Sale is a town in
Trafford
Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sa ...
, Greater Manchester, England.
It is on the south bank of the
River Mersey
The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...
, south of
Stretford
Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, sited on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal; the Bridgewater Canal bisects the town. The town is located south of Manchester, south of Salfo ...
, northeast of
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...
, and southwest of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. Sale lies within the
historic county boundaries of
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 ...
, and became part of Greater Manchester in 1974. At the
2021 census, the Sale built up area as defined by 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 ...
had a population of 62,550.
Evidence of
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
,
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 ...
and
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
activity has previously been discovered locally. Sale was historically a rural
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 ...
in the parish of
Ashton upon Mersey
Ashton upon Mersey is an area in Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre and immediately adjoins Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale to the east. It gives its name to t ...
; its fields and meadows were used for crop and cattle farming. By the 17th century, Sale had a cottage industry manufacturing garthweb, the woven material from which horses'
saddle girths were made.
The
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was ...
reached the town in 1765, stimulating Sale's urbanisation. The arrival of the railway in 1849 triggered Sale's growth as an important town and place for people who wanted to travel to and from Manchester, leading to an influx of middle class residents; by the end of the 19th century, the town's population had more than tripled. Agriculture gradually declined as
service industries
Service industries are those not directly concerned with the production of physical goods (such as agriculture and manufacturing).
Some service industries, including transportation, wholesale trade and retail trade are part of the supply chai ...
boomed.
Sale became a separate
ecclesiastical parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
from Ashton upon Mersey in 1856 and 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 ...
in 1866. It was administered as a
local government district
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
from 1867, which became an
urban district
An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter
Specific urban districts in some countries include:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Districts of Germa ...
in 1894. In 1930, Sale Urban District absorbed Ashton upon Mersey, and in 1935 it was raised to the status of a
municipal borough
A municipal borough was a type of local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...
. The borough of Sale was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the
metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...
of Trafford in Greater Manchester.
Since then, Sale has continued to thrive as one of the main urban centres of Trafford due to its proximity to the
M60 motorway
The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through all of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolt ...
and the connections to Manchester and other areas by the
Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...
network.
History
Founding
A
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
arrowhead discovered in Sale suggests a prehistoric human presence at the location,
[Swain (1987), p. 9.] but there is no further evidence of activity in the area until the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
. A 4th-century
hoard
A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...
of 46 Roman coins was discovered in Ashton upon Mersey, one of four known hoards dating from that period discovered within the Mersey
basin.
Sale lies along the line of the
Roman road
Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
which runs between the fortresses at
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
(
Deva Victrix
Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary castra, fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester. The fortress was built by the Legio II Adiutrix, Legio II ''Adiutrix'' in the 70s AD as the ...
) and
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
(
Eboracum
Eboracum () was a castra, fort and later a coloniae, city in the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the ...
), via the
fort
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
at
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
(
Mamucium
Mamucium, also known as Mancunium, is a former Roman fort in the Castlefield area of Manchester in North West England. The ''Castra, castrum'', which was founded c. AD 79 within the Roman province of Roman Britain, was garrisoned by a ...
);
[Nevell (1997), p. 20.] the present-day
A56 follows the route of the road through the town.
After the
Roman departure from Britain in the early-5th century, Britain was invaded by the
Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
.
Some local field and road names, and the name of Sale itself, are Anglo-Saxon in origin, which indicates the town was founded in the 7th or 8th centuries. The
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
''salh'', from which "Sale" is derived, means "at the
sallow tree", and Ashton upon Mersey means "village or farm near the
ash trees". Although the
townships
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 ...
of Sale and Ashton upon Mersey were not mentioned in the ''
Domesday Book
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
'' of 1086, that may be because only a partial survey was taken. The first recorded occurrences of Sale and Ashton upon Mersey are in 1199–1216 and 1260 respectively. The settlements were referred to as townships rather than
manors, which suggests further evidence of Anglo-Saxon origins as townships were developed by the Saxons.
Early history
The manor of Sale was one of 30 held by
William FitzNigel, a powerful 12th century baron in north Cheshire. He divided it between Thomas de Sale and Adam de Carrington, who acted as
Lords of the Manor
Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
on FitzNigel's behalf.
[Swain (1987), p. 20.] On de Sale's death, his land passed to his son-in-law, John Holt; de Carrington's land passed into the ownership of Richard de Massey, a member of the Masseys who were Barons of
Dunham. Sale descended through the Holt and Massey families until the 17th century, when their respective lands were sold.
Sale Old Hall was built in about 1603 for James Massey, probably to replace a medieval
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
, and was one of the first buildings in northwest England to be made of brick.
[Swain (1987), p. 22.] It was rebuilt in 1840 and demolished in 1920, but two buildings in its grounds have survived: its
dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...
, now in
Walkden Gardens, and its lodge, the latter now occupied by Sale Golf Club.

In 1745, Crossford Bridge – which dated back to at least 1367 – was torn down. It was one of a series of bridges crossing the River Mersey destroyed by order of the government, to slow the advance of
Jacobite forces during the
Jacobite rising. The Jacobites repaired the bridge upon reaching Manchester, and used it to send a small force into Sale and Altrincham. Their intention was to deceive the authorities into believing that the Jacobites were heading for Chester. The feint was successful and the main Jacobite army later marched south through
Cheadle and
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 ...
instead.
The extension of the Bridgewater Canal to
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...
was completed as far as Sale by 1765, and transformed the town's economy by providing a quick and cheap route into Manchester for fresh produce.
[Swain (1987), p. 44.] Farmers who took their wares to market in Manchester brought back
night soil
Night soil is a historical euphemism for Human waste, human excreta collected from cesspit, cesspools, privies, pail closets, pit latrines, privy middens, septic tanks, etc. This material was removed from the immediate area, usually at night, by ...
to fertilise the fields. Not everyone benefited from the canal however; several
yeomen
Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century witnessed ...
claimed that their crops were damaged by flooding from the Barfoot Bridge aqueduct. A 1777 map shows the village of Cross Street, on the site of the road now of the same name, divided between the townships of Sale and Ashton upon Mersey.
[Swain (1987), p. 40.] The village was first referred to in 1586 and is believed to have originated around this time. The map also shows that Sale was spread out, mainly consisting of farmhouses around Dane Road, Fairy Lane, and Old Hall Road.
Sale absorbed Cross Street as it expanded.
About of "wasteland" known as Sale Moor was
enclosed in 1807, to be divided between the landowners in Sale. This was part of a nationwide initiative to begin cultivation of
common land
Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
A person ...
to lessen the food shortage caused by the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. Records of
poor relief
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
in the town start in 1808, a time when the region was in the grip of an
economic depression
An economic depression is a period of carried long-term economic downturn that is the result of lowered economic activity in one or more major national economies. It is often understood in economics that economic crisis and the following recession ...
.
Poorhouse
A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy.
Workhouses
In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), "workhouse" has been the more ...
s, where
pauper
Pauperism (; ) is the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the Irish and English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally the state of being supported at public expense, within or outside of ...
s could stay rent-free, were built in the early-19th century, reflecting the poor state of the local economy.
[Swain (1987), p. 68.] In 1829,
Samuel Brooks acquired of land in Sale – about a quarter of the township – from
George Grey, 6th Earl of Stamford. The area later became known as Brooklands after the land owner.
Development
The
Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway
The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) was a suburban railway which operated an route between Altrincham in Cheshire and Manchester London Road railway station (now Manchester Piccadilly station, Piccadilly) in Manches ...
opened in 1849,
[Nevell (1997), p. 97.] and led to the middle classes using Sale as a commuter town, a residence away from their place of work.
[Swain (1987), p. 85.] This resulted in Sale's population more than tripling by the end of the 19th century.
[Nevell (1997), p. 87.] The land in Sale Moor was the cheapest in the town because the soil was poor and difficult to cultivate, which was part of the reason the area was common land until the early 19th century. However, when the railway opened, Sale Moor was close to the station and became the most expensive area in Sale. Villas were built in Sale Moor, and a few in Ashton upon Mersey as the demand for land increased. They were often decorated with stained glass or different coloured bricks in an attempt to make them "mansions in miniature" for the aspiring middle class.
Pressure from an increasing population led to the town being supplied with amenities such as sewers, which were built in 1875–1880; and Sale was connected to the telephone network in 1888. As in the late-19th century, the early-20th century saw a great deal of construction work in Sale. The town's first swimming baths were built in 1914,
[Swain (1987), p. 134.] and its first cinema, the Palace, was opened during the First World War. The end of the war in 1918 resulted in a rush of marriages, which highlighted a shortage of housing.
[Swain (1987), pp. 119, 123.] The local councils of Sale and Ashton upon Mersey took the initiative of building
council housing
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...
, and rented it to the local population at below market rates. By the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in 1939, Sale had 594 council houses.
The building programme was interrupted by the start of the war.
additional private housing development brought the total of inter-war houses built in Sale to around 900, including large housing estates like Woodheys Hall estate in Ashton.
Sale was never officially evacuated during the war, and even received families from evacuated areas, although it was not considered far enough from likely targets to be an official destination for evacuees.
[Swain (1987), p. 133.] The town's proximity to Manchester, an industrial centre directed towards the war effort, did result in a number of bombing raids.
Incendiaries
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...
dropped on Sale in September 1940 caused no casualties, but did damage two houses on Norman Road. In a bombing incident the following November, four people were injured and a school was damaged; on 22 December 1940, twelve people were injured by bombs.
On the night of 23 December, much of Manchester suffered heavy bombing in what became known as the
Manchester Blitz
The Manchester Blitz (also known as the Christmas Blitz) was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in North West England during the Second World War by the German ''Luftwaffe''. It was one of three major raid ...
. Six hundred incendiary bombs were dropped on Sale in three hours. There were no injuries, but
Sale Town Hall
Sale Town Hall is a municipal building on School Road in Sale, Greater Manchester, England. The town hall was the headquarters of Sale Borough Council until the council was abolished in 1974.
History
After rapid development as a commuter town, ...
and St Paul's Church were severely damaged.
On 3 August 1943, at 11:50 pm, a
Wellington Bomber on a training exercise crashed in Walton Park in the south-west of the town. Of the six-man crew, consisting of five members of the
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...
and one member of the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
, the pilot and the bomb-aimer were killed.
Sale's shopping centre was redeveloped during the 1960s, as part of the town's post-war regeneration. In 1973, the shopping precinct in the town centre, which had grown up in the mid-19th century, was also redeveloped and pedestrianised in an attempt to increase trade.
The construction of the M63 motorway (subsequently renamed the M60) in 1972 led to the creation of Sale Water Park. To minimise the risk of flooding, the new road was built on an embankment, for which the necessary gravel was extracted from what is today an artificial lake and water-sports centre. Opportunities for leisure were increased when the old swimming baths, demolished in 1971, were replaced in 1973 by a new complex built on the same site.
Governance
There is one main tier of local government covering Sale, at
metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...
level:
Trafford Council
Trafford Council, or Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government service ...
. The council is a member of the
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a combined authority for Greater Manchester, England. It was established on 1 April 2011 and consists of 11 members: 10 indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from one ...
, which is led by the directly-elected
Mayor of Greater Manchester
The mayor of Greater Manchester is the directly elected metro mayor, mayor of Greater Manchester, responsible for strategic governance in the region that includes health, transport, housing, strategic planning, waste management, policing, the G ...
. For national elections, Sale straddles the two constituencies of
Altrincham and Sale West and
Wythenshawe and Sale East.
Administrative history
Historically, Sale was 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 ...
in the
ancient 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 ...
of
Ashton upon Mersey
Ashton upon Mersey is an area in Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre and immediately adjoins Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale to the east. It gives its name to t ...
, which formed part of the
Bucklow Hundred
The hundred of Bucklow was an ancient division of the historic county of Cheshire, in northern England. It was known to have been in existence at least as early as 1260, and it was formed from the earlier Domesday hundreds of Bochelau and Tun ...
of Cheshire. In 1836 the township also became part of the Altrincham
Poor Law Union
A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland.
Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...
.
From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under the
poor laws
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged in the late 1940s.
E ...
, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Ashton upon Mersey, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so Sale also became 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 terms of
ecclesiastical parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
es, Sale was separated from Ashton upon Mersey in 1856, following the completion of St Anne's Church in 1854. The ecclesiastical parish was subsequently divided as more churches were built.

The Sale township was made a
local government district
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
in 1867, administered by an elected local board. Such districts were reconstituted as
urban districts under the
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...
.
The urban district council built Sale Town Hall
Sale Town Hall is a municipal building on School Road in Sale, Greater Manchester, England. The town hall was the headquarters of Sale Borough Council until the council was abolished in 1974.
History
After rapid development as a commuter town, ...
on School Road to serve as its headquarters, opening in 1915. The council was granted a coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
in 1920, with the motto ''Salus et felicitas'' (health and happiness).
In 1930, Sale Urban District was enlarged to take in neighbouring Ashton upon Mersey, which had been its own urban district from 1895.[Youngs (1991), pp. 6, 33, 644–646][Swain (1987), p. 119.] In 1935, Sale Urban District was incorporated to become a municipal borough
A municipal borough was a type of local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...
;[ prior to that it was reported to have been the urban district with the largest population and highest rateable value in the country.
The borough of Sale was abolished in 1974 under the ]Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
. The area became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford
Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sale. The borough wa ...
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. ...
.
Geography
At (53.4246, −2.322), Sale lies respectively to the north and south of the neighbouring towns of Altrincham and Stretford, and southwest of Manchester city centre
Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England, within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way, which collectively form an inner ring road. The City Centre ward had a ...
. The district of Wythenshawe
Wythenshawe () is an area of Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a large housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approximately , ...
is to the southeast. Sale is in the Mersey Valley, about above sea level on generally flat ground. The River Mersey, which runs just north of the town, is prone to flooding during heavy rains, so the Sale Water Park
Sale Water Park is a area of parkland including a artificial lake in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. Opened in 1979 and owned by Trafford Council, the water park lies in an area of the green belt running ...
, close to the town's northern boundary, acts as an emergency flood basin. The man-made, and thus more controllable, Bridgewater Canal runs through the centre of the town.
Sale's local drift geology consists of sand and gravel deposited about 10,000 years ago, during the last 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 ...
. The bedrock is Bunter sandstone
The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...
in the west and Triassic
The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...
waterstone in the east. United Utilities
United Utilities Group plc (UU) is the United Kingdom's largest listed water company. It was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West En ...
obtains the town's drinking water from the Lake District
The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
. Sale's climate is generally temperate, like the rest of Greater Manchester. The mean highest and lowest temperatures ( and ) are slightly above the national average, while the annual rainfall () and average hours of sunshine (1394.5 hours) are respectively above and below the national averages.
The town's main districts are Ashton upon Mersey
Ashton upon Mersey is an area in Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre and immediately adjoins Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale to the east. It gives its name to t ...
in the northwest, Sale Moor in the southeast, and Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...
in the southwest. The main commercial area is Sale town centre, in the central northern area of the town, but smaller commercial centres are also found in Ashton upon Mersey and Sale Moor. Brooklands is the most densely populated area. Most of the parks, including Worthington and Walton, are in the central and southern areas, leaving Ashton upon Mersey and Sale Moor with a shortage of accessible green space.
Sale's built environment
The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...
is varied, with a mixture of modern and old buildings. Some terraces, semi-detached houses and villas, survive from the Victorian period, although many of the larger houses have been converted into flats. Many semi-detached houses survive from the 1930s, when there was a need for new housing in the town as a result of a growing population and an increasingly wealthy middle class. Interspersed with these older structures are newer housing developments, such as the estates built in Ashton upon Mersey and the east of Sale during the 1970s.
Demography
As of the 2001 UK census
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.
The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
, Sale had a population of 55,234. The 2001 population density was , with a 100 to 94.2 female-to-male ratio. Of those over 16 years old, 30.0% were single (never married), 51.3% married and 7.8% divorced. Although the proportion of divorced people was similar to that of Trafford and England, the rates of those who were single and married were significantly different from the national and Trafford averages (Trafford: 44.3% single, 35.6% married; England: 44.3% single, 34.7% married). Sale's 24,027 households included 32.2% one-person, 37.8% married couples living together, 8.3% were co-habiting couples, and 8.5% single parents with their children, these figures were similar to those of Trafford and England. Of those aged 16–74, 22.3% had no academic qualifications, similar to that of 24.7% in all of Trafford but significantly lower than 28.9% in all of England.[ Retrieved on 5 August 2008.] Sale had a much higher percentage of adults with a diploma or degree than Greater Manchester as a whole. Of Sale residents aged 16–74, 26.7% had an educational qualification such as first degree, higher degree, qualified teacher status, qualified medical doctor, qualified dentist, qualified nurse, midwife, or health visitor, compared to 20% nationwide.
Originally a working class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
town, there was an influx of middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
people in the mid-19th century when businessmen began using Sale as a commuter town. Since then, Sale has had a greater proportion of middle class residents than the national average. In 1931, 22.7% of Sale's population was middle class compared with 14% in England and Wales, and by 1971, this had increased to 36.3% compared with 24% nationally. Parallel to this increase in the middle classes of Sale was the decline of the working class population. In 1931, 20.3% were working class compared with 36% in England and Wales; by 1971, this had decreased to 15.4% in Sale and 26% nationwide. The rest of the population was made up of clerical workers and skilled manual workers. The change in social structure in the town was at a similar rate to that of the rest of the nation but was biased towards the middle classes, transforming Sale into the middle class town it is today.
