| Marple | |
|---|---|
 Marple Wharf | |
  Marple Location withinGreater Manchester | |
| Area | 34.67 km2 (13.39 sq mi) |
| Population | 12,970 (Built up area, 2021)[1] |
| • Density | 374/km2 (970/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SJ971893 |
| • London | 154.5 mi (248.6 km) |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | STOCKPORT |
| Postcode district | SK6 |
| Dialling code | 0161 |
| Police | Greater Manchester |
| Fire | Greater Manchester |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Marple is a town in theMetropolitan Borough of Stockport,Greater Manchester, England. It is on theRiver Goyt, 9 miles (14 km) south-east ofManchester, 9 miles (14 km) north ofMacclesfield and 4 miles (6 km) south-east ofStockport. At the2021 census, the built up area had a population of 12,970.
It lies within thehistoric county boundaries ofCheshire (although its districtMarple Bridge was historically partially inDerbyshire), and became part of Greater Manchester in 1974. The town lies along thePeak Forest Canal, which contains theMarple Lock Flight andMarple Aqueduct. The Roman Lakes, to the south-east of the town centre, attracts anglers and walkers. The town is served by two railway stations:Marple andRose Hill Marple, providing access to therail network in Greater Manchester, a direct line to Sheffield and beyond. It is also close to theMiddlewood Way, ashared use path following the formerMacclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway line south from Rose Hill to Macclesfield.
The first reference to Marple in written history was toMerpel, believed to be derived from theOld Englishmaere pill, meaning 'the stream at the boundary'.[2]
Scientists estimate that the earliest residents of the area settled several millennia ago.[2] There are clues to their existence around theLudworth area where there arestanding stones andtumuli. This was confirmed around 1998 when anarchaeological dig inMellor revealed many clues about the existence of Marple's earliest residents.[2]
The area was predominantly within theMacclesfield Forest, and was omitted from theDomesday Book survey. The first mention of the area was in 1122 in a deed for the sale of land. In 1220 the land passed to theVernon family where it remained for several generations.[2]The pre–Industrial Revolution inhabitants of the village mostly worked on small farms and others specialised in linen weaving and hatting. After 1790,Samuel Oldknow transformed much of this lifestyle, with the construction oflime kilns and mills as part of the Industrial Revolution.[3] The population of the village began to rise, with the construction of terraces to house mill workers and the formation of a village centre filled with private businesses.
Samuel Oldknow also played a large role in the development of the town in addition to his mills; there is still a street named Oldknow Road in Marple today. He built workers' cottages and churches, introducedaspen trees to the area, and assisted in the constructions of theMacclesfield andPeak Forest Canals.Marple Aqueduct, which opened in 1800, carries the Peak Forest Canals over theRiver Goyt, was designed byBenjamin Outram, a pioneer in the building of canals and tramways. Seven men lost their lives during its construction. Samuel Oldknow died in 1828; his mill was destroyed by fire in 1892.[2] These navigations accelerated Marple's growth, but eventually declined into disrepair when the railway arrived in 1865. They have since been restored for use by leisurenarrowboats, now forming part of theCheshire Ring.
In the early 1900s the town prospered from the success of cotton in nearbyStockport andManchester; the canals in the area served as a link with other industrial towns. Marple grew as a residential suburb of Stockport after the arrival of frequent bus and rail services in the 1920s.[2]
The area, close to Derbyshire, covers just over 11 square miles (28 km2) of countryside, ranging from heavily wooded valleys to hill-top moorland. It rises from around 262 feet (80 m) above sea level at the River Goyt to 1,073 feet (327 m) at Cobden Edge. On a clear day it is possible to view theBeetham Tower in Manchester as well as the city centre, theWinter Hill TV transmitter and the surrounding counties ofCheshire,Derbyshire,Lancashire andWest Yorkshire and the mountains ofNorth Wales from the top of these hills.
Neighbouring places | |
|---|---|
There is one main tier of local government covering Marple, atmetropolitan borough level:Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. The council is a member of theGreater Manchester Combined Authority, which is led by the directly-electedMayor of Greater Manchester. Twowards for council elections are named after Marple:Marple North andMarple South and High Lane. For national elections, Marple forms part of theHazel Grove constituency.[4]
Marple was historically atownship andchapelry in theancient parish ofStockport, which formed part of theMacclesfield Hundred of Cheshire.[5][6] From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under thepoor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Stockport, 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 Marple also became acivil parish.[7]
In 1875, Marple was made alocal government district, administered by an elected local board.[8] Such districts were reconstituted asurban districts under theLocal Government Act 1894.[9] In 1922, Marple Urban District Council bought Hollins House to serve as its headquarters; the grounds of the house were gifted to the council at the same time by the Carver family for converting into Marple Memorial Park, being Marple's war memorial.[10]
The urban district was significantly enlarged in 1936 to take in the area of the two neighbouring parishes ofLudworth (which includedMarple Bridge) andMellor. Ludworth and Mellor were on the east bank of the River Goyt, and had been inDerbyshire prior to being transferred into Marple.[11]
Marple Urban District was abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. The area became part of theMetropolitan Borough of Stockport inGreater Manchester.[12]
Water is supplied to the area byUnited Utilities.[13] The nearest NHS hospital isStepping Hill in Stockport, which is run by theStockport NHS Foundation Trust. Marple has apolice station, served byGreater Manchester Police, close to the library and Memorial Park. It also has a fire station, run byGreater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, located behind theAsda supermarket in the town centre.[14]
Since 1932, Marple has had a cinema in a building designed in 1878 as a place of worship or refuge. The building was purchased in 1932 by the 'Marple Cinema Company' and became the Regent Cinema. It remains open as one of the few independent cinemas in the UK.[15]
The town has twobrass bands: the Marple Band and the Hawk Green (Marple) Band.[16]
Marple is twinned with the townMotril in theprovince of Granada in Spain.[17]
Local news and television programmes are provided bySalford-basedBBC North West andITV Granada. Television signals are received from theWinter Hill TV transmitter.[18]
Local radio stations areBBC Radio Manchester,Heart North West,Smooth North West,Capital Manchester and Lancashire,Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West andYour FM, a community-based station which broadcast fromStockport.[19]
The town is served by the local newspaper theManchester Evening News.[20]
In 2008, Marple was used as the setting for the BBC dramaSunshine.[21]
Marple featured in a 2010 BBC documentary onDr Beeching which described the long-term effects of axing much of the UK railway network in the 1960s. The programme highlighted the transport issues and how getting a direct train from Marple to Stockport was now impossible and the road traffic made the journey one of the most difficult in the UK.[22]
Marple is notable for its series of 16 canal locks, known asMarple Lock Flight, close to the village centre. ThePeak Forest Canal skirts the village, north running alongside Marple Memorial Park andBrabyns Park until it reaches theMarple Aqueduct and on toDukinfield Junction, and south towardsBugsworth Basin.Macclesfield Canal meets thePeak Forest Canal atMarple Junction, and heads towardsBirmingham. The two canals form part of theCheshire Ring canal system;[23] the canals served as a vital link during the Industrial Revolution. Nowadays they provide an area of relaxation for walkers, anglers and boaters.
