Editing Macclesfield (section)

== History ==
Before the [[Norman Conquest]], Macclesfield was held by [[Edwin, Earl of Mercia]], who also held much of the east of the county.<ref>Bu'Lock, pp. 71–72</ref> Three crosses survive from this period, originally located in [[Sutton Lane Ends|Sutton]] and now in [[West Park, Macclesfield|West Park]],<ref>{{NHLE |num= 1012884|desc= Three early medieval cross shafts in West Park|access-date= 19 January 2020|mode=cs2|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and J. D. Bu'Lock speculates that there might have been a Pre-Conquest church.<ref>Bu'Lock, pp. 80, 84, Plate 18</ref> The area was devastated by the Normans in 1070, and had not recovered by 1086; the [[Domesday Book]] records the manor as having fallen in value from £8 to 20 shillings.<ref>Husain, pp. 11–12, 34</ref> [[Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester]] held the manor himself after the Conquest; there was a mill, meadow for oxen, and woodland 6 [[League (unit)|leagues]] by 4 leagues.<ref>Husain, pp. 17, 23, 25, 28</ref> A Norman castle was built at Macclesfield.<ref>Husain, pp. 99, 101</ref>

At the time of the Domesday Book, Macclesfield was in the [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] of Hamestan.<ref name="finney">{{Cite web |last=Finney |first=Isaac |title=Macklesfelde in ye olden time |url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~finney/isaac/macklesfelde-in-ye-olden-time.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208185338/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~finney/isaac/macklesfelde-in-ye-olden-time.htm |archive-date=8 February 2007 |access-date=12 January 2007}}</ref> By the 13th century, the [[Hundreds of Cheshire]] had been reorganised, and the town gave its name to the [[Macclesfield Hundred]], which covered a similar area to the old Hamestan Hundred in the east of the county.<ref>{{cite web |title=Macclesfield Hundred |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10031102 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=21 February 2025}}</ref>

[[File:St Michael's Church over Church Street, Macclesfield.jpg|thumb|left|Church Street heading up the hill towards St Michael's Church]]
Macclesfield was granted a [[municipal charter|borough charter]] in 1261 by Edward, [[Earl of Chester]], eldest son of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]]; Edward later became king as [[Edward I]]. Although the 1261 charter purported to create the borough, there was reputedly an earlier charter, possibly granted by [[Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester]], in the early 13th century.<ref name=commissioners>{{cite book |title=Parliamentary Papers |date=1838 |pages=53–54 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Parliamentary_Papers/TgZEAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=RA2-PA53&printsec=frontcover |access-date=21 February 2025}}</ref> The 1261 charter gave the right to hold a market, fair and judicial courts.<ref name="Hewitt_p69">Hewitt, pp. 69–70</ref><ref name="Hartwell_intro">Hartwell ''et al.''., pp. 449–51</ref> The medieval town stood on the hilltop, centred on All Saints' Church (later renamed [[St Michael's Church, Macclesfield|St Michael's]]),<ref name=Hartwell_intro /> which was built in 1278, an extension of a chapel built in approximately 1220.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A History of the Church |url=http://www.stmichaels-macclesfield.com/history.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721015935/http://www.stmichaels-macclesfield.com/history.htm |archive-date=21 July 2006 |access-date=28 November 2006 |website=St. Michael's Macclesfield}}</ref> In 1357, a hall was built in the town for the mayor's court and the borough court (portmote).<ref name=Hewitt_p69 /> The town lacked industries at this date and was described as poor,<ref name=Hewitt_p69 /> remaining a small market town until the end of the 15th century, with a population numbered in the hundreds.<ref name="Driver_p43">Driver, pp. 43–45, 109</ref>

The [[Cheshire archers]] were a body of elite soldiers noted for their skills with the longbow that fought in many engagements in Britain and France in the Middle Ages. Battles at which there were sizeable numbers of Cheshire archers include Agincourt and Crecy. In 1277 [[Edward I]] employed 100 of these archers from the Macclesfield area as his personal bodyguard, his successor [[Richard II]] also employed a bodyguard of these yeoman archers who came from the Macclesfield Hundred and the forest districts of Cheshire.

