museum).[5] There are 13 recorded sites in Alderley Edge, 28 inNether Alderley, and 44 along the Edge in the CountySites and Monuments Record.
Early medieval settlements were documented in Nether Alderley, to the south of Alderley Edge. The first written record of Alderley Edge, then calledChorlegh (later speltChorley) dates back to the 13th century, likely derived fromceorl[6] andlēah,[7] meaning a "peasants' clearing". Although not in theDomesday Book, it appears in a c.1280 charter. The nameAlderley, first recorded in 1086 asAldredelie, likely derives fromAldred andleah meaning "Aldred's clearing" or fromOld English languageAlðrȳðelēah meaning "the meadow or woodland clearing of a woman called Alðrȳð".
In the 13th century andMiddle Ages, the area comprised multiple estates, mostly owned by theDe Trafford baronets from the 15th century. The main manors wereChorley Old Hall, a 14th-century structure, and Nether Alderley's Old Hall, a 16th-century building destroyed by fire in 1779. Agriculture dominated the local economy, with Nether Alderley granted a market charter around 1253.Nether Alderley Mill dates back to 1391, although the present timber structure is 16th-century. The millpond was adapted to form the moat which surrounded the Old Hall, the home of theStanley family. The corn mill continued to work until 1939 whenEdward Stanley, 6th Baron Stanley of Alderley, was compelled to sell it, along with the rest of theAlderley Park estate, to meet the cost ofdeath duties. In the 1950s theNational Trust bought the site, restored the building and opened it to the public.
Cheshire had its own system of taxes in the mediaeval period, theMize; in the records for 1405, Chorley was assessed at 20s 0d and Nether Alderley at 27s 0d.
In 1830, Chorley comprised a few cottages, the De Trafford Arms Inn, a toll bar, and a smithy scattered along theCongleton to Manchester Road. The arrival of the railway in 1842, part of theManchester and Birmingham Railway, transformed the area. The railway company offered free 20-year season tickets to Manchester businessmen who built homes worth over £50 within a mile of the station. These tickets, small silver ovals worn on watch chains, encouraged development.
The railway station, initially called 'Alderley', was renamed 'Alderley and Chorley' in 1853 and later 'Alderley Edge' in 1876.[8] After the railway's construction,Sir Humphrey de Trafford, owner of Chorley Hall, developed an estate with new roads and houses, most completed by 1910. The railway also boosted the village's popularity with day trips and excursions.
Several landmark buildings were established during this time, includingSt Philip's Church in 1853, Alderley Edge Community Primary School in 1854, andThe Ryleys School for boys in 1877.[9] Two all-girls schools were opened, St Hilary's in 1876 and Mount Carmel in 1945, which then merged in 1999 to formAlderley Edge School for Girls. The Mission Hall (later The Institute), built in 1878 for temperance meetings, and theMethodist Church, built in 1863, also date from this period.
Alderley Edge's population rose from 561 in 1841 to 2,856 by 1902, while Nether Alderley's fell from 679 to 522.
The 1871Ordnance Survey map shows the village with the Queen's Hotel, shops, terraced houses and a post office. To the north were wooded areas with detached villas, while to the east, curving roads divided large wooded plots, some still undeveloped. The names "Brickfield" and "Brick Kiln" to the northeast suggest a local brick source. The 1899 map shows a similar layout but details individual villas like Holybank, Ashfield, and The Larches, along with remnants of old mines near Windmill Wood to the southeast.
In the 20th century, Alderley Edge expanded with post-war housing on its north-eastern and western edges, while Nether Alderley remained largely unchanged, aside from the sale of Alderley Park toAstraZeneca. The park is now managed byBruntwood; it houses 150 science companies and commercial, residential and retail spaces.
In 1990s, several gold bars were found in Alderley, the first on Artists Lane.[10] An inquest was held in February 1993 and it was declared not to be atreasure trove. John Cherry from theBritish Museum along with Adrian Tindall, the conservation officer forCheshire County Council reported that the bar weighed 97.01 grams and was 73% gold. The publicity caused the public to search for more and five more gold bars were found.[citation needed]
There are two tiers of local government covering Alderley Edge, at civil parish andunitary authority level: Alderley Edge Parish Council andCheshire East Council. The parish council meets at Festival Hall on Talbot Road.[11]
The settlement now known as Alderley Edge was historically called Chorley and was part of theancient parish ofWilmslow in theMacclesfield Hundred of Cheshire. Wilmslow parish was divided into fourtownships: Bollin Fee, Chorley, Fulshaw, and Pownall Fee.[12][13]Alderley parish, lying south of Chorley; consisted of three townships:Nether Alderley,Over Alderley, andGreat Warford.[14] From the 17th century, parishes gradually acquired civil functions under thepoor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Wilmslow and Alderley, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so Chorley and all the other townships became separatecivil parishes, which therefore diverged from theecclesiastical parishes.[15][16]
In 1862, a Chorleylocal government district was established, governed by an elected local board, covering parts of Chorley, Bollin Fee and Fulshaw. The more rural western part of Chorley was excluded.[17][18]
In 1894, the board renamed the district to Alderley Edge to avoid postal confusion withChorley, Lancashire[19][20] and became anurban district under theLocal Government Act 1894.[21] The 1894 Act also directed that civil parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries, and so the part of Chorley within the urban district became a separate parish called Alderley Edge, and the parts of Bollin Fee and Fulshaw within the urban district became a parish called Bollinfee.[22] The reduced civil parish of Chorley outside the urban district kept the nameChorley, despite no longer including the village after which it was named.[19]
The urban district expanded in 1910, gaining area from Nether Alderley and 1936, taking small areas from Wilmslow and Chorley.[23] In 1974, Alderley Edge Urban District was abolished under theLocal Government Act 1972, with asuccessor parish established covering the same area.[24][25] District-level functions passed toMacclesfield Borough Council, and in 2009, Cheshire East Council took over as the Borough council andCheshire County Council were both abolished.[26]
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At the2001 UK census, the ward had a possible workforce of approximately 2,157 people. The economic activity of residents in the Alderley Edge electoral ward was 36.9% in full-time employment, 10.2% in part-time employment, 29.3% self-employed, 1.7% unemployed, 1.4% students with jobs, 3.5% students without jobs, 19.3% retired, 7.5% looking after home or family, 2.8% permanently sick or disabled and 2.0% economically inactive for other reasons.
Alderley Edge has a very high rate of self-employment (29.3%) compared with rest of the Macclesfield borough (22.7%) and England (16.6%). It also has low rates of unemployment (1.7%) compared with the rest of the Macclesfield borough (2.0%) and England (3.3%).[28] TheOffice for National Statistics estimated that, during the period of April 2001 to March 2002, the average gross weekly income of households in Alderley Edge was £720 (£37,440 per year).[29]
The Edge is a widered sandstoneescarpment situated above the village of Alderley. Anedge is used as a descriptive term for high land in Cheshire and adjacent counties. The Edge rises gradually from Macclesfield until, at a distance of 7 or 8 kilometres, it terminates abruptly, having reached a height of nearly 215 metres above sea level and 110 metres above theCheshire Plain below it.
It was formed by weathering of resistant sandstone over layers and faulting. The northern side, shaped like ahorse shoe orhough, gives its name to The Hough, a hamlet of scattered houses descending towards Alderley village.
Owned by theNational Trust, it is a public access wooded area attracting 300,000 visitors annually from Manchester and the nearby towns ofWilmslow and Macclesfield.[30] It features a car park, toilet facilities and is designated aSite of Special Scientific Interest for its unique geology.[31][32] The woodland contains remnants of the oldAlderley Edge Mines.
The Edge offers views across Cheshire and thePeak District. TheCheshire Plain is visible, stretching fromMacclesfield Forest in the south-east towards theDerbyshire peaks in the east, and north toManchester and theBlackstone Edge in Yorkshire.
Hundreds ofScots pines were planted on the Edges bySir James and Sir Edward Stanley, between 1745 and 1755. Before trees were planted, the Edge provided a full 360° panorama. Today, views are limited to the northerly and easterly directions. Trees obscure views of landmarks like theWrekin in Shropshire;The Cloud nearBosley,Mow Cop and the mountains ofNorth Wales.
The Edge has a long history ofcopper mining, with activity dating back to theBronze Age andRoman times. Mining continued from the 1690s to the 1920s. The National Trust now owns many of the mines, leasing them to the Derbyshire Caving Club, which maintains access and explores long-sealed areas.