The Roman Lakes leisure complex, in the valley bottom close to Strines, is popular with walkers, anglers, nature lovers and horse riders. The area was named in theVictorian era as an attraction to tourists, not because it had links with the Romans (also true of Roman Bridge, a packhorse bridge over the Goyt). In the area closest to the river there was a mill built by Samuel Oldknow and destroyed by fire in 1892. In 2011, volunteers uncovered the wheelpit and entrance footings to the mill and are currently seeking funds to continue the exploration. The wheelpit, which when built was the largest in the world, is now viewable.
TheMiddlewood Way is a 10-mile walking and cycling path between Marple and Macclesfield, following the line of the formerMacclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway.[24]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Marple Hall was close to whereMarple Hall School now stands. The remains of the hall can be explored, though very little remains. The hall was the ancestral home of the Bradshaws and passed to the Isherwoods. It was demolished in 1959 after it was offered to the council in 1954 by the writerChristopher Isherwood, who had inherited it. By this time the hall had been ransacked by vandals and looters. Much of the estate is now residential housing or the school. The old hall foundations can be seen on the corner of Marple Hall Drive. There is a plaque on a piece of stone, the only remaining lintel from the house. The shutters from its windows are restored and on display in Marple Library. The hall overlooked theRiver Goyt and it is still possible to walk from there to the river following a pathway which once led to the Dooley Lane entrance to the estate. Nearby Brabyn's Hall suffered a similar fate.Wyberslegh Hall, now in private ownership, stood ruined for a time.
In a letter,Agatha Christie explained to a fan that while she was staying with a sister in Cheshire (her elder sister Margaret "Madge" had married Sir James Watt of Abney Hall) they went to a sale at Marple Hall. There Christie bought two Jacobean oak chairs which she still possessed at the time of writing and, wanting a name for her old-maid character inThe Thirteen Problems, she thought ofJane Marple.[25]
The town falls within the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive area, with public transport provided byTransport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).
The town has two railway stations on theHope Valley Line, with services operated byNorthern Trains:[26]
The Agatha Christie character Miss Marple is often incorrectly thought to be named after the railway station, at which Christie was once delayed. Her grandson, Matthew Pritchard, cleared that up in July 2015 by bringing a letter to the station's 150th anniversary, which was, coincidentally, the 125th anniversary of the author's birth. The actual source of the name was Marple Hall, as discussed in the Marple Hall section above.[25][27]
Bus services are operated primarily byStagecoach Manchester andHigh Peak.[28]
The town lies along theA626, which runs betweenGlossop andHeaton Chapel. It has a junction in the centre of Marple with the B6101, which heads south toNew Mills.
Education in Marple is run byStockport Metropolitan Borough Council.
There are two primary schools, the secondaryMarple Hall School which occupies the site of the ancestral home of theBradshaw-Isherwood family.[29]Marple Sixth Form College (formerly Ridge Danyers College) offers courses to young people and adults.[30] There is also an independent school and nursery, Brabyns Preparatory School.[31]
Marple Rugby Club has three adult teams, and a "Marple Minis Rugby" outfit with teams from age 7 to 17.
Marple Cricket Club was formed inc.1900 and has been based at Bowden Lane since 1951. The club is a member of the ECB Cheshire County Cricket League. The club runs six senior teams: the first, second, third and fourth teams play on Saturdays and the fifth and sixth teams on Sundays. The club also has a large junior section.The cricket club built a squash section in the 1970s, which has three courts and four teams playing regular club squash.[32]
Brabyns Tennis Club has four clay courts and three floodlit artificial grass courts, enabling year-round play. The club has several men's and ladies' teams in the Slazenger North East Cheshire League and mixed teams in the East Cheshire Winter League. There is a junior section and extensive coaching programme.[33]
Marple Golf Club, founded in 1892, is in Hawk Green, Marple. It is an 18-hole private members' course.[34]
Authority control databases: Geographic |
|---|