The borough had a weekly market and two annual fairs: the Barnaby fair on [[Barnabas|St Barnabas day]] (11 June), the other on the feast of [[All Souls' Day|All Souls]] (2 November).<ref>Driver, p. 109</ref><ref>Beck, p. 72</ref> In recent years the Barnaby fair has been reinvented as the Barnaby Festival, a cultural festival in mid-June. The weekly market no longer happens but on the last Sunday of each month the Treacle Market is held, a large market selling locally produced food and handmade items such as clothing, handmade goods and pottery.

Macclesfield was the administrative centre of the [[Hundreds of Cheshire|Hundred of Macclesfield]], which occupied most of east Cheshire.<ref name=finney /><ref>Clayton, D. J. (1990). pages 32, 33.</ref> The Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield was very large, and its boundary extended to [[Disley]]. The manor house was on the edge of the deer park, on the west of the town.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} In the 14th century, it had a king's chamber and a queen's hall, as well as a large stable, and the manor served as a [[stud farm]] for [[Edward the Black Prince]].<ref>Hewitt, pp. 31, 35</ref> The Earls of Chester established the [[Macclesfield Forest|Forest of Macclesfield]], which was much larger than its present-day namesake. It was used for hunting deer and pasturing sheep and cattle. By the end of the 13th century, large areas of the forest had been ploughed because of the pressure of population growth. In 1356, two trees from the forest were given to archer [[William Jauderell]] to repair his home.
[[File:View of Macclesfield from Macclesfield train station 2014.jpg|thumb|Macclesfield as viewed from the railway station]]

[[Macclesfield Castle]] was a fortified town house built by John de Macclesfield in the later [[Middle Ages]]. Construction began in 1398,{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} and that year an application was made for a [[licence to crenellate]], or fortify, the building.<ref name=Hartwell_intro /> Two [[chantry|chantries]] were founded in the town: one in 1422 by the Legh family, and one in 1504 by [[Thomas Savage (Archbishop)|Thomas Savage]].<ref>Driver, p. 136</ref> In 1502, [[King's School, Macclesfield|Macclesfield Grammar School]] was founded by Sir John Percyvale.<ref name=Driver_p43 />

No proof exists that Macclesfield was ever a walled town. When the settlement was first established and for some centuries afterwards there would have certainly been some sort of ditch and palisade round the western side of the town which was not naturally defended.  This was necessary in order to keep out undesirable people and stray animals.  No physical trace of a ditch remains though measurements and the shape of certain streets suggest where such a ditch could have been and most of the medieval building were within this area.  It is unlikely that the ditch and palisade were succeeded by a wall for no record has been found of a murage tax, which would certainly have been levied to keep the wall in repair.  The suffix "Gate" in the names of several Macclesfield streets has been taken to indicate the former presence of a gate in the sense of a guarded opening in a wall, however, this is very unlikely as the term 'gate' is derived from 'gata', Scandinavian for road, which became gate in Middle English.<ref name="historyofmacclesfield">A history of Macclesfield. Macclesfield Borough Council, edited by Clarice Stella Davies, University of Manchester Press, 1961.</ref> Therefore, Chester Gate, the Jordan Gate and the Church Wall Gate (some sources give the name Well Gate for this gate), are simply referring to the road to/from Chester or the road leading from the church to the well. These names are preserved in the names of three streets in the town, Chestergate, Jordangate and Back Wallgate,<ref name="Macclesfield. John Earles 1915">Streets and houses of old Macclesfield. John Earles, 1915. Republished MTD Rigg Publications, Leeds, 1990.</ref> which have several older and [[Listed buildings in Macclesfield|listed buildings]].

