Taxall (St. James)

TAXALL (St. James), a parish, in the union and hundred of Macclesfield, N. division of the county of Chester; containing, with the township of Yeardsley with Whaley, 853 inhabitants, of whom 190 are in Taxall township, 4 miles (W.) from Chapel-en-le-Frith. The parish comprises 4933 acres, whereof 3667 are in Taxall township: the soil is various, clay, stony land, and common; and a large portion is plantation. There are several stone-quarries and coal-mines; some of these are not in operation, but the coal in Whaley is regularly worked, as well as the stone there: the quarries produce slate and good building and flag stone. The village occupies a pleasing situation on the bank of the river Goyt, which separates it from Derbyshire, and near which, in a parallel direction, runs the Buxton and Manchester road; the Peak-Forest canal passes through the parish to Manchester, and is met at Whaley by a tramroad to Cromford, near Derby. A small bleaching-mill in Taxall, and a wire-mill in Whaley, each employ about fifty persons. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 5. 6,; net income, £250; patron, the Rev. J. Swain: there is a parsonage-house, and the glebe contains about 20 acres, Cheshire measure. The church, with the exception of the tower, was taken down and rebuilt on a larger scale, in 1825: against the north wall is a monument to Michael Heathcote, Esq., gentleman of the pantry to George II.; and in the chancel are several memorials to the Shallcross family. This family were patrons of the living in the early part of the last century, and resided at Shallcross Hall, in Derbyshire, which is on the east bank of the river, immediately opposite the church. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.