Population change
According to the hearth tax
A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is con ...
returns of 1664, the township of Sale had a population of about 365. Parish registers show that the area experienced steady population growth during the 17th and 18th centuries, more so during the latter half of the 19th century (due to 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 ...
). This later growth was less rapid than that seen in neighbouring areas such as Altrincham, Bowdon or Stretford. The increase in growth in the latter half of the 19th century also coincides with the arrival of the railway, indicative of Sale's growth as a commuter town.[Nevell (1997), p. 86.] A huge increase in population in 1921–1931 is accounted for by the administrative merger of Sale with Ashton upon Mersey in 1930.[Swain (1987), p. 139.] Steady growth thereon is evident until 1981, when the decline of industry in Trafford and the Greater Manchester area accounts for a reduction in the town's population. This follows the general population trend for 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. ...
, with residents relocating to new jobs.
Economy
During the medieval period, most of the land was used for growing crops and raising livestock such as cattle. The produce from arable farming would have been sufficient to support the local population, but the cattle would have been sold to the ruling classes. Agriculture provided the main source of employment for Sale's residents until the mid-19th century. Industry was slow to develop in the area, as in most of what would become Trafford. This was partly because of the reluctance of the two main land owners in the area, the Stamfords and the de Traffords, to invest. Although weaving was common in Sale during the late 17th and early 18th century, by 1851 only 4% of the population was employed in that industry.
Along with the rest of the region, Sale's economy during the early-19th century was weak, a state of affairs which persisted until the arrival of the railway in the middle of the century. Despite the dominance of agriculture, there was a growing service industry; Sale and Ashton upon Mersey experienced a growth in numbers employed in retail and domestic services in the first half of the 19th century. By 1901, less than 20% of Sale residents were employed in agriculture. Employment was available in workhouse
In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...
s for those who could not find work elsewhere. Sale was part of the Altrincham Union, which ran the nearest work house in Altrincham.
The main shopping centre in Sale, Stanley Square (formerly known as "the Square Shopping Centre"; the name was changed in 2021), was constructed in the 1960s on the site of a former Methodist chapel. Following the Trafford Centre's opening in 1998, it was expected that the centre would suffer, but it has since prospered. In 2003 the Square Shopping Centre underwent a £7 million refurbishment, a major part of the redevelopment of Sale's town centre. It was sold for £40M in 2005, by which time the Square had experienced an increase in trade and demand for tenancy that had led to an increase of 70% in rental income. The town's economy expanded to the extent that in 2007, at a time when the rest of south Manchester was oversupplied with office space, Sale's available office and commercial space was at an all-time low because of high demand.
According to the 2001 UK census, the industry of employment of residents aged 16–74 was 18.4% property and business services, 15.9% retail and wholesale, 11.1% manufacturing, 10.9% health and social work, 9.1% education, 7.8% transport and communications, 6.1% construction, 6.3% finance, 4.5% public administration, 3.8% hotels and restaurants, 0.7% energy and water supply, 0.5% agriculture, 0.2% mining, and 4.7% other. Compared with national figures, the town had a relatively high percentage of residents working in property, business services and finance. The town had a relatively low percentage working in agriculture, public administration, and manufacturing. The census recorded the economic activity of residents aged 16–74, 2.6% students were with jobs, 3.3% students without jobs, 4.9% looking after home or family, 5.2% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.3% economically inactive for other reasons. The 2.4% unemployment rate of Sale was low compared with the national rate of 3.3%.
Culture
Landmarks and attractions
Sale has three Grade II* listed buildings – two churches ( St. Martin and St. John the Divine) and Ashton New Hall – and eighteen Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
s.[ Retrieved on 31 July 2008.] The cenotaph outside the town hall was designed by Ashton upon Mersey sculptor Arthur Sherwood Edwards and is a Grade II listed building. It commemorates the 400 men from Sale who died in the First World War and the 300 who died in the Second World War. The memorial consists of a statue of a mourning Saint George
Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
on top of a granite pedestal. Costing £600 (£ as of ), it was funded by public subscription and unveiled in May 1925 in front of a crowd of 10,000.
The oldest surviving building in Sale is Eyebrow Cottage. Built around 1670, it was originally a yeoman
Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...
farmhouse and is one of the earliest brick buildings in the area. Its name is derived from the decorative brickwork above the windows. It was built in Cross Street, which at the time was a separate village from Sale. Of the twenty-one conservation areas in Trafford, two are in Sale: part of Church Lane, Ashton-upon-Mersey, and Brogden Grove.
A bronze bust of James Joule
James Prescott Joule (; 24 December 1818 11 October 1889) was an English physicist. Joule studied the nature of heat and discovered its relationship to mechanical work. This led to the law of conservation of energy, which in turn led to the ...
, the physicist who gave his name to the SI unit of energy, is in Worthington Park. Originally a tower was to have been erected in his honour, but lack of donations led to the production of the bust as a substitute; it was unveiled in 1905. Joule moved to Sale in the 1870s for his health; he died at his home at 12 Wardle Road in 1889, and is buried in Brooklands Cemetery.
The area has several parks and green spaces. Worthington Park, originally called Sale Park, was opened in 1900. It features a bandstand, gardens, play areas, and a skate ramp and is maintained by Trafford Council and The Friends of Worthington Park. Opened in 1939, Walton Park is in the southwest of the town and features a miniature railway.[ Retrieved on 18 June 2016.] Sale Water Park
Sale Water Park is a area of parkland including a artificial lake in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. Opened in 1979 and owned by Trafford Council, the water park lies in an area of the green belt running ...
is an artificial lake, created from a deep gravel pit left during the construction of the M60. It opened in 1980 and is a venue for water sports, fishing and bird watching. The water park is the site of the Broad Ees Dole wildlife refuge, a local nature reserve that provides a home for migrating birds.[ Retrieved on 27 April 2007.] Woodheys Park, also known as Pinky Park, consists of a well-maintained pitch and putt course, grass area, a five a side football pitch and other amenities.
Events and venues
Situated next to the town hall, the Waterside Arts Centre houses a plaza, a library, the Robert Bolt
Robert Oxton Bolt (15 August 1924 – 20 February 1995) was an English playwright and a screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for '' Lawrence of Arabia'', '' Doctor Zhivago'', and '' A Man for All Seasons'', the latter two of which w ...
Theatre, the Lauriston Gallery, and the Corridor Gallery. The centre, which was opened in 2004, regularly hosts concerts, exhibitions and other community events. Performers have included comedian Lucy Porter, Midge Ure
James "Midge" Ure (; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, ...
, Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...
, The Zombies
The Zombies are an English Rock music, rock band formed in St Albans in 1961. Led by keyboardist/vocalist Rod Argent and lead vocalist Colin Blunstone, the group had their first British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the U ...
and Sue Perkins
Susan Elizabeth Perkins (born 22 September 1969) is an English actress, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer. Originally coming to prominence through her comedy partnership with Mel Giedroyc in ''Mel and Sue'', she progressed into radio a ...
. In 2004, the centre received the British Urban Regeneration Association Award for its innovative use of space and for reinvigorating Sale town centre.
Sale has a Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...
society, formed in 1972, which performs at the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse. The group is directed by Alistair Donkin, a former principal comic for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The ...
. Members of the group have won several awards at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival
The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival was founded in 1994 by Ian Smith and his son Neil and is held every summer in England. The two- or three-week Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan opera performances and fringe events attracts thousands ...
. Sale Brass is a traditional brass band based in Sale, formed in about 1849 as the Stretford Temperance Band. Its first recorded performance was at the 1849 opening of the railway between Manchester and Altrincham.
Sport
The rugby union side Sale F.C. has been based in Sale since 1861 and at its present Heywood Road ground since 1905. One of the oldest rugby clubs in the world, its 1865 ''Minute Book'' is the oldest existing book containing the rules of the game. The professional Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...
team was originally part of Sale F.C. but split from it in 2003. Sale Sharks now play their matches at Salford Community Stadium, although they retain the use of the Heywood Road ground for training and for the staging of home games involving their reserve team, Sale Jets.[ Retrieved on 2 arch 2014.] The town is also home to the Ashton upon Mersey and Trafford Metrovick rugby union clubs.
Sale Harriers Manchester Athletics Club was formed in 1911, it still has its historical home at Crossford Bridge in Sale. The site is shared with Sale United Football club and Old Alts Football Club. The club has produced successful athletes such as Olympic gold medallist Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell, (born 12 September 1973) is a British former sprint athlete. He was the sprint coach at Wasps Rugby Club for the 2015–16 season. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay.
...
and Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
gold medallist Diane Modahl, both former residents of the town.
