Macclesfield, a considerable town, situated on a rising ground, near the river Jordan or Bollin, in the hundred to which it gives name. A branch of the river runs through the lower part of the town, and is generally called the Waters. The inhabitants are also supplied with water from the fountain upon the common to the east of the town, for which every housekeeper pays a small yearly sum to the mayor.

Macclesfield was first incorporated by charter, granted in the year 1261, by Prince Edward, son of Henry the Third, then Earl of Chester. By this charter, it obtained the privileges of a merchant’s guild, free from toll throughout the county, and the burgesses were obliged to grind and bake at the King’s mill and oven, as was usual, and to pay one shilling for each burgage. This charter was confirmed by various succeeding monarchs, and the corporation invested with additional privileges.

The corporation at present consists of twenty-four aldermen, four of whom are in the commission of the peace, and one of them is mayor and justice of the quorum, who has for his assistants a town-clerk, who is always coroner for the borough, two serjeants-at-mace, four javelin bearers, and a constable or town-crier. The mayor is always lord of the manor, the revenues of which amount to 200l. per annum, arising from the tolls and water-money. He also possesses the right of appointing the minister of the parochial church. In the town-chest is preserved a copy or counterpart of a petition sent to King Henry the Eighth, soon after the battle of Flodden Field, setting forth that having lost so many of the principal inhabitants of the town in that battle, they were unable to fill up the number of aldermen, as required by the charter, on which account they petitioned the king, that their charter might not be broken or lost, as their inhabitants had lost their lives in his majesty’s service.

Macclesfield is in the parish of Prestbury; its two churches are therefore to be considered only as chapels of ease to that parish. The old church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a large Gothic structure, founded by Edward the First and Eleanor his queen, in the year 1279. Since that time it has undergone various alterations, and in 1740 was nearly rebuilt. It was at the same time considerably enlarged Adjoining to this church, which formerly belonged to the Earl Rivers, but through intermarriage it now belongs to the family of Earl Cholmondeley, and is still used as the family vault. The heart of Thomas Savage, who was archbishop of York, was interred here in the year 1508, with a Greek inscription over it. On the wall of this chapel is a brass plate, representing a real pardon, granted by the Pope of Rome, to a woman, and her seven children; it is inscribed:

"The pardon for saying V paternosters, and V aves, and a crede, is XXVI thousand years, and XXVI days of pardon."

Here is also an elegant effigy of Earl Rivers, leaning upon his pillow, supporting his head with his right hand, full dressed, and the curtains undrawn, neatly cut in marble, and many others of the same family, in the dresses and ornaments of the times in which they were executed. There is also a small chapel, belonging to the family of Legh, the lords of Lyme, which has a brass-plate on the wall, thus inscribed:

" Here lyeth the body of Perkin a Legh,

That for King Richard the death did dye,

Betray’d for Righteousness:

And the bones of Sir Peers his sonne,

That for King Henry the Vth did wonne

At Paris.

This Perkin served King Edward the Third, and the Black Prince, his son, in all their wars in France, and was at the Cressy, and had Lyme given him for that service: and after their deaths, served King Richard the Second, and left him not in his troubles, but was taken with him, and beheaded at Chester by King Henry the Fourth. And the said Sir

Peers his son, served King Henry the Fifth, and was slain at the battle of Agincourt. In their memory Sir Peter Legh, of Lyme, Knt. descended from them, finding the said old verses, written upon a stone in this chapel, did re-edify this place, A. D. 1626."

The tower of this church is 24 yards high, and contains eight bells.

The new church, called Christchurch, was built in the year 1775, by the late Charles Roe, Esq. whose bust, finely executed in white and black marble, by Bacon, is placed above the altar, with an emblematical figure of Genius, weeping over him, with a cog-wheel in her hand; there is also an inscription to his memory, it is a very regular and elegant pile of building, 33 yards long, 22 wide, and ten and a half high, besides the tower and chancel; the tower is 42 yards high, six yards square within, and has ten bells. The church has a handsome organ, and a mahogany pulpit. In the church-yard which is open and spacious, over the family vault of Rowe, is a handsome monument, in the form of a pyramid. This church was begun the 22nd March, 1775, and opened the 19th of October, in the same

The Free Grammar school is an elegant and spacious building, with a handsome dwelling-house for the head-master, and has an open yard and an adjoining field for the boys to exercise themselves in. This school was endowed by King Edward the Sixth, with houses and lands to the amount of 25l. per annum; but so great and rapid has been the improvement of the town, that the same houses and land now produce nearly 500l. per annum; and on the falling in of some of the leases granted on certain lives will be increased to nearly 800l. The head master, besides his dwelling-house, has a salary of 100l. per annum, and the second master 60l. A writing-school for girls was established by the governors of this institution a few years since, for the accommodation of Macclesfield and its neighbourhood.

In Back-street there are three Almshouses, erected and endowed in the year 1703, by Mrs. Elizabeth. Stanley, widow relict of Mr. James Stanley, of the family of Alderley, daughter and heiress of John Byram, alderman of this borough, for the maintenance of three poor widows, who have their settlement in this town, with one penny a day to each for ever.

There are two weekly markets held respectively on Monday and Saturday, and there are four fairs, on the days mentioned in our list.

The regular trade of the town is that of wrought buttons, in silk, mohair, and twist; it is nearly 200 years since this article was first used. They were at one time curiously wrought with the needle, and used in the decoration of full-trimmed suits. Macclesfield was always considered as the centre of this trade, and for many years mills have been erected, both at this place and at Stockport, for winding silk, and making twist and trimming suitable to the buttons.

The following curious particulars relative to this trade, and to the manners of some of the inhabitant, of this neighbourhood, are recorded in Dr. Aikin’s description of the country round Manchester.

"In the wild country between Broxton, Leek, and Macclesfield, called the Flash, from a chapel of that name, lived a set of pedestrian chapmen, who hawked about these buttons, together with ribbons and ferretting, made at Leek; and handkerchiefs, with small wares, from Manchester. These pedlars were known on the roads they travelled by the appellation of Flashmen, and frequented farm-houses and fairs, using a sort of slang or cant dialect. At first they paid ready money for their goods till they acquired credit, which they were sure to extend till there was no more to be had, when they dropped their connections without paying, and formed new ones. They long went on thus, inclosing the common where they dwelt, for a trifling payment, and building cottages, till they began to have farms, which they improved from the gains of their credit, without troubling themselves about payment, since no bailiff for a long time attempted to send a writ there. At length a resolute officer, a native of the district, ventured to arrest several of them; whence, their credit being destroyed, they changed the wandering life of pedlars for the settled care of their farms; but as these were held by no leases, they were left at the mercy of the lords of the soil, the Harpur family, who made them pay for their imposition on others. Another set of pedestrians were called the ‘Broken Cross Gang, from a place of that name between Macclesfield and Congleton. These associated with the Flashmen at fairs, playing with thimbles and buttons, like jugglers with cups and balls, and enticing people to lose their money by gambling; they at length took to the kindred trades of robbing and picking pockets, till at last the gang was broken up by the hands of justice. The character of Autolycus, in Shakespeare's Winter’s Tale, seems to have been a correct model of this worthy brotherhood.

