Mellor, Greater Manchester
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Mellor is a village in the
Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...
district, in
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
, England; it lies between
Marple Bridge Marple Bridge is a district of Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The River Goyt runs through the centre of the village. Marple Bridge shares borders with Mellor, Marple, Compstall, New Mills, Str ...
and
New Mills New Mills is a small town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England, south-east of Stockport and from Manchester at the confluence of the River Goyt and River Sett, Sett. It is close to the border with Cheshire and above the Torrs, a ...
in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
. It was a
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the county of Derbyshire until 1936, when it was transferred to
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
. In 1974, it became part of the
Metropolitan Borough of Stockport The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is south-east of central Manchester and south of Tameside. As well as the towns of Stockport, Bredbury and Marple, Greater Manchester, Marple, ...
, in Greater Manchester.


Etymology

The name ''Mellor'' is first attested in the thirteenth century, in the forms '' Melver'' and ''Meluer''. Its origin lies in the
Common Brittonic Common Brittonic (; ; ), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages. It is a form of Insular Cel ...
words which survive in modern Welsh as ("bare") and ("hill"). Thus the name once meant "the bare hill".


History

The name ''Mellor'' does not appear in the Norman-era Domesday Book, although the neighbouring settlement of Ludworth (recorded as ''Lodeuorde'') is listed. It is possible that Ludworth originally included Mellor and that they split into two distinct areas at a later date. The
Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
built a church at the southernmost end of the Iron Age settlement at some point in the 7th or 8th centuries. The church was subsequently destroyed and rebuilt, possibly several times. St. Thomas' Church has the oldest known wooden pulpit in Britain, possibly the world. Dating from the reign of
Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...
(1307–1327), it is octagonal and carved from a single piece of wood. The church also has a 12th-century
font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...
. According to local legend, Mellor Hall is built on the foundations of the house of a Norman nobleman. During excavations of the Iron Age hill fort, a 13th-century hall was discovered. By the time of the English Civil War, Marple had become important in the region, so much so that John Bradshawe, Lord President of the High Court of Justice and Lord of Marple Hall, was the first to sign the death warrant of King Charles I.
Samuel Oldknow Samuel Oldknow (1756–1828) was an English cotton manufacturer. Early life and family Samuel Oldknow Jnr, the eldest son of Samuel Oldknow Sr and Margery Foster, was born on 5 October 1756 in Anderton, near Chorley in Lancashire. He had a yo ...
was a significant businessman and mill owner in Mellor during the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
. Just across the
River Goyt The River Goyt is a tributary of the River Mersey in North West England. Etymology The name ''Goyt'' may be derived from the Middle English ''gote'', meaning "a watercourse, a stream". Derivation from the Welsh ''gwyth'' meaning "vein" has be ...
are the "Roman Lakes". These are not
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
, but were water reservoirs for Samuel Oldknow's Mellor Mill, a cotton mill that was a major employer in the area during the Industrial Revolution. The mill was destroyed by fire in November 1892. Another major figure in Mellor at this time was William Radcliffe, a mill owner who invented many devices for improving the textile industry. At the height of the Industrial Revolution, coal-power supplanted water-power as the driving force and minable coal seams were found in Mellor. Relatively recently,
British Coal The British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation responsible for the mining of coal in the United Kingdom from 1987 until it was effectively dissolved in 1997. The corporation was created by renaming its predecessor, the National Co ...
strip-mined the seams that still contained commercially viable coal. Before it expanded in the Victorian era, Mellor was a small village of a few houses; it included the hamlet of Moorend, now considered part of Mellor.


Geography

Mellor lies in the foothills of the
Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
, just outside of the area of Derbyshire known as the High Peak. Nearby villages include
Rowarth Rowarth is a hamlet about 2.5 miles (4 km) north of New Mills in the High Peak borough of Derbyshire, England. It is on the edge of the Peak District, in the hills between New Mills and Marple Bridge, within the parish boundary of New Mills ...
,
Marple Bridge Marple Bridge is a district of Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The River Goyt runs through the centre of the village. Marple Bridge shares borders with Mellor, Marple, Compstall, New Mills, Str ...
, Ludworth and
Mill Brow Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...
. The town of Marple lies across the River Goyt. A little further away are the towns of
Romiley Romiley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Cheshire, it borders Marple, Greater Manchester, Marple, Bredbury and Woodley, Greater Manchester, Wood ...
and
New Mills New Mills is a small town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England, south-east of Stockport and from Manchester at the confluence of the River Goyt and River Sett, Sett. It is close to the border with Cheshire and above the Torrs, a ...
, and the villages of Hayfield and
Strines Strines is a village in Greater Manchester, in the valley of the River Goyt. It is located midway between Marple and New Mills, about six miles south-east of Stockport. The village falls within the Marple parish and the Metropolitan Borough o ...
. Mellor Church and
Mellor Hall Mellor Hall is a country house in Mellor, Greater Manchester, England, north of the Devonshire Arms off Longhurst Lane. The completion date of the present hall is thought to be 1688. The hall and the adjoining farmhouse, dated to 1691 and ori ...
are on a
ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...
, separated from the bulk of the village by a gully and stream. The oldest part of inhabited Mellor runs alongside the River Goyt, stretching from the oldest parts of Marple Bridge up the hill and spreading out where the slope becomes gentler. Newer parts of the village run down Longhurst Lane, the old turnpike road, and into former farmland released for building by Townscliffe Farm. At the very top of Mellor is the junction of Five Ways; one of these roads runs to Mellor, a second to Rowarth, a third to Strines and New Mills, the fourth to a water treatment plant and a fifth to many farms on the edge of Mellor. Spoil heaps indicate mining operations here; coal was mined in the general area during the Industrial Revolution. Due to its topology, Mellor lies on one of the easier points for entering the Pennines from the Mersey Basin by road or foot. It is also on the flight path for air traffic into
Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2024, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passengers (the busiest outside of London) ...
.


Geology

Mellor is within a
gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for ...
area in a part of the
Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...
referred to as the
Dark Peak The Dark Peak is the higher and wilder part of the Peak District in England, mostly forming the northern section but also extending south into its eastern and western margins. It is mainly in Derbyshire but parts are in Staffordshire, Cheshire ...
; in contrast, the
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
region of the Peak District is referred to as the
White Peak The White Peak, also known as the Low Peak, is a limestone plateau that forms the central and southern part of the Peak District in England. It is mostly between and above sea-level and is enclosed by the higher altitude Dark Peak (also know ...
. The underlying geology of the area belongs to the
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
Millstone Grit series, which outcrop as the Middle Grit. Below this are shales, mudstones and older Gritstones, such as the Kinder Scout Grit which forms the Kinder Plateau to the east.
Boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...
, left from the
Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
, can usually be found just below the surface-level soil. At one point, all of the Peak District – Mellor included – was submerged beneath relatively warm waters; evidence for this is the limestone region, with the limestone containing
fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
of
coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
and other shallow-depth warm-water creatures. The gritstone comes from deposits laid down about 300 million years ago over the limestone. Shallow coal deposits lie on top of the gritstone, although most of these have long since been mined. Very deep coal deposits occur further into the Pennines but, again, many of these have been worked out. The soil in Mellor is fairly rich in
peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
and can bog easily, but there are no permanent
peat bogs A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and mus ...
within Mellor itself. The only other noteworthy detail on Mellor's geology is the almost complete absence of
iodine Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...
, particularly in the water of the River Goyt. If no other source of iodine is in the diet, the consequent iodine deficiency can lead to an enlarged
thyroid gland The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, it is a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck below the Adam's apple. It consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by ...
, a condition known as "
Derbyshire Neck Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south an ...
" or
goitre A goitre (British English), or goiter (American English), is a swelling in the neck resulting from an enlarged thyroid gland. A goitre can be associated with a thyroid that is not functioning properly. Worldwide, over 90% of goitre cases are ...
.


Governance

Mellor was formerly a
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
and
chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...
in the parish of
Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...
. In 1866, Mellor became a separate
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
; the parish was abolished and merged with Marple on 1 April 1936 and became part of
Marple Urban District Marple is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is on the River Goyt, south-east of Manchester, north of Macclesfield and south-east of Stockport. At the 2021 census, the built up area had a popul ...
in
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
. In 1931, the parish had a population of 1712. In 1974, it became part of the Stockport district in Greater Manchester.


Demography

According to the
Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...
, at the time of the 2001 Census, Mellor had a population of 2,394. The 2001 population density was , with a 100 to 92.1 female-to-male ratio. Of those over 16 years old, 18.8% were single (never married), 54.6% married and 6.6% divorced. This was significantly different to the borough and country figures, with a higher rate of marriages and fewer single people. Mellor's 1,070 households included 27.4% one-person, 43.5% married couples living together, 5.7% were co-habiting couples and 5.9% single parents with their children. Of those aged 16–74, 20.9% had no academic qualifications. At the 2001 UK census, 88.4% of Mellor's residents reported themselves as Christian, 1.0% Muslim and 0.2% Hindu. The census recorded 5.8% as having no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion and 4.4% did not state their religion.