Sale Sports Club encompasses Sale Cricket Club, Sale Hockey Club, and Sale Lawn Tennis Club. The Brooklands Sports Club is home to Brooklands Cricket Club, Brooklands Manchester University Hockey Club, and Brooklands Hulmeians Lacrosse Club. It also provides facilities for squash, tennis, and bowling.
Sale United FC plays at Crossford Bridge and was recognised as Trafford's Sports Club of the Year in 2004. Sale Golf Club and Ashton on Mersey Golf Club have courses on the outskirts of the town, and a municipal pitch and putt is based at Woodheys Park. Trafford Rowing Club has a boathouse beside the canal. Sale Leisure Centre has badminton and squash courts, a gymnasium and three swimming pools. Walton Park Sports Centre has a sports hall for activities such as 5-a-side football. Tennis, crown-green bowls, golf putting and football facilities are available at the town's parks. Sale Water Ski Club is based at Sale Water Park.
Education
Sale's first school was built in 1667 and was used until the first half of the 18th century.[Swain (1987), pp. 69–71.] The second school in Sale was built some time in the 18th century, one of about 30 non-grammar schools founded in Cheshire around this time. By 1831, there were two private schools – with the children's parents paying fees for their education – in Sale and one in Ashton upon Mersey. At the same time, there were also four Sunday schools in Sale and one in Ashton upon Mersey, operated by various religious denominations, including Congregationalists
Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...
, Methodists, and Unitarians. The first school-chapel built in Sale as part of a school was constructed by Primitive Methodists in 1839, and still survives. The second school-chapel in the town was St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, built in 1866, and was replaced by the current school in 1899.
Trafford maintains a selective education system assessed by the eleven plus exam
The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academ ...
. Sale has one grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
, two comprehensives and nineteen primary schools. Sale Grammar School
Sale Grammar School is a grammar school located in Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale to the south of Manchester, England.
The school became an Academy Trust Grammar School in 2011. Admission to the school is through its own entrance examination. Tr ...
consists of two parts, one for 11- to 16-year-olds and 900 pupils, and the other a sixth form college
A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Edu ...
with 300 students. The school was described in its 2006 Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...
report as "outstanding with an outstanding sixth form". Ashton-on-Mersey School is an academy school and part of The Dean Trust. It has 1,300 pupils aged 11–16 and 120 students in its sixth form. In its 2019 Ofsted report it was rated "outstanding" for its 16-19 provision and "good" overall. https://files.api.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50055567 Sale High School, formerly Jeff Joseph Sale Moor Technology College, is a foundation secondary modern school for 11- to 16-year-olds and specialist technology college. It has 1,000 pupils and in its 2006 Ofsted report was rated as "satisfactory". Manor Academy provides secondary education to pupils with special needs. It has 140 students aged 11–16 and 20 members of its sixth form and was rated as "good" in its 2007 Ofsted report.
Sale is a leader within Trafford Council in the area of Childcare and Early education as well. Sale has a broad range of options such as after-school care, breakfast clubs, childminders, day nurseries, holiday schemes, independent school nurseries, pre-school playgroups, school nurseries. In all the areas within Trafford, Sale provides most variety and has maximum number of options in every area. In areas of After School Care, Breakfast Club, Childminder, Holiday Schemes all the providers rated by Ofsted/CQC are either Good or Outstanding. In areas of Day Nurseries (where one is rated Inadequate), Pre-School Groups (where two are rated requires improvement), School Nurseries (where one is rated Requires Improvement) most of the providers who are rated by Ofsted/CQC are again Good/Outstanding. Apart from these Sale also provides one of three Independent School Nursery in Trafford. Sale also provides a lot of options for support for childcare providers in form of advisory forums and childcare training.
Religion
Sale is a diverse community with a synagogue and Christian churches of various denominations. The church buildings were mostly constructed in the late 19th or early 20th century in the wake of the population boom created by the arrival of the railway in 1849,[Swain (1987), p. 76.] although records show that the Church of St Martin in Ashton upon Mersey dates back to at least 1304. Before the English Reformation
The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...
, the inhabitants of Sale were predominantly Catholic, but afterwards were members of the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
. Roman Catholics returned to the area in the 19th century in the form of Irish immigrants. Two of the three Grade II* listed buildings in the town are churches. The Church of St Martin, which was probably originally an early 14th-century timber framed
Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...
structure, was rebuilt in 1714 after the church had been destroyed in a storm. The Church of St John the Divine was built in 1868, to the design of Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known for his designs ...
. There are three Grade II listed churches in Sale: the Church of St Anne; the Church of St Mary Magdalene; and the Church of St Paul.