Besides many cotton manufactories, Macclesfield has a considerable manufactory for making fustians, linen cloth, &c. thirty mills for the throwing of silk for weavers, and making sewing silk; and also a very extensive work for smelting and working copper, and making brass.

The increase of the population of this town has been astonishingly rapid, the number of inhabitants having been more than doubled within the last 30 years; the buildings have also been proportionably augmented, and the length of the town is now nearly one mile and a half. This enlargement has arisen from the numerous manufactories which have been established here, originating in a certain degree from the quantities of coal and other minerals that may be readily procured in its neighbourhood.

On Macclesfield common are about 40 brick kilns, and the mountains, which are seen on the left hand, produce all kinds of stone for the supply of the town, such as slate, flag, and grave stones; some of which have been found 21 feet long. At the bottom of these hills, upon a fiat nearer, are four different seams of coal, one below another, which are now working to supply the town and the brick-kilns. A large quantity is also consumed at the copper-works. On the said common there is also a large building, with an open counter-yard in the middle, of about 30 yards square, called the smelting-house, where they first melt down the copper ore, and make large quantities of shot or pellets; they also make large white bricks, of which they build their ovens, and deep large pots in the form of garden-pots, but much larger, to melt the copper ore in. Between this and the brass houses stands a large windmill for grinding the ore; next is the Balamy houses, a large range of buildings, one story high, where they wash and filter the ore, several times over, in running water; next are the brass-houses, being a number of lofty buildings where they make the copper into sheets, for ships, pan bottoms, and brass wire: they also make large quantities of brass nails. Before these houses are three large reservoirs of water for the supply of the works, and the range of dwelling-houses for the workmen. At some distance from the copper-works is a large brewery, which is supplied with water from the top of a hill much higher than the roof of the buildings, in the front of which runs the river Jordan, or Bollin. which takes its vise about a mile and three quarters from this place.

The hundred of Macclesfield is the most extensive of any in Cheshire, comprising the whole of its north-eastern side, and partaking of the wild and hilly character of the neighbouring parts of Derbyshire and Yorkshire. A considerable portion of Macclesfield hundred was anciently a forest, and an extensive district still retains the name of Macclesfield forest, though at present nothing more than a nuked and dreary tract.

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MACCLESFIELD is a municipal borough, market and union town, township, with a joint station on the London and North Western, North Staffordshire, and Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railways, 165 ½ miles from London, 8 north-north-east from Congleton, 12 east-south-east from Knutsford, 66 from Birmingham, 11 ¾ south from Stockport, 17 from Burslem, 22 ¾ north-east from Crewe, 37 east-north-east from Chester, 22 ¾ from Longton, 13 from Leek, 49 ¼ from Lichfield, 49 from Liverpool, 17 ½ from Manchester, 37 from Stafford, 32 from Uttoxeter, 87 from Wolverhampton, 23 from Warrington and 68 from Walsall, in the Macclesfield division of the county, hundred of Macclesfield, rural deanery and archdeaconry of Macclesfield (const. 21 Sept. 1880) and diocese of Chester.

The Macclesfield and Peak Forest canal, communicating with Manchester and other towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the Grand Trunk canal, connecting it with London and the intermediate counties, afford great facilities for ft cheap water communication.

The town, pleasantly seated on an eminence near the borders of the district still called “Macclesfield Forest,” is intersected by the Bollin, an affluent of the Mersey, the lower part of which is known as “The Waters.” Macclesfield constituted a portion of the royal demesne of the earls of Mercia, who held a court here for the ancient hundred of Hamestan, and it is mentioned in the Domesday Survey (1086) as one of the seats of Earl Edwin; it was then comprised within the earldom of Chester, of which it continued to form a part until the death, without issue, in 1244, of John le Scot, Earl of Chester, when the Palatinate, including the hundred, manor and forest of Macclesfield, was annexed for ever to the Crown. Whilst the town continued the residence of the Earls of Chester it was surrounded by a rampart or a walled fence, which had three principal gates, called “Jordan gate,” “Chester gate” and “Wall or Well gate” respectively, and these names are still retained, although no portion of the structures now remains. On the invasion of England by the Scots, in 1573, the inhabitants of Macclesfield actively joined in repelling the invaders, and shared in the conflict at Flodden Field (Sept. 9), in which the mayor, Charles Savage, and many townsmen were slain. In the last year of Queen Elizabeth (1602—3) the town suffered severely from a visitation of the plague. During the Civil War, the town, then defended for the king by Sir Thomas Aston bart. experienced much injury from the Parliamentary forces, under Sir William Brereton kt. commander-in-chief for the Parliament in the county of Chester, by whom, in spite of an obstinate resistance, it was taken, the spire of St. Michael’s church being injured by the cannon of the besiegers; the town was then handed over to Col. Henry Mainwaring, who succeeded in repelling all the efforts of Col. Legh, of Adlington, to recapture the place. After the decapitation of Charles I. (30 Jan. 1649) a council was held here, at which it was resolved to raise four regiments of 700 men each, for the service of Charles II. who was then at the head of the army in Scotland. In 1745 a party of 100 cavalry took possession of the town for Prince Charles Edward, who, on the evening of the same day (Dec.1), arrived with 5,000 men and his whole train of artillery; after passing the night here, he held a council of war, and the day following marched towards Derby; but, being alarmed at the approach of the royal forces under the Duke of Cumberland, he fell back upon Macclesfield on the 7th, and was pursued thither by the duke, whom the inhabitants received with lively demonstrations of joy.

Macclesfield has afforded the title of earl to the families of Gerard, of Brandon, Suffolk, and Parker, of Shirburn Castle, Oxon. Charles Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard, of Brandon, and a distinguished cavalier, was created (21 July, 1679) Viscount Brandon and Earl of Macclesfield, but the title became extinct on the death of the 3rd earl, unmarried, in 1702. In 1721 (Nov. 5) it was revived in favour of Sir Thomas (Parker), Baron Parker, lord chief justice Of the Queen's Bench, and lord chancellor in 1718, and is now held by his descendant, Thomas A. W. (Parker), who is 6th Earl of Macclesfield of this family.

Macclesfield was made a borough by Randle, or Ranulph, Earl of Chester, probably the 3rd of that name (1181—1232), and it then had 120 burgesses; in 45 Henry III. (1260—1) Prince Edward, as Earl of Chester, granted to the burgesses a charter of privileges, afterwards confirmed by Edward III. in 1334; by Richard II. in 1390; by Edward TV. in 1465; and by Elizabeth, in 1564, whose charter gave to the town a corporate body, consisting of a mayor, two aldermen, 24 councillors and a high steward, with a sergeant-at-mace: the charter was confirmed by Charles II. in 1678 and 1684, the corporation then comprising a mayor, two aldermen, recorder, coroner, town clerk and inferior officers, with twenty-four capital burgesses; under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835 (5 and 6 William IV. c. 76), the borough was divided into six wards and the government vested in a mayor, twelve aldermen and thirty-six councillors!, under the usual corporate style; the limits of the old municipal borough and township being conterminous, the most populous parts of the adjoining townships of Sutton and Hurdseld were added to these by the Reform Act of 1832, to form a parliamentary borough, which returned two members to Parliament until the passing of the “Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885,” by which the representation was merged into that of the Macclesfield division of the county: the borough was further enlarged by the Boundary Act, 1868, which included a part of Tytherington. The town is lighted with gas from works in Hibel road, established in 1818 by a company, incorporated in 1826, but in 1861 the undertaking was acquired by, and is now the property of, the Corporation. The water supply is derived from works in Buxton road, originally a private enterprise, but purchased by the Corporation in 1830 and enlarged in 1849.

St. Michael’s parish was formed Oct. 2, 1835, as a district chapelry, out of Prestbury parish, but at the next voidance of the vicarage of Prestbury it became a separate parish. The church of St. Michael, standing on the brow of a hill on the east side of the Market place, is an edifice of stone, chiefly in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel with north aisle, organ chamber and vestries, nave of five bays, aisles, with two chapels attached to the south aisle, and a lofty embattled western tower, containing a clock and 10 bells: in the chancel is an altar tomb, with recumbent effigies, to Sir John Savage, sen. of Clifton, kt. ob. 22 Nov. 1495, and Catherine, his wife, daughter of Thomas, 1st Baron Stanley; the figure of the knight is in armour, with a collar of suns and roses, and that of the lady has a rich head dress: within a niche in the wall of the chancel aisle lies the recumbent effigy of a knight in plate armour, wearing a collar of SS. the head Testing on a helm with mantling and crest, and conjectured to represent one of the Downes family of Sutton: the two chapels attached to the south aisle are known respectively as the Legh chapel and the Rivers or Savage chapel; the latter was erected by Thomas Savage, Bishop of Rochester, 1492; of London 1497, and archbishop of York in 1501; he was a native of Macclesfield and second son of Sir John Savage, sen. whose tomb is in the chancel; be died in 1508, and was buried in York Minster, where his tomb, with effigy, still remains: the entrance to this chapel is on the west, through a turret three storeys in height; over the doorway, which is highly enriched with shields and other ornament, is a fine oriel window, the lower portion of which displays the royal arms, those of the See of York impaling Savage, and those of Rochester and London quartered with the Savage coat: at the east end of the chapel, occupying the recess where anciently stood the altar, is a tomb, with effigy, erected in Sept. 1696, to Thomas Savage, 3rd Earl Rivers, of that family, ob. 14 Sept. 1694, at his house in Great Queen street, London, and to his 1st wife, lady Elizabeth (Scrope), and 2nd wife, lady Arabella (Bertie); the recumbent figure of the earl is habited in a flowing robe and wears a large wig; above rises a canopy, supported on Corinthian pillars and, adorned with shields of arms, and over the effigy and in front of the tomb are inscriptions: on the north side, within arches in the wall, are two altar tombs, one of which commemorates Sir John Savage, jun. of Clifton, elder brother of the founder of the chapel; he fought at Bosworth Field (21 August, 1485), on the site of the Earl of Richmond, and was slain at the siege of Boulogne in 1492; his recumbent effigy is in plate armour, with collar of SS. the head on a crested helmet, and the feet on a lion, and the front of the tomb exhibits figures of angels bearing shields: the other tomb was erected to Sir John Savage, of Clifton, kt. son of the preceding, sheriff of Worcestershire, 1492—1516, ob. 2 March, 1527: on the south side of the chapel is a mural arch, inclosing an altar tomb from which the effigy has been removed, and near this is a smaller arch, also despoiled; on the same side, towards the east end, is a third and much loftier arch of Late Perpendicular date, with panelled sides and triangular crocketed canopy, and within it an altar tomb, with recumbent effigies of alabaster, to Sir John Savage kt. son of the last mentioned, ob. 26 July, 1527, and lady Elizabeth (Somerset), his wife, who subsequently married Sir William Brereton kt. (beh. 17 May, 1536); at the back of the tomb is an arcading, with figures holding shields, and the remaining space is filled with a window of eight graduated trefoil-headed lights; the front of the tomb is enriched with seven cusped niches, inclosing male and female figures, and in the centre those of two angels, supporting a shield of arms; here also is a recumbent effigy, carved from two blocks of stone, and supposed, to represent a member of the Liversage family: a wooden frame at the north-east angle of the chapel, containing brasses with figures to Roger Legh, of Ridge, ob. 4 Nov. 1506; Elizabeth (Sutton), his wife, ob. 5 Oct. 1489, and 12 children, is now (1896) said to be in part missing: at the west end is an altar tomb, now much decayed, with effigies to Sir John Savage kt. son of the last mentioned of the same name, ob. 5 Dec. 1597, and lady Elizabeth (Manners), his wife; it was erected by his grandson, Sir Thomas Savage kt. and above it is a semi-circular arch, supported on columns and adorned with an achievement of anus; within the arch are three tablets with Latin inscriptions to Sir John and the various members of his family: the Legh chapel, which belonged to the Leghs, of Lyme, contains brasses, to Piers, or Perkin a Legh, beheaded at Chester, 10 Aug. 1399, by order of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, afterwards Henry IV, and to Sir Peter Legh, his son and heir, who died at Paris in June, 1422, of wounds probably received at the siege of Meaux (6 Oct. 1421 to 10 May, 1422), and his remains were removed and here interred: there are other brasses to William Legh, master of Macclesfield school, ob. 1630, and to a previous master, John Brounswerd, ob. 1589: the elaborately wrought pulpit was erected in 1880, as a memorial to the Rev. Charles Adam John Smith M.A. vicar, 1847—78: the organ was presented in 1885 by Charles Brocklehurst esq. at a cost of £1,100, and there is a brass eagle lectern, given by Ellen and Frances Newbold, in memory of their relatives here buried: the body of the church was rebuilt and enlarged with funds collected by brief in 1739—40; the east end was partially rebuilt and re-arranged in 1819, and in 1882—92 the church was in part restored, the chancel enlarged and organ chamber and vestries erected, under the direction of Mr. James Stevens, architect, of Macclesfield: there are sittings for about 900 persons. The register dates from the year 1572. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £300, with residence, in the gift of Simeon’s trustees, and held since 1893 by the Rev. Sydney Adolphus Boyd B.C.L., M.A. of Worcester College, Oxford surrogate, and proctor in convocation.

Christ Church is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1889; the church, near Great King street, was built in 1775 by Charles Roe esq. a wealthy silk manufacturer of Macclesfield, under a special act of Parliament, but with no parochial charge, and was consecrated in November, 1777; it is a plain but spacious edifice of red brick with stone dressings, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and a lofty western tower, containing a clock and 8 bells: the pulpit was one of the last belonging to the Church of England in which the Rev, John Wesley preached: the stained east window is in part a memorial to Christopher Shaw Roe esq. grandson of the founder of the church, d. 1854; there is another memorial window to the Rev. David Simpson, first minister of this church, d. 29 March, 1799; and others to Miss Watson, of Macclesfield; H. C. Brodrick esq. d. 1869, and to the Rev. C. O’Neil Pratt, for twenty-three years curate in charge here, who died at Burslem in 1872; in the church is also a marble monument by Bacon, with medallion portrait, to the founder, Charles. Roe esq. d. 3 May, 1784, and a mural monument to the Rev. David Simpson, mentioned above: the church affords 1,500 sittings, of which 400 are free. The register dates from the year 1776. The living is a perpetual curacy, net yearly value £285, partly derived from pew rents, in the gift of C. H. Henderson-Roe esq. and held since 1896 by the Rev. John St. Clere Hick M.A. of University College, Durham.

St. George’s Church, High street, erected in 1822—3, as a Congregational chapel, at a cost of about £6,400, but reopened for Church of England services, 8 October, 1828, and consecrated in 1834, is a plain but spacious edifice of red brick, consisting of chancel, nave and aisles, with galleries on the north, south and west sides: the stained east window was presented by Mr. Thomas Bullock, in memory of his son, d. 1850: the west window is a memorial to the Rev. William Robert Bridge Arthy B.D. vicar 1848—73, d. 1884: and there are two stained windows on the south side: the wrought iron pulpit was presented in 1880 by Phoebe Elizabeth Lovatt, who also gave the brass lectern: the font is of stone and red marble, handsomely carved: the church affords 1,600 sittings, 500 being free. The register dates from the year 1825. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £325, chiefly derived from pew rents, in the gift of trustees, and held since 1892 by the Rev. Arthur Vaughan Colston, of St. Aidan’s.

St, John the Evangelist’s is an ecclesiastical parish, formed 8 May, 1888, as a new district out of Macclesfield chapelry and Prestbury parish: the church, in Statham street, erected in 1884—7, a total cost of over £6,000, is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of apsidal chancel, clerestoried nave of four bays and a half, aisles and a south porch, from designs by Messrs. Killmister and Briggs, architects, of London; the stained east window was erected by Mr. John Embley, of Blackburn, as a memorial to the late Rev. B. Cliff, formerly vicar of Christ Church, d. 1878; the pulpit, of stone and red marble, was also the gift of Mr. Embley; the carved font was executed and presented by Messrs. Frith Brothers: the organ was given by Dr. George Bland, in memory of his wife: the church affords about 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1888. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £174, in the gift of the vicar of Macclesfield, and held since 1888 by the Rev. Robert Hurst M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin.

St. Paul’s is an ecclesiastical parish, formed 10 July, 1844, as a new district out of Macclesfield chapelry and Prestbury parish: the church, in Brook street, erected in 1843—4, at a cost of £5,000, is an edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, west porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles and a lofty octagonal spire: the east window is stained and there are two memorial windows on the south side: the brass eagle lectern is a memorial to the late Rev. Henry Briant M.A. first (and for 39 years) vicar of this parish, d. 1884: in 1895 the church was thoroughly renovated at a cost of about £500, and affords 700 sittings, 450 of which are free. The register dates from the year 1844. The living is a perpetual curacy, gross yearly value £286, net £265, in the gift of the Bishop of Chester, and held since 1883 by the Rev. Sydney Porter.

St. Peter’s parish was formed November 5, 1844, out of Macclesfield chapelry and Prestbury parish: the church, in Windmill street, erected in 1848, at a cost of about £3,000, is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of four bays, aisles, and an incomplete tower on the west: the stained east window was the gift of the late Thomas Bent esq.: a new organ has been (1891) presented, at a cost of £250, by Thomas Crew esq.: the church affords 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1849. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £180, net £160, in the alternate gift of the Crown and the Bishop of Chester, and held since 1854 by the Rev. William Sinden, of St. Aidans, and surrogate.

The Catholic church, in Chester road, dedicated to St. Alban, erected in 1838—41, at a cost of over £8,000, is a spacious edifice of freestone in the Perpendicular style, from designs by the late Mr. Welby Pugin, and consists of chancel, with lady chapel on the west side, nave of fire bays, and an incomplete tower: the chancel, which is at the south end, is separated from the nave by a rood-loft of carved oak, above which are three large figures, representing Our Saviour, the Virgin Mary and St. John: the stained east window exhibits a full-length figure of St. Alban, the patron saint, and the tracery contains figures of eighteen angels bearing scrolls: the reredos of the high altar is of stone, beautifully carved, and adorned with niches inclosing figures of Our Saviour and the Twelve Apostles; in the lady chapel is a reredos of stone with representations in basso-relievo of the Virgin Mary, “The Annunciation” and “The Coronation of The Virgin;” here also is a stained window with figures of the Virgin Mary, St. Edward and St. John, the gift of the Very Rev. John Hall D.D.: a handsome new altar, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, was placed in 1891 on the east side of the chancel: the church affords about 800 sittings.

The Nonconformists had a place of worship here in 1689, and in 1692 a chapel was built in King Edward street. The present Congregational chapel, Roe street, erected in 1828—9 at a cost of £3,000, is of brick and freestone, and will seat about 800 persons. The Congregational chapel, Park green, opened 1877, is a building of stone in the Early English style, with a tower 105 feet high, and will seat about 800 persons; the old chapel in Townley street, a plain structure of brick, opened in 1787, is now used as a Sunday and day school.

The Wesleyan chapel, Sunderland street, rebuilt in 1802 at a cost of about £3,000, on the same site, is a plain edifice of brick with galleries and will seat about 800 persons. The Wesleyan chapel, Cumberland street, erected in 1874 at a cost (including site and land adjoining) of £10,000, is of stone in the Early English style, and affords 1,000 sittings. The Wesleyan chapel, Bridge street, Mill lane, erected in 1824, and since enlarged, at a total cost of about £5,000, is a structure of brick, with galleries, and will seat about 1,200 persons. The Wesleyan Mission chapel, Fountain street, erected in 1893 at a cost of £900, in connection with Brunswick chapel, is a plain brick building and will seat about 200 persons. The Wesleyan chapel at Broken cross, erected in 1880, has about 200 sittings; the old chapel is now used as a Sunday school.

The Free Methodist chapel, Park green, built in 1858, is of brick, and affords about 800 sittings. There is another Free Methodist chapel in Church street west, erected in 1842, with sittings for about 300.

The Methodist New Connexion chapel in Park street, opened in 1837 at a cost, including site, of £4,500, is of brick, with galleries, and affords 1,200 sittings, one third of which are free.

The Baptist chapel, St. George street, erected in 1873, is of brick, with galleries, and will seat about 600 persons; the old chapel in Calemine street is now used as a mission hall.

The Primitive Methodist chapel, Beech lane, erected in 1830, is of brick, and seats 350 persons. The Primitive Methodist chapel, Higginbotham street, erected in 1873, is of brick, with galleries, and will seat 700 persons. The Unitarian chapel in King Edward street, erected in 1689, is the oldest existing Nonconformist place of worship in Macclesfield. The Friends’ meeting house in Mill street is now used by a branch of the Manchester City Mission, who employ a missionary here. The Spiritualistic Free church, Cumberland street, erected in 1879, is of brick, and has about 350 sittings. The Reform Methodist chapel, Parsonage street, formerly occupied by the Methodist New Connexion, is now used as a lecture hall. There are Salvation Army barracks in Mill street.

The cemetery in the Prestbury road, adjoining the park and opened 17 May, 1866, comprises 36 acres, pleasantly seated and commanding extensive views of the surrounding country. There are three mortuary chapels', for the Established church, Catholics and Nonconformists. The cemetery is controlled by a burial board of 17 members.

The Town Hall, at the south-east angle of the Marketplace, and erected in 1823—4, from designs by Mr. Francis Goodwin, architect, is a handsome building of white freestone in the Classic style, and in 1869—70 was enlarged and new fronted and a council chamber added, from designs by Mr. James Stevens, architect, the building also includes a spacious assembly room, holding about 400 persons, and a magistrates’ court, with committee rooms and offices.

The municipal insignia comprise two maces, a mayor’s chain and badge and a corporate seal. The great mace, of silver gilt and 3 feet 7 ½ inches in length, has an ornamentally chased shaft, divided into lengths by three knops; the surface of the mace head bears the national badges crowned and the royal cyphers, between four foliaged figures; on the flat top are the royal arms of William and Mary, within a garter, and an open arched crown surmounts the whole; the mace, as appears from an inscription on the shaft, was presented to the Corporation by John Legh, gent, of Furnival’s inn, London, in 1693, and it has the London hall-mark of that year and the initials (A.H.) of the maker, probably Antony Holme. The lesser mace, of silver, 2 feet 1 inch in length, has a plain shaft with five bands and a hemispherical head, surrounded by a circlet of fleurs de lis and bearing on the flat top the arms of James I. between the letters I.R. The Mayor’s chain, made by Storr and Mortimer, of London, consists of a number of massive square links, and from the centre depends the badge, an enriched medallion displaying the arms of the borough and the motto “Nec virtvs nec copia desvnt.” The old seal is circular, 1 3/8 inch in diameter and bears the device of a lion rampant holding a garb in its paws, an adaptation of the coat of the De Meschines family, Earls of Chester. The mayor wears a robe of scarlet trimmed with ermine and lined with white silk.

Underneath the assembly room is a commodious butter and corn market. Here, also, are the offices of the Macclesfield Chamber of Commerce, instituted in 1865, and meetings are held monthly.

The Theatre Royal in Catherine street, erected in 1881, is a plain brick building and will seat about 1,500 persons.

The County Lunatic Asylum, situated about a mile from the town on the Chester road, was erected in 1868—71, at a cost of about £150,000 and is a structure of red brick in the Italian style, from designs by the late Mr. Griffith, architect, of Stafford; it is in two divisions, for males and females respectively, each division having its own infirmary and separate department for difficult cases; the superintendent’s house occupies the centre of the building; the recreation and dining hall and offices adjoin the clock tower which, on the north side, forms the principal entrance; there are also workshops for the pursuit of various trades, a laundry and washhouse, and attached is a farm of about 60 acres, A new wing for 96 epileptic patients was added in 1891 at a cost of about £7,000: a new and isolated hospital for infectious cases, erected at a cost of £3,000, was opened in July, 1895, and contains 12 beds. The asylum is supported by the union rates, and is available for about 800 patients; there are also a few private patients; the yearly average is 300 males and 400 females; Thomas Steele Sheldon M.B. is the resident medical officer. The Asylum Church, erected at a cost of about £3,000, from designs by the same architect, is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, transepts, organ chamber and vestry and a western turret containing two small bells: the church affords about 400 sittings; the Rev. Thomas Woodrow Dix M.A. of Christ Church, Oxford, has been chaplain since 1877.

The Militia Barracks, in the Crompton road, erected in 1858—9 at a cost of £13,000, consists of a series of stone buildings in the Gothic style, from designs by Mr. Pownall, architect, London, and Mr. James Stevens, architect, of Macclesfield. The buildings form a square with an entrance on the east side, on the north side are the stores, and on the south and west the quarters for the married men; and they are now (1896) occupied by the 4th Battalion Cheshire Regiment (2nd Royal Cheshire Militia).

The Volunteer Drill Hall, in Bridge street, erected in 1871 at a cost of £2,700, is a large structure of brick, 132 feet long by 63 feet wide, and in addition to the hall comprised reading rooms, officers’, sergeants’ and store rooms, and a residence for the instructor. In 1872 a clock tower, the gift of Lieut.-Col. Brocklehurst, was erected.

The public baths in Hallefields, erected in 1850, by public subscription, at a cost of £3,000, include warm, cold, shower, and vapour baths for first and second class bathers, a large swimming bath, 56 by 24 feet, for males, and a smaller one for females; these baths are under the control of the Corporation.

The Chadwick Free Library, Park green, was presented to the corporation, May, 1876, by David Chadwick esq. of Dulwich, M.P, for Macclesfield, 1868—80; and is a building of stone in the Gothic style, from designs by Mr. James Stevens, architect, of Macclesfield. The library now (1896) contains about 16,783 volumes, 10,000 of which were the gift of Mr. Chadwick. Mr. Atherton Brunt, librarian.

The School of Art, Park green, opened in June, 1879, is a building of stone in the Gothic style, and also erected from the designs of Mr. Stevens; it contains some beautiful and rare specimens of art antiquities, both English and foreign. A museum of textile fabrics has been added consisting principally of specimens of silks of the 14th to 19th centuries.

The trade of Macclesfield was formerly the production of silk, mohair and twist buttons; but this has been superseded by the manufacture of all kinds of silk, from the narrowest ribbon to the different kinds of sarcenets, plain and figured gros-de-naples, satin, silk velvets, vestings and silk handkerchiefs of every description: it is now the chief seat in England for those branches of manufacture. Silk throwing is also an important branch, which is here carried on extensively. The first silk mill in Macclesfield was opened in 1756, in Park green, by Mr. Charles Roe, for silk throwing, and the street called Mill street, leading from Park green to the Market place, derived its name from that circumstance. The silk throwsters were for many years employed by the manufacturers in London, who supplied the Spitalfields weavers with thrown silk, and there are still a number of extensive establishments employed in silk throwing only; but a great many of the silk manufacturers are throwsters also. In several of the mills power looms have been introduced, as well as hand looms; but the latter are principally used. In plain silk weaving the process is much the same as in weaving woollen or linen; but the weaver is assisted by a machine for the even distribution of the warp, which frequently consists of 8,000 separate threads in a breadth of twenty inches: Satin derives its lustre from the great proportion of the threads of the warp being left visible, and the piece being afterwards passed over heated cylinders. Other varieties of silk goods are produced by mechanical arrangements in the loom, such as using different shuttles, with threads of various substances. The pile, which constitutes the peculiarity of velvet, is produced by the insertion of short pieces of silk thread, which cover the surface so entirely as to conceal the interfacings of the warp and weft. The manufacture of broad silks was first introduced into Macclesfield in the year 1790, by Messrs. Leigh and Voce. Many firms are engaged in the production of silk trimmings, such as gimps and fringes. Here are also extensive manufactories of upholsterers' trimmings. There are also several smallware manufactories, a cotton factory and some extensive breweries.

The market is held on Tuesday and Saturday, and fairs on 3rd Tuesday in February, March 6th, May 6th, June 22nd, July 11th, August 12th, October 4th, November 11th and December 23rd; fairs are also held at Sutton, on the 4th of April and the 4th of September.

The Infirmary, in grounds of its own adjoining the Park, was erected in the years 1870—72 at a cost of £35,000, and endowed in accordance with the will of the late Joseph Tunnicliffe esq. of Macclesfield, and mayor in 1819, who bequeathed this sum for the purpose, and died in 1859; the original benefaction was afterwards augmented by £1,500, given by Dr. Thomas Swanwick and by £2,000 given in 1873 by Alderman William, Bennett and the amount of endowment from all sources up to 31 Dec. 1895 was £58,570 3s. 11d. The building is of stone, in the Italian style, from designs by Mr. James Stevens, architect, and will hold 60 patients. The yearly average is of in-patients 740 and out-patients 4,260, and there are now (1896) 50 in and 366 out patients. The Infirmary is also a training school for nurses.

The Fence Hospital, Buxton road, was erected in 1883, and endowed with a sum of £10,000 by the late Col. Thomas Unett Brocklehurst (as a memorial to his parents) is intended for convalescent patients, being a day home where poor persons who are sick or recovering from sickness may occasionally obtain food and rest in a quiet room. Dinners and teas are served on fixed days to patients who after leaving the infirmary require a continuance for a time, of wholesome diet which they are unable to provide for themselves.

The Children’s Hospital, for infectious diseases, erected by the Corporation at a cost of £365, is situated on the extreme boundary of the township, near Moss lane, and contains 24 beds; Miss Martha Chesworth, matron.

The charities for distribution, chiefly in bread and clothing, amount to about £112 10s. 5d. annual value.

The charities of Snelson, Hayes and Heapy provide £14 yearly for clergy; there are also benefactions of about £64 yearly for the organist and the repairs of the parish church.

The Fence Almshouses, Buxton road, founded and endowed by Frank D. Brocklehurst esq. of Hare hill, for four aged persons, form a building in the Old English style, from designs by Mr. Walter Aston, Macclesfield; married couples receive 10s. 6d. and each single person 7s. weekly.

Stanley’s Almshouses, founded and endowed by Mrs. Elizabeth Stanley in 1703, with £6 10s. yearly and originally erected in King Edward road for three poor widows, were rebuilt in 1871, in Cumberland street, and the charity enlarged so as to provide for three additional widows; the charity was reorganised in 1889 by the Charity Commissioners, and under the new scheme C. E. Thornycroft, W. B. Brocklehurst and the Rev. Canon Turner were appointed trustees.

The public park and recreation ground of 16 acres, in Prestbury road, laid out as a memorial to the late Sir Robert Peel bart. M.P. was opened on 2 Oct. 1854, the cost having amounted to about £6,000: it contains cricket grounds and a spacious bowling green and is otherwise tastefully laid out in walks, terraces, lawns, and flower-gardens and there is an entrance lodge and park-keeper’s residence in the Gothic style: in the park is a large boulder stone, weighing about 30 tons, removed from a field near Oxford road and presented to the park by Joseph Hudson Beswick, 24 July, 1857: the boulder, which is similar in composition to the granite rocks at Ravensglass on the coast of Cumberland, is supposed to have been carried by an iceberg from that district and deposited in the bottom of the sea which once covered parts of Cheshire and the adjoining counties. Near the bowling green are two Russian guns', captured at Sebastopol 9 Sept. 1855 and presented to the town by the government at the request of the corporation: here also stand three monoliths or stone crosses, from Ridge hill; near these have been erected the remains of the old market cross, removed from the Market place in 1705 and given or sold to one Matthew William Whitney, who placed the relic over the grave of a favourite dog on his farm at Upton, where it remained until its removal to the park in 1858; in the same inclosure the old stocks are also preserved: at the north end of the bowling green is a sun-dial, the gift, in 1861, of C. E. Proctor esq.: the park, when completed, in 1854, was transferred by its promoters to the corporation, in trust for the public, and it is now under their control.

