Alderley Edge
Alderley Edge is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, north-west of Macclesfield and south of Manchester. It lies at the base of a wooded sandstone escarpment, The Edge, overlooking the Cheshire Plain. As of the 2021 census, its population was 4,777.
The village is known for its affluence, expensive homes and location within Cheshire's Golden Triangle. Its cafes and designer shops attract Premier League footballers, actors and businesspeople, making it one of the UK's most sought-after places to live outside London.
History
Early period
The Alderley Edge area shows signs of occupation since the Mesolithic period, with flint tools found along its sandstone outcrop. Evidence of Bronze Age copper mining has been identified to the south of the area. In 1995, the Derbyshire Caving Club uncovered a Roman coin hoard of 564 coins. There are 13 recorded sites in Alderley Edge, 28 in Nether Alderley, and 44 along the Edge in the County Sites and Monuments Record.Early medieval settlements were documented in Nether Alderley, to the south of Alderley Edge. The first written record of Alderley Edge, then called Chorlegh dates back to the 13th century, likely derived from ceorl and lēah, meaning a "peasants' clearing". Although not in the Domesday Book, it appears in a c.1280 charter. The name Alderley, first recorded in 1086 as Aldredelie, likely derives from Aldred and leah meaning "Aldred's clearing" or from Old English language Alðrȳðelēah meaning "the meadow or woodland clearing of a woman called Alðrȳð".
In the 13th century and Middle Ages, the area comprised multiple estates, mostly owned by the De Trafford baronets from the 15th century. The main manors were Chorley Old Hall, a 14th-century structure, and Nether Alderley's Old Hall, a 16th-century building destroyed by fire in 1779. Agriculture dominated the local economy, with Nether Alderley granted a market charter around 1253. Nether Alderley Mill dates back to 1391, although the present timber structure is 16th-century. The millpond was adapted to form the moat which surrounded the Old Hall, the home of the Stanley family. The corn mill continued to work until 1939 when Edward Stanley, 6th Baron Stanley of Alderley, was compelled to sell it, along with the rest of the Alderley Park estate, to meet the cost of death duties. In the 1950s the National Trust bought the site, restored the building and opened it to the public.
Cheshire had its own system of taxes in the mediaeval period, the Mize; in the records for 1405, Chorley was assessed at 20s 0d and Nether Alderley at 27s 0d.
19th century
In 1830, Chorley comprised a few cottages, the De Trafford Arms Inn, a toll bar, and a smithy scattered along the Congleton to Manchester Road. The arrival of the railway in 1842, part of the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, transformed the area. The railway company offered free 20-year season tickets to Manchester businessmen who built homes worth over £50 within a mile of the station. These tickets, small silver ovals worn on watch chains, encouraged development.The railway station, initially called 'Alderley', was renamed 'Alderley and Chorley' in 1853 and later 'Alderley Edge' in 1876. After the railway's construction, Sir Humphrey de Trafford, owner of Chorley Hall, developed an estate with new roads and houses, most completed by 1910. The railway also boosted the village's popularity with day trips and excursions.
Several landmark buildings were established during this time, including St Philip's Church in 1853, Alderley Edge Community Primary School in 1854, and The Ryleys School for boys in 1877. Two all-girls schools were opened, St Hilary's in 1876 and Mount Carmel in 1945, which then merged in 1999 to form Alderley Edge School for Girls. The Mission Hall, built in 1878 for temperance meetings, and the Methodist Church, built in 1863, also date from this period.
Alderley Edge's population rose from 561 in 1841 to 2,856 by 1902, while Nether Alderley's fell from 679 to 522.
The 1871 Ordnance Survey map shows the village with the Queen's Hotel, shops, terraced houses and a post office. To the north were wooded areas with detached villas, while to the east, curving roads divided large wooded plots, some still undeveloped. The names "Brickfield" and "Brick Kiln" to the northeast suggest a local brick source. The 1899 map shows a similar layout but details individual villas like Holybank, Ashfield, and The Larches, along with remnants of old mines near Windmill Wood to the southeast.
20th century
In the 20th century, Alderley Edge expanded with post-war housing on its north-eastern and western edges, while Nether Alderley remained largely unchanged, aside from the sale of Alderley Park to AstraZeneca. The park is now managed by Bruntwood; it houses 150 science companies and commercial, residential and retail spaces.In 1990s, several gold bars were found in Alderley, the first on Artists Lane. An inquest was held in February 1993 and it was declared not to be a treasure trove. John Cherry from the British Museum along with Adrian Tindall, the conservation officer for Cheshire County Council reported that the bar weighed 97.01 grams and was 73% gold. The publicity caused the public to search for more and five more gold bars were found.
Governance
There are two tiers of local government covering Alderley Edge, at civil parish and unitary authority level: Alderley Edge Parish Council and Cheshire East Council. The parish council meets at Festival Hall on Talbot Road.Administrative history
The settlement now known as Alderley Edge was historically called Chorley and was part of the ancient parish of Wilmslow in the Macclesfield Hundred of Cheshire. Wilmslow parish was divided into four townships: Bollin Fee, Chorley, Fulshaw, and Pownall Fee. Alderley parish, lying south of Chorley; consisted of three townships: Nether Alderley, Over Alderley, and Great Warford. From the 17th century, parishes gradually acquired civil functions under the poor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Wilmslow and Alderley, 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 Chorley and all the other townships became separate civil parishes, which therefore diverged from the ecclesiastical parishes.In 1862, a Chorley local government district was established, governed by an elected local board, covering parts of Chorley, Bollin Fee and Fulshaw. The more rural western part of Chorley was excluded.
In 1894, the board renamed the district to Alderley Edge to avoid postal confusion with Chorley, Lancashire and became an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894. The 1894 Act also directed that civil parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries, and so the part of Chorley within the urban district became a separate parish called Alderley Edge, and the parts of Bollin Fee and Fulshaw within the urban district became a parish called Bollinfee. The reduced civil parish of Chorley outside the urban district kept the name Chorley, despite no longer including the village after which it was named.
The urban district expanded in 1910, gaining area from Nether Alderley and 1936, taking small areas from Wilmslow and Chorley. In 1974, Alderley Edge Urban District was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, with a successor parish established covering the same area. District-level functions passed to Macclesfield Borough Council, and in 2009, Cheshire East Council took over as the Borough council and Cheshire County Council were both abolished.
Economy
At the 2001 UK census, the ward had a possible workforce of approximately 2,157 people. The economic activity of residents in the Alderley Edge electoral ward was 36.9% in full-time employment, 10.2% in part-time employment, 29.3% self-employed, 1.7% unemployed, 1.4% students with jobs, 3.5% students without jobs, 19.3% retired, 7.5% looking after home or family, 2.8% permanently sick or disabled and 2.0% economically inactive for other reasons.Alderley Edge has a very high rate of self-employment compared with rest of the Macclesfield borough and England. It also has low rates of unemployment compared with the rest of the Macclesfield borough and England. The Office for National Statistics estimated that, during the period of April 2001 to March 2002, the average gross weekly income of households in Alderley Edge was £720.
Landmarks
The Edge
The Edge is a wide red sandstone escarpment situated above the village of Alderley. An edge is used as a descriptive term for high land in Cheshire and adjacent counties. The Edge rises gradually from Macclesfield until, at a distance of 7 or 8 kilometres, it terminates abruptly, having reached a height of nearly 215 metres above sea level and 110 metres above the Cheshire Plain below it.It was formed by weathering of resistant sandstone over layers and faulting. The northern side, shaped like a horse shoe or hough, gives its name to The Hough, a hamlet of scattered houses descending towards Alