Stamford Park is a park in

Stalybridge Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, it had a population of 26,830. Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east o ...

, Tameside,

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. ...

. The park was Grade II listed with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

in 1986.

History

The site on which the park lays was owned by the

Earl of Stamford Earl of Stamford was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Henry Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Groby. This Grey family descended through Lord John Grey, of Pirgo, Essex, younger son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dor ...

in 1668 and was part of a deer park. 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 ...

the population of the area was in poor health and began to demand a park to enjoy on their day off. In 1856 a letter was sent to the Ashton Reporter requesting the

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

workers raise money for a park. Fundraising began and in 1872 Highfield House and grounds was purchased, the Earl donated adjacent land and Stamford Park was opened officially on 12 July 1873. The Lord and Lady Stamford arrived for the opening and the towns of Ashton, Stalybridge and Dukinfield were decorated out in bunting and flags. A crowd of up to 80,000 watched the opening ceremony. The park continued to expand for the next two decades with the purchase of further land, a reservoir was purchased which was turned into the boating lake in the South and a fishing lake in the North. The Coronation Gates were installed in the 1950s to celebrate the

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon th ...

Landmarks

The park contains two Grade II listed features; the first is

Stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

which are inscribed "John Wood Constable 1730", made of stone they were formerly located outside Ashton-under-Lyne

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 ...

and were given by Isaac Watts Boulton J.P. The second is a stone

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

inscribed with "Erected by Thos. Walker, John Knight, Robert Lees, Constables 1793".

Facilities

The park contains floral and shrub beds, a grassed area used for games, picnics and other informal activities, "The Dingle" woodland area, a children's play area, a water fountain, bowling greens, a multi-use games area for football, basketball, cricket and other sports. A

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

takes place in the grounds every Saturday morning. There is was a conservatory that was demolished in 2025 and an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where Bird flight, they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flig ...

. During the summer months the

boating lake A boating lake is a lake used for recreational boating. Such lakes are often in parks and can be artificially made. Some boating lakes are used for model boats. References External links * Lakes by type Lakes A lake is often ...

is in use and there is a land train.

References

{{commons category, Stamford Park, Tameside Parks and open spaces in Greater Manchester