Victoria park and recreation grounds, opened May 14th, 1894 at a cost of £15,000, were presented to the corporation by F. D. Brocklehurst esq. of Hare hill, and are pleasantly situated, 13 acres in extent; the whole is tastefully laid out with walks, lawns and flower gardens, one portion of the grounds being intended for recreational purposes, and there is a band stand and residences for the keepers.

A drinking fountain, the gift of Alderman James Kershaw J.P. mayor (1889—90), was erected on Park green in 1890; the work, designed and executed by Messrs. McFarlane, of Glasgow, cost about £200, and seats and vases of shrubs have been placed round the fountain at Mr. Kershaw’s expense.

The castle here of the Staffords, Dukes of Buckingham, was erected on an eminence to the south of the church of St. Michael, and about the middle of the 15th century was the residence of Henry, 2nd Duke of Buckingham K.G. beheaded, for treasonable conspiracy, in the Market place at Salisbury, 2 Nov. 1483, by order of Richard III.: some portions of the building are inclosed in the premises now occupied by Mr. J. H. Cutts, ironmonger, Mill street.

Eddisbury Hall, on the New Buxton road, the seat of John Thompson esq. is a building of stone in the Elizabethan style, standing in a park of 30 acres: the grounds are well laid out, and an eminence near the house affords an extensive view of the neighbourhood.

Park Mount, the residence of Josiah Smale esq. is a substantial brick house, pleasantly seated in a park of 20 acres and approached by an avenue of lime trees.

Hurdsfield House, the residence of Peter Pownall Brocklehurst esq. is a building of brick, about ¾ of a mile from the centre of the town.

The courts for the manor and forest of Macclesfield are held in the Town hall.

The Queen is lady of the manor, and the Earl of Derby G.C.B., P.C. is hereditary steward.

The township of Macclesfield covers an area of 2,556 acres of land and 24 of water; rateable value of the municipal borough £100,494; the population in 1801 was 8,743; in 1831, 23,139; in 1841, 24,137; in 29,645; in 1861, 27,475; in 1871, 26,837; in 1881, 37,514 and in 1891, 36,009, which includes 166 in the Industrial school for boys, 93 in the Militia barracks, 315 officers and inmates in the workhouse, and 667 in the county lunatic asylum.

The population of the municipal wards in 1891 was-Hurdsfield, 6,485; North-West, 6,131; South-West, 8,495; Sutton, 6,334; South-East, 5,002 and North-East, 3,562, The population of the ecclesiastical parishes in 1891 was-St. Michael’s, 9,815; Christ Church, 6,109; St. John the Evangelist, 4,487; St. Paul, 4,717; St. Peter, 1,674.

Macclesfield Union

Board day, Tuesday fortnightly, at the Workhouse at 11 o’clock.

The Union comprises Macclesfield & the forty-one surrounding townships, viz.: Adlington, Birtles, Bollington, Bosley, Buttley, Capesthorne, Chelford, Chorley, Eaton, Fallybroom or Fallibroome, Gawsworth, Great Warford, Henbury-with-Pexall, Hurdsfield, Kettleshulme, Lower Withington; Lyme Handley, Macclesfield Forest, Marton, Mottram St. Andrew, Nether Alderley, Newton, North Rode, Old Withington, Over Alderley, Pott Shrigley, Poynton-with-Kerridge, Alderley Edge, Prestbury, Rainow, Siddington, Snelson, Sutton, Taxal, Tytherington, Upton, Whaley-cum-Yeardsley, Wildboarclough, Wincle & Woodford. The area is 85,892 acres; rateable value in 1891, £293,103; the population in 1891 was 60,324.

The Union Workhouse, on the west side of the town, on the Prestbury road & erected in 1843—4 at a cost of about £10,000, is a building of stone in the Tudor Gothic style, & will hold about 500 persons: it is surrounded by about 8 acres, partly used for the industrial occupation, the remainder being laid out & planted with shrubs: the building principally consists of a spacious range to the front & two wings: the board room, offices & wards for the casual poor, form a detached building, & in the rear are the hospital & imbecile wards. In 1853—4 a separate fever hospital was built at a distance from the main building at a cost of about £1,200, & is available for about 60 patients. In 1881 a general hospital, for 70 persons, was erected at a cost of about £6,000. In 1895 an isolation hospital was erected at a cost of £1,200, containing four beds & in 1891 new casual wards, for about 30 persons, were built at a cost of £2,000; there is also accommodation for 9 old men & 9 old women in the privileged wards, a scheme which is being tried here, and in which the inmates are not required to work nor to wear the uniform of the house; Joseph E. Potts, master; Mrs. Hannah Potts, matron.

POLICE STATIONS.

Borough Station, Town hall, Market place, William Sheasby, chief constable; 3 inspectors, 3 section sergeants, 1 detective sergeant & 30 constables.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of Services

St. Michael’s Church, Market place, Rev. Sydney Adolphus Boyd B.C.L., M.A. vicar; Rev. Frederick J. Tackley B.A. curate; 10.30 a.m. 3 & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. & Fri. 11.30 a.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Christ Church, Great King street, Rev. John St. Clere Hick M.A. incumbent; Rev. Sanford Woods, curate; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

St. John, Statham street, Rev. Robert Hurst M.A. vicar; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

St. Paul, Hallefields, Rev. Sydney Porter, incumbent; Rev. Francis John Bamford B.A. Curate.

St. Peter, Windmill street, Rev. William Sinden, vicar; Rev. Joseph Frederick C. James B.A. curate; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

St. George, High street, Rev. Arthur Vaughan Colston, vicar.

St. Alban (Catholic), Chester Road, Rev. James Robinson & Rev. Norbert Kelly, priests; 8, 9 & 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Thur. 8 p.m.

Friends’ Meeting House, Mill street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Baptist, St. George street, various; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; wed. 7.30 p.m.