Since the 1860s, the mines have attracted thousands of visitors. However, between 1940 and 1960, many were unprepared, leading to accidents that gave the mines a lasting notoriety. The West and Wood Mines were blocked in the early 1960s but, in 1969, the Derbyshire Caving Club reopened Wood Mine with the National Trust's permission. Since then, supervised group visits and excavations have uncovered much of interest.
There are many historic buildings includingChorley Old Hall, which is the oldest surviving manor house in Cheshire.
To the south of the village is theAlderley Park estate, former ancestral home of theStanleys.
The village is notable for itsVictorian villas. The first villa was constructed in the early 1840s and by 1850 thirty "handsome residences" had been erected, mainly by the cotton barons from Manchester who moved out of the city as the railway was built. The buildings are varied in style with examples of mockTudor,Italian,neo-Georgian andArts and Crafts Movement designs. The wide range of materials used reflects this somewhat eclectic mix of styles, and includes stone, brick, smooth render orroughcast for the walls, and Welsh slate or clay tiles for the roofs.
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Legend tells of aMobberley farmer leading a milk-whitemare to market in Macclesfield. Along the Edge, at a spot calledThieves Hole, an old man in grey stopped him and offered to buy the horse. The farmer declined, confident of a better price at market. The old man predicted that he would return that evening, unsold, to the same spot.
Failing to sell the horse, the farmer retraced his steps. The old man reappeared and repeated his offer, which was now accepted. Leading the farmer to a spot near Stormy Point, the old man waved a wand, uttered a spell, and revealed iron gates in the rock. Inside was a cavern filled with sleeping men and white horses. The old man, a wizard, paid the farmer from a chest and explained the sleepers would rise if England faced peril. He then sent the astonished farmer home.
Several versions of the legend exist. It first appeared in print in 1805 when a letter from "A Perambulator" was published in theManchester Mail.[33] The author claimed the story came from an old servant of theStanley family and was often told by Parson Shrigley, Clerk and Curate of Alderley (1753–1776).
The tale later appeared in a tourist pamphlet asThe Cheshire Enchanter (prose) andThe Legend of the Iron Gates (verse).[34] Some versions include prophecies attributed toRobert Nixon, with the wizard foretelling that the sleeping men and horses would awaken to save the country during George the son of George’s reign.[35] Later adaptations, such as James Roscoe's poem, suggest the wizard wasMerlin and the sleepers wereKing Arthur’s army.[36]
There are a number of similar British legends which closely resemble the Alderley one, though since they are all founded in oral tradition it is not possible to know which came first. A very similar one was made into a ballad calledSir Guy the Seeker byMatthew 'Monk' Lewis,[37] and is based on a legend ofDunstanburgh Castle. In his preface toSir Guy the Seeker Lewis pointed out the similarity to the Alderley legend.
Alan Garner used the legend of The Wizard of the Edge, and other local legends, in his novelsThe Weirdstone of Brisingamen andThe Moon of Gomrath. Garner, born in Congleton, was raised in Alderley Edge.
After several decades of discussion, a 5 km, north-to-southA34 Alderley Edgebypass was constructed (officially namedMelrose Way[38]) to the west of Alderley Edge to relieve the congestion in the village. It starts at the Harden roundabout at the end of theWilmslow bypass and goes west of Alderley Edge, then rejoins the A34 close to the entrance ofAlderley Park.
The £56 million project was carried out byBirse Civils and was officially opened by theChancellor of the Exchequer and MP for Alderley Edge,George Osborne, on 19 November 2010.[39]
Alderley Edge railway station is situated on theCrewe to Manchester line, which is a spur of theWest Coast Main Line. There are generally two trains per hour toCrewe, two toManchester Piccadilly viaStockport and one to Manchester Piccadilly viaManchester Airport; on Sundays, there is an hourly service each way between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly, via Stockport. The station is managed byNorthern, which also operates all services that stop here.[40]
Alderley Edge is served by the 130 bus route, which is operated byD&G Bus; it runs hourly during the daytime (except Sundays) betweenMacclesfield,Wilmslow andManchester Airport.[41][42]
Alderley Edge has been used as a major setting in various books and television shows:
The village has been home and is connected to many notable residents, including several footballers, including:
effective 3 April 2022
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