Population change


Economy

A few small businesses work out of the old mills that scatter the countryside. There is a limited amount of farming, principally grazing livestock of sheep and beef cattle. Horses are also common and horse-riding is a popular pursuit in the area, which benefits from many ancient bridleways. According to the 2001 UK census, the industry of employment of residents of Mellor aged 16–74 was 18.3% manufacturing, 16.3% retail and wholesale, 12.2% health and social work, 12.0% education, 11.7% property and business services, 6.6% public administration, 4.6% construction, 4.5% transport and communications, 4.2% hotels and restaurants, 2.7% finance, 2.0% agriculture, 0.7% energy and water supply, and 4.2% other. Compared with national figures, the town had a relatively high proportion of people working in education, agriculture and public administration, with low levels of people working in finance, transport and communications. The census recorded the economic activity of residents aged 16–74, 1.8% students were with jobs, 3.4% students without jobs, 3.1% looking after home or family, 4.1% permanently sick or disabled, and 1.1% economically inactive for other reasons.


Amenities

Buildings in the village include St. Thomas' Church, a primary school, golf course, sports club and a riding school. There are three pubs: the Royal Oak, the Devonshire Arms and the Oddfellows Arms.


Transport

Mellor is served by three bus routes: * 385, operated by
Diamond Bus North West Diamond Bus (North West) Ltd., trading as Diamond North West, is a bus operator providing services in the districts of Bolton and Wigan in Greater Manchester, England, operating an extensive commercial network as well as franchised Bee Network b ...
, runs between Stockport, Marple and Hazel Grove; the service is hourly on weekdays * 802 and 819 school services also run between Mellor, Marple Hall School and Harrytown Catholic High School respectively, operated by
Metroline Manchester Metroline Manchester is a bus operator in Greater Manchester, England. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro, operating franchised Bee Network bus services under contract to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). History ComfortDelGro, throug ...
. The village does not have its own railway station. The closest is , on the
Hope Valley line The Hope Valley line is a trans-Pennine railway line in Northern England, linking Manchester with Sheffield. It was completed in 1894. Passenger services on the line are operated by Northern Trains, East Midlands Railway and TransPennine ...
; Northern Trains provides services between , and .


Sport

;Lacrosse Mellor
Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...
Team has enjoyed success in its 80-year history, winning the North of England men's championship on many occasions, the most recent being 2006. The club has three men's senior teams and a junior section; it has recently created a ladies team. The club also regularly plays host to touring teams from the US at junior and senior level. ;Football Mellor Football Club was founded in 1923 by members of the Hambleton Family. Mellor FC's home ground is Wood Lane in Marple and the club currently boasts four open-age teams. Mellor 1st XI are currently in the Premier Division of the Lancashire & Cheshire League and won the Stockport Senior Cup in the 2004–05 season. ;Cricket Mellor Cricket Club had two senior teams that played in the Derbyshire and Cheshire League, having previously played in the Glossop and District League for many years and, before that, in the High Peak League. They now play in the Cheshire County League 3rd XI Saturday Division 2 as Marple-Mellor, having resigned from the Derbyshire and Cheshire League in 2008. ;Tennis The tennis club was formed between 1945 and 1950. It originally had only one grass court; this was later extended to include two shale courts and later to include two all-weather courts. These were then replaced with astroturf. It has three men's and three ladies' teams in the Slazenger North East Cheshire League. ;Badminton Mellor's badminton club has eight teams: two teams in the Tameside Badminton League, three in the Stockport Badminton League and three Junior teams in the Stockport Badminton League. ;Golf The golf course runs through a sparsely populated section of the oldest inhabited part of Mellor. The course offers a view over Greater Manchester and, on a clear day, the Welsh Mountains can be seen.


Societies

There are a number of societies within Mellor, ranging from church activities to painting and rambling. Some of these societies run charitable events in the area. For example, every four years, the local residents open a number of private gardens during an event known as the Mellor Open Gardens day. The purpose of the event is to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and the support of the local Parish Centre. Another event is the Mellor March, in which ramblers carry out a sponsored walk to traverse the boundary of Mellor.


See also

*
Listed buildings in Marple, Greater Manchester Marple is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The town, together with the villages of High Lane, Marple Bridge, Mellor, and Strines, and the surrounding countryside, contains 141 listed buildings th ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* *


External links

General information
The Mellor Society

Mellor View – Local Blog
Geography
Walking maps of Mellor and surrounds
Historical information for Mellor




Discovery of Medieval Aisled Hall



Domesday Book entry for Ludworth/Mellor, from The National Archives


* ttp://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~glossopfamily/census.htm Census records for Mellor, 1841
Range of historical records relating to the area




– Briefly covers William Radcliffe
Mellor Archaeological Trust study of Oldknow's mill
{{authority control Villages in Greater Manchester Towns and villages of the Peak District Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Cheshire places with etymologically Brittonic names Former civil parishes in Cheshire