Congregational, Roe street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 a.m.

Congregational, Park green; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Higginbotham street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Methodist New Connexion, Park street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Mon. 7.30 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Beech lane; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Tues. 7.30 p.m.

Spiritualistic Free Church, Cumberland street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.

United Methodist, Church street west; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

United Methodist, Park green, Rev. George D. Thompson; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Unitarian, King Edward st. Rev. Joseph Freeston; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Wesleyan, Sunderland street Wesleyan (Brunswick), Bridge street, Mill lane Wesleyan, Broken cross Wesleyman(Trinity), Cumberland street.

SCHOOLS

The Free Grammar School, formerly in King Edward street, but now in Cumberland street, was originally founded in 1502 by Sir John Percival kt. Lord Mayor of London, who endowed it with £10 yearly; it was reendowed by King Edward VI. in 1552 with certain tenements & lands, the king’s charter appointing fourteen governors, inhabitants of Macclesfield & the parish of Prestbury: the school has three exhibitions of £50 each for three years to the Universities of Oxford & Cambridge & a sum of twenty guineas is distributed every year from the funds in prizes: the old school buildings were sold in 1750 & new premises purchased in 1774: the present school, erected in 1855—6, at a cost of about £3,000, & opened in June, 1856, is of stone, in the Early English style, & comprises a large school room, writing school, class room for modern languages & second master’s room; adjoining is a residence for the head master, who receives boarders: in 1886 a chemical laboratory & new class rooms were added, at a cost of £1,560 & in 1889 a sanatorium was erected at Westbrook, at a cost of about £500; in 1890 a gymnasium & carpenter’s shop were built by the private subscriptions of old boys & others, at a cost of £950; attached is a large inclosed playground: there are now (1896) 97 boys: the endowment at present amounts to £2,000 yearly, derived from houses, land let on building leases & money in the funds: an Act was passed in 1838 for the foundation of a modern free school & the establishment of exhibitions: a new scheme for the management of the school was framed in 1854 by the Court of Chancery & another in 1879 by the Charity Commissioners: the school is divided into lower school & Greek & non-Greek upper school: Rev. Darwin Wilmot M.A. late demy of Magdalen College, Oxford, headmaster since 1876; E. Budden M.A., B.Sc. late scholar of New College, Oxford, second master King Edward VI. Modern School, Great King street, founded by Act of Parliament in 1838 in connection with the Grammar school, on a scheme framed by the Court of Chancery, is a building of stone in the Elizabethan style, erected by the governors in 1840 out of the revenues of the Free Grammar school, at a cost, including the site, of £2,500, & comprising a headmaster’s residence; John Jackson, headmaster The Macclesfield Sunday School, Roe street, erected in 1813, at a cost of £5,640 & under the immediate patronage of H.M. The Queen, is a noble building four storeys in height, containing on the 1st & 2nd floors 26 class rooms; a large upper room with galleries occupies the remaining floors & will seat altogether 1,130 persons; in 1895 a new staircase was constructed at a cost of £400; it is used for lectures & divine service on sabbath evenings; Sunday schools were originally established in Macclesfield in 1796 by Mr. John Whittaker, to whose memory a monument, surmounted by a portrait bust in white marble, was erected in 1846, in the ground in front of the school; connected with the school is a library of 2,600 volumes, for the use of scholars, teachers & visitors; Mr. Staghall, superintendent.

School of Art & Design, Park lane, James Ward, headmaster.

Technical School, 25 Park green, W. B. Brocklehurst esq. J.P. chairman of committee; Thomas Donohue, teacher of silk weaving & pattern designing; H. Royle, teacher of silk throwing & spinning.

School Board of 9 members was formed 13 Oct. 1871; William Grieves, 64 Prestbury road, clerk & chief attendance officer.

St. Michael’s National, Duke street, Mill street (boys, girls & infants), erected in 1813, & has an endowment of about £12 yearly, arising from several charities; it will hold 830 children; average attendance, 180 boys, 216 girls & 140 infants.

St. Michael’s, Beech lane (mixed & infants), is a brick building erected in 1877 for 150 children; average attendance, 130.

Christ Church (higher grade), Great King street, erected in 1841 on a site given by Christopher Shaw Roe esq.; it will hold 850 children; average attendance, 235 boys, 220 girls & 190 infants; Dr. George Beach M.A. barristerat-law, master.

Christ Church, Higginbotham street, Newtown (branch) (mixed & infants), erected in 1869, for 206 children; average attendance, 196.

St. George’s, High street (higher grade) (mixed & infants), erected in 1835, for 700 children; average attendance, 300 boys & girls & 110 infants.

St. George’s (mixed) (branch), London road, erected in 1,845, for 390 children; average attendance, 334.

St. Paul’s, Glegg street (mixed & infants), opened 22 Oct. 1851 and enlarged in 1895, for 880 children; average attendance, 470 boys & girls & 200 infants.

St. Peter’s, Windmill street (mixed & infants), erected in 1846, for 300 children; average attendance, 110 boys & girls & 85 infants.

National (mixed & infants), Crompton road, erected in 1856, or 135 children; average attendance, 62 boys & service is conducted here on Sundays, morning & evening.

St. Thomas', Broken Cross (mixed & infants), built in 1856, for 135 children; average attendance, 62 boys & girls & 30 infants.

British, Lord street (mixed & infants), built in 1870, for 780 children; average attendance, 290.

Catholic (St. Alban’s), Chester Road, originally a chapel, erected in 1811; it will hold about 450 children; average attendance, 300 boys & girls & 140 infants; & is under the management of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.

The Wesleyan Centenary, Bridge street, Mill lane (mixed & infants), erected in 1839 at a cost of £1,300 & since altered & refitted for 420 children; in 1895 cloak & class rooms were added, at a cost of £500; average attendance, 350; it has an organ given by Mr. David Holland & in the school are full-length portraits of Mr. Thomas Allen & Mr. Joshua Thorley, by whose exertions & liberality the chapel & school were erected.

Wesleyan, Mill street (mixed & infants'), built in 1819 & enlarged 1889, for 490 children; average attendance, 450.

Industrial, Brook street, mainly supported by grants from the Treasury & local authorities (not including Macclesfield); it will hold 150 children.

ALMSHOUSES

Almshouses, Cumberland street, built & endowed by Mrs. Elizabeth Stanley, in 1703, for three poor aged widows.

Fence Almshouses, Buxton road, built & endowed by Frank D. Brocklehurst esq. in 1895, for four aged persons.