Glossop, Derbyshire

Historical Description

GIossop, a municipal borough, a town, a township, and a parish in Derbyshire. The town stands at the terminus of a short branch of the M.S. & L.R., in the High Peak region, 2 miles from the river Ethrow and the boundary with Che-; shire, 9 N by W of Chapel-en-le-Frith, 13 SE of Manchester, and 184 from London. Its. site is an eminence in one of the deepest valleys of the Peak, and its environs include scenes of much beauty and romance. The town is of modern growth, owes its rise mainly to great extension of the cotton manufacture, of which it is the chief centre; has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Manchester, a railway station, two banks, a town-hall and market-house, a public hall, masonic hall, four churches, several dissenting chapels, two Roman Catholic chapels, a workhouse, a public hospital, public baths, a free library, and a public park formed in 1887, several schools (two of which are endowed), Conservative and Liberal clubs, and an hospital. The town-hall and market-house are a fine suite of buildings, enlarged in 1854, and the former is used as a court-house. A lofty viaduct of sixteen archesnot far from the town takes the Manchester and Sheffield railway across Dinting Vale. Markets are held on Satur- I days, and fairs on 6 May and the Wednesday on or after 10 j Oct. Cotton-mills and calico-printing works, on an extensive scale, are in the town and its neighbourhood. There are also iron foundries and stone quarries. The manufacture of woollen goods and paper is carried on, and two weekly newspapers are published. The town was incorporated in 1866, the corporation consisting of a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors. The borough has also a commission of the peace. Population of the borough, 22,416. The waterworks are the property of the corporation. The parish is one of the largest in England, and comprises Hadfield, Padfield, Whit-field, Charlesworth, Simmondley, Dinting, and the townships of Ludworth and Chisworth. The area is 20,943 acres, including 350 of water; population, 26,797; of the township, 18,432 acres; population, 24,5 57. The surface, from its great extent and from its lying in so picturesque a region, presents much variety of soil, contour, and scenery. Glossop Hall, the seat of the Eight Hon. Lord Howard of Glossop, the lord of the manor and principal landowner, was formerly a place of no attraction, but was enlarged and adorned by the late Duke of Norfolk; it is now a noble edifice in the French chateau style of the 18th century, commands a rich view i of the tumulated landscape and lofty hills which surround the town, and has fine grounds, with beautiful shrubberies and walks. A Roman road, popularly called the Doctor's Gate, within a short distance of the town, leads to a Roman camp, now called Melandra Castle, situated on an eminence near the confluence of two mountain streams. The ditch, the ramparts, the praetorium, and some interior foundations of the camp, are still distinct, but present a gloomy i appearance. There was a church at Glossop about the year 1000. The western tower and spire was rebuilt by the thirteenth Duke of Norfolk in the year 1855. The church was in part restored in the interior, at the expenditure of £1000, in 1889. At the same time three fine stained-glass windows were put in by the Wood family, and a very handsome carved oak pulpit was erected. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Southwell; net yearly value, £256 with residence. There are four other churches in the borough-St James'(1844), St John's, Charlesworth (1844), St Andrew's, Hadfield (about 1870), and Holy Trinity, Dinting (1878). Gloster. See GLOUCESTER. Gloster Hill, a township in Warkworth parish, Northumberland, on the river Coquet, 7½ miles SSE of Alnwick. Acreage, 212; population, 39. There is a picturesque gateway of a demolished manor house.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Ancestry.co.uk, in conjunction with the Derbyshire Record Office, have the Church of England Baptisms (1538-1916), Marriages and Banns (1538-1932), and Burials (1538-1991) online.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Glossop from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Glossop (All Saints))

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Derbyshire is online.

Maps

Online maps of Glossop 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 Derbyshire papers online:

• Derby Daily Telegraph
• Derby Mercury
• Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald
• Derbyshire Courier