A charter of 1595 established a town governing body consisting of the mayor, two aldermen and 24 "capital burgesses", and the powers of this body were increased by a charter of 1684.<ref>Hodson, p. 100</ref> By the [[Tudor period|Tudor era]], Macclesfield was prospering, with industries including the manufacture of harnesses, gloves and especially buttons, and later ribbons, tapes and fancy ware.<ref name="Beck_p52">Beck, pp. 52–53</ref><ref name="Hodson_p149">Hodson, p. 149</ref> [[Coal]] was mined from the 16th century.<ref>Hodson, p. 142</ref> In 1664, the population was around 2,600, making Macclesfield the third-largest town in the county, after [[Chester]] and [[Nantwich]], although the town had expanded little from its medieval extent and had fewer large houses than Nantwich and [[Stockport]].<ref>Hodson, pp. 93, 95</ref> By around 1720, the number of households had increased to 925, and this rapid population growth continued throughout the 18th century, reaching 8,743 in 1801.<ref name="Hodson_p109">Hodson, p. 109</ref>

In the 1580s, Macclesfield was one of the earliest towns in the county to have [[Puritan]] preaching "Exercises", and it was also an early centre for the [[Quakers]]. By 1718 an estimated 10% of the population was [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]].<ref>Hodson, pp. 29, 31, 36–37</ref> Towards the end of that century, the town had a large [[Methodism|Methodist]] congregation, and [[Christ Church, Macclesfield|Christ Church]] was the only Anglican church in the county to invite [[John Wesley]] to preach.<ref>Hodson, pp. 41–43</ref>

[[File:Armoury Towers 1.JPG|thumb|right|alt=Armoury Towers|Armoury Towers]]
During the [[English Civil War|Civil War]], in 1642 the town was occupied for the King by [[Sir Thomas Aston, 1st Baronet|Sir Thomas Aston]], a Royalist.<ref name="historyofmacclesfield" /> In the [[Jacobite Rising of 1745]], [[Prince Charles Edward Stuart|Charles Stuart]] and his army marched through Macclesfield as they attempted to reach London. The mayor was forced to welcome the prince, and the event is commemorated in one of the town's silk tapestries.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060223113912/http://www.victoriansilk.com/others/brocklehurst/obk40.html Silk Tapestries of Macclesfield.]}} Retrieval Date: 15 October 2007.</ref> Cumberland House on Jordangate is so named after the [[Duke of Cumberland]] who stayed there in 1745  when pursuing the fleeing Prince.<ref name="lewis">{{cite web |title=Mabe - Maidstone Pages 208-216  A Topographical Dictionary of England. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp208-216#h3-0006 |website=British History Online |publisher=S Lewis, London 1848 |access-date=9 April 2023}}</ref>

The population was 24,137 by 1841.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.VIII |date=1849 |publisher=Charles Knight |location=London |page=216}}</ref>

[[Armoury Towers]] was completed in 1858<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 January 1858 |title=Cheshire Quarter Sessions |page=4 |work=Cheshire Observer}}</ref> and the [[Bridge Street drill hall]] was completed in 1871.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Macclesfield |url=http://www.thornber.net/cheshire/htmlfiles/macclesfield1.html |access-date=19 August 2017 |archive-date=20 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820034421/http://www.thornber.net/cheshire/htmlfiles/macclesfield1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Industry ===
{{main|The Silk Industry of Cheshire#Macclesfield}}
[[File:Macclesfield Paradise Mill 1578.JPG|thumb|Paradise Mill]]
Macclesfield was once the world's biggest producer of [[Silk throwing|finished silk]].{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} A domestic button industry had been established in the town by the mid-16th century, although the first mention of silk buttons is not until 1649.<ref name=Beck_p52 /><ref name=Hodson_p149 /> In the mid-18th century, when metal buttons became fashionable, the silk-button industry transitioned to silk manufacture in mills. Macclesfield's first silk mill was founded by [[Charles Roe]] in 1743 or 1744.<ref name=Hartwell_intro /><ref>Hodson, pp. 109, 149–50</ref> The mills were initially powered by water, and later by steam.<ref name=Hartwell_intro /> There were [[List of textile mills in Cheshire#Macclesfield|71 silk mills]] operating in 1832,{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} employing 10,000 people, but a crash occurred in 1851 and many mill-workers emigrated to the American silk town of [[Paterson, New Jersey]].<ref name=Hartwell_intro /> The silk industry remained active in the town in the 1980s, but no longer dominated.<ref>Tigwell, pp. 15, 17, 68–69</ref> Paradise Mill reopened in 1984 as a working mill museum, demonstrating the art of silk throwing and [[Jacquard weaving]].<ref>[http://www.peaksandplains.co.uk/whattodo/attractions-detail.asp?IdNo=56 Paradise Mill website.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311124315/http://www.peaksandplains.co.uk/whattodo/attractions-detail.asp?IdNo=56 |date=11 March 2007 }} Retrieval Date: 15 October 2007.</ref><ref>Tigwell, p. 140</ref> The four [[Macclesfield Museums]] display a range of information and products from that period.

A short-lived [[copper]]-smelting operation was established by Roe in 1750, processing ore from mines at [[Alderley Edge]] and [[Ecton Mines|Ecton]] ([[Staffordshire]]), and later from [[Anglesey]]. The business switched to copper processing and the manufacture of [[brass]] in 1767, before closing after Roe's death in 1781. The industry is reflected in some of the town's street names.<ref name=Hartwell_intro /><ref>Hodson, pp. 144–45</ref>

Between 1826 and 1831 the [[Macclesfield Canal]] was constructed,<ref name="Tim Boddington">{{Cite web |last=Tim Boddington |title=The Macclesfield Canal |url=http://www.macclesfieldcanal.org.uk/ |access-date=28 November 2006 |archive-date=27 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061127091945/http://www.macclesfieldcanal.org.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> linking Macclesfield to [[Marple, Greater Manchester|Marple]] to the north and [[Kidsgrove]] to the south. The canal was surveyed for its Act of Parliament by the canal and roads engineer [[Thomas Telford]], and built by William Crosley (junior),<ref name="Tim Boddington" /> the Macclesfield Canal Company's engineer. It was the last narrow canal to be completed and had only limited success because within ten years much of the coal and other potential cargo was increasingly being transported by rail.

[[File:Hovismill.jpg|thumb|Hovis Mill on the [[Macclesfield Canal]] in the town.]]
Macclesfield is the original home of [[Hovis|Hovis breadmakers]], produced in Publicity Works Mill (commonly referred to as "the Hovis Mill") on the canal close to Buxton Road. It was founded by a Macclesfield businessman and a baker from [[Stoke-on-Trent]]. ''Hovis'' is said to derive from the Latin "homo-vitalis" (strength for man) as a way of providing a cheap and nutritious food for poor mill workers and was a very dry and dense wholemeal loaf completely different from the modern version.

Waters Green was once home to a nationally known horse market which features in the legend of the Wizard of [[Alderley Edge]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Axon |first=William Edward Armytage |title=Cheshire Gleanings |publisher=Tubbs, Brook & Chrystal |year=1884 |location=Manchester |pages=57 |language=en}}</ref>
Waters Green and an area opposite [[Arighi Bianchi]], now hidden under the Silk Road, also held a sheep and cattle market until the 1980s.

Macclesfield is said to be the only mill town to have escaped bombing in [[World War II]].<ref name="maccex">{{Cite web |date=31 August 2004 |title=Missing movie classic unearthed by Macc Lad |url=http://www.macclesfield-express.co.uk/news/s/405/405729_missing_movie_classic_unearthed_by_macc_lad.html |website=Macclesfield Express |access-date=5 September 2009 |archive-date=16 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116180621/http://www.macclesfield-express.co.uk/news/s/405/405729_missing_movie_classic_unearthed_by_macc_lad.html |url-status=live }}</ref> After the war, two pharmaceutical companies opened facilities in Macclesfield, Geigy (now part of [[Novartis]]) and the pharmaceutical division of [[Imperial Chemical Industries|ICI]] (now [[AstraZeneca]]).<ref>Tigwell, pp. 15, 55</ref>