Macclesfield Forest, Cheshire
Historical Description
Macclesfield Forest, a township-chapelry in Prestbury parish, Cheshire, on the backbone of England, contiguous to Derbyshire, 4 miles ESE of Macclesfield. Post town, Macclesfield. Acreage of township, 3499; population, 187. The property was formerly part of a royal forest which included also the townships of Lyme Handley, Hurdsfield, Kettleshulrne, Rainow, Bollington, Pott Shrigley, Upton, Tytherington, Wincle, Sutton, Wildboarclough, and Bosley, but the property all belongs now to the Earl of Derby. The surface generally is mountainous, bleak, and sterile, and the highest elevation in Cheshire is situate in this township, called Shining Tor, rising 1833 feet above the level of the sea. The living is a perpetual curacy, with Wildboarclough annexed, in the diocese of Chester; net value, £130 with residence. Patron, the Earl of Derby. The church was built in 1673 and rebuilt in 1834. Population of the chapelry, 401.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Cheshire | |
Civil parish | Prestbury | |
Hundred | Macclesfield | |
Poor Law union | Macclesfield |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Macclesfield Forest from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Macclesfield-Forest)
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cheshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Macclesfield Forest are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Cheshire papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Cheshire, 1580 is available on the Heraldry page.