As of the 2001 UK census, 78.0% of Sale residents reported themselves as Christian, 1.4% Muslim, 0.7% Hindu, 0.6% Jewish, 0.2% Buddhist and 0.2% Sikh. A further 12.9% had no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion, and 5.9% did not state their religion. Sale is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury
The Diocese of Shrewsbury () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the Province of Birmingham which encompasses the pre-1974 counties of Shropshire and Cheshire in the North West and West Midlands of England.
The diocese includ ...
, and the Church of England Diocese of Chester. Sale and District Synagogue is part of United Synagogue
The United Synagogue (US) is the largest umbrella body for Orthodox Judaism in Britain. It is structured as a charity which serves the United Kingdom, British Jewish community in the broadest possible way. One of the largest charities in the B ...
under the aegis
The aegis ( ; ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a ...
of the Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...
of Britain, Jonathan Sacks
Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks (8 March 19487 November 2020) was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. As ...
until his death in 2020. The only mosque in Trafford is the Masjid-E-Noor in Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...
, away.
Transport
The Metrolink system connects Sale with other locations in Greater Manchester. Trams depart the town's three stations, including Sale station, least every 12 minutes between 07:00 and 22:30 daily.
The nearest railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
station is Navigation Road in Altrincham, from where trains run between Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...
, 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 ...
and Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
. Services run generally hourly on this line and are provided by Northern Trains
Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...
.
Franchised Bee Network
The Bee Network is an integrated transport network for Greater Manchester, comprising bus, tram, cycling and walking routes. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is expected to have commuter rail services joining the network in 2028. Initial ...
bus routes provide services to Manchester and to Altrincham.
The A56 road runs between Chester and North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
via Sale, Manchester and Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
. The M60 motorway
The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through all of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolt ...
, which encircles Manchester, can be accessed via junction 7, just to the north of Sale. The M56, which links Manchester with Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
, and the M62 motorway, between Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
to Hull, are about away. The M6, which runs between Catthorpe Interchange in Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
and Gretna, passes about to the west.
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) ...
, the busiest airport in the UK outside the London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
area, is located to the south.
History of transport in Sale
The first turnpike road in the area was the latter-day A56 Chester Road between Manchester and Crossford Bridge (on the border between Sale and Stretford). Turnpike trusts collected tolls from road users and used the proceeds to maintain the highway. There was a toll booth on the Sale side of Crossford Bridge. Another section of road between Altrincham and Crossford Bridge was turnpiked in 1765.[Nevell (1997), pp. 96–97.]
The commencement of ''swift packet'' services on the newly opened Bridgewater Canal in 1776 made commuting from Sale into Manchester both practical and convenient, with boats travelling at a relatively swift . However, the arrival of the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway in 1849 sounded a death-knell for both the canal packet services and turnpike trusts. Many trusts went into terminal decline, mirroring a national trend.
By 1888, almost all roads and highways were the responsibility of the local authority. Sale's railway station, originally named ''Sale Moor'', was renamed to Sale in 1856. Three years later, Brooklands railway station was opened, followed in 1931 by the opening of Dane Road railway station along with the electrification of the entire line.[Nevell (1997), p. 100.] The line was renovated in the early 1990s and is now part of the Metrolink.
Following the completion of a tramway between Manchester and Stretford in 1901, the British Electric Traction Company
British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Ren ...
applied to Parliament for an extension to Sale. The proposal was amended to continue the line further south, into Altrincham. The line through Sale was owned by Sale Urban District Council and leased to the Manchester Corporation
Manchester City Council is the local authority for the city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropol ...
. Services to Sale commenced in 1907. A branch along Northenden Road from the line to Sale Moor was created in 1912. Sale Moor's line had only a single track which, in 1925, resulted in a head-on collision between two tramcars, injuring eight passengers.[Swain (1987), pp. 119–120.]
Bus services were first introduced to the area in the 1920s, but became more widespread in the 1930s.[Swain (1987), pp. 129–130.] The buses did not suffer the drawback of being limited to tracks and were therefore more practical than the tram services which, from the 1930s, went into decline. The tramlines along Northenden Road were removed between 1932 and 1934, and throughout Sale in the 1940s.
See also
* Listed buildings in Sale, Greater Manchester
* List of people from Trafford
* Manchester Mummy
References
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Towns in Greater Manchester
Populated places established in the 1st millennium
Unparished areas in Greater Manchester
Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester
Geography of Trafford