Macclesfield Museums is a collection of four museums focusing on Macclesfield and the Silk Industry. The museums are owned by Cheshire East, the local council, and are managed on their behalf by the Macclesfield Silk Heritage Trust. [1] [2] The museums are called The Silk Museum, Paradise Mill, West Park Museum, and The Old Sunday School.
Macclesfield became a centre of the Silk Industry during the Industrial Revolution. The museum hosts a collection of silk artwork, weaving machines, and silk historical artifacts. The building was originally known as the Macclesfield School of Art and opened in 1877 to train designers for the silk trade. [3]
Paradise Mill is a former silk mill built in 1862, later converted into a working museum with 26 Jacquard looms. [4] It is built in brick with Welsh slate roofs, is in four storeys, and has a 13-bay front. The right three bays project forward and contain an Art Deco entrance. [5]
West Park Museum was built by Marianne Brocklehurst, who came from a wealthy silk trade family, and houses her collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts, a selection of fine art, and local history items. [6] [7] The refurbishment of the museum was proposed in 2018. [8] The building, in West Park, is Grade II listed with Historic England. Constructed in 1897–98 it is built in brick with terracotta dressings and has a Welsh slate roof. It is in a single storey and consists of a single room lit from above by a clerestory. The entrance front has a shaped gable, decorative terracotta frieze and panels. There is a glass verandah on the right side. [9] [10]
Macclesfield Sunday School now called The Old Sunday School, was closed in September 1973. It had stopped keeping registers in 1967 when average attendance was fourteen. Though the fabric of the building was deteriorating, it was listed as a Grade II* building because of its historical significance. The building now has multiple uses which include a Museum with Victorian school room and a cinema. [11]
Bollington is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, England, to the east of Prestbury. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield and the ancient parish of Prestbury. In 2011, it had a population of 8,310.
Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England, on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east, 16 miles (26 km) south of Manchester and 38 miles (61 km) east of Chester.
Poynton is a town in the civil parish of Poynton-with-Worth, in the Cheshire East district, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the easternmost fringe of the Cheshire Plain, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Manchester, 7 miles (11 km) north of Macclesfield and 5 miles (8 km) south of Stockport. From 1974 to 2009 it was in Macclesfield district.
Prestbury is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, about 2 miles (3 km) north of Macclesfield. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 3,324; it increased slightly to 3,471 at the 2011 census. The ecclesiastical parish is almost the same as the former Prestbury local government ward which consisted of the civil parishes of Prestbury, Adlington and Mottram St Andrew.
Charles Roe was an English industrialist. He played an important part in establishing the silk industry in Macclesfield, Cheshire and later became involved in the mining and metal industries.
Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilmslow, Nantwich, Poynton, Knutsford, Alsager, Bollington and Handforth.
St Mary's Church is an Anglican church at the end of a lane to the south of the village of Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England. It dates from the 14th century, with later additions and a major restoration in the late-19th century. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
Christ Church is a redundant Anglican church in Great King Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is open to visitors at advertised times. The church was in use until 1981. It remains consecrated and is used occasionally for services.
St Cross Church is in the town of Knutsford, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, in the deanery of Knutsford, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. It is an active Anglican parish church, with two services every Sunday, a midweek Eucharist each Wednesday, and Morning Prayer most weekdays. The Parish Electoral Roll is 140, and about sixty people attend Sunday morning services.
St Barnabas' Church is in West Street, Crewe, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Nantwich, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
The Methodist Church, Weaverham, was an active Methodist church located in Forest Street, Weaverham, Cheshire, England. It was in the Northwich and Winsford Circuit of the Chester and Stoke District. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
Clarence Mill is a five-storey former cotton spinning mill in Bollington, Cheshire, in England. It was built between 1834 and 1877 for the Swindells family of Bollington. It was built alongside the Macclesfield Canal, which opened in 1831.
Holy Trinity Church is in the village of Rainow, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Macclesfield, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. Its benefice is combined with those of St John, Saltersford, and St Stephen, Forest. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It was a Commissioners' church, having received a grant towards its construction from the Church Building Commission.
St George's Church is a former church in High Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
Macclesfield United Reformed Church is located in Park Green, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
Congleton, Macclesfield, Bollington and Stockport, England, were traditionally silk-weaving towns. Silk was woven in Cheshire from the late 1600s. The handloom weavers worked in the attic workshops in their own homes. Macclesfield was famous for silk buttons manufacture. The supply of silk from Italy was precarious and some hand throwing was done, giving way after 1732 to water-driven mills, which were established in Stockport and Macclesfield.
Macclesfield Sunday School is in Roe Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It started in 1796 as a non-denominational Sunday School in Pickford Street, which catered for 40 children. It was founded by John Whitaker whose objective was "to lessen the sum of human wretchedness by diffusing religious knowledge and useful learning among the lower classes of society". Though chapels set up their denominational schools, the Sunday School committee in 1812 elected to erect a purpose-built school on Roe Street. The Big Sunday School had 1,127 boys and 1,324 girls on its books when it opened. The building is now known as The Old Sunday School and is part of Macclesfield Museums.
Macclesfield is a town in Cheshire East, England. It was originally a market town, and was granted a charter in 1261. The medieval town surrounded a hilltop that contained the Church of St Michael and the marketplace. Industry came to the town in the 18th century following the building of the first silk mill by Charles Roe in 1743. This industry grew with the building of more mills, and of houses incorporating weavers' garrets on the top floor, with large windows to light them. The mills were initially supplied with power from horses, or from the River Bollin, which ran through the town. Later, steam power was introduced. Communication was improved by the building of the Macclesfield Canal, which was completed in 1831. The silk industry declined from 1851, industry in the town diversified, and most of the surviving silk mills were converted into other industrial purposes or for domestic use. During the 20th century, some of the buildings were cleared from the town centre, and housing estates were built on the periphery of the town.
Macclesfield Town Hall is a Georgian municipal building in the Market Place of Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Dating originally from 1823–24, it was designed by Francis Goodwin in the Greek Revival style, and extended in 1869–71 by James Stevens and again in 1991–92. The building incorporates the former Borough Police Station. The town hall is listed at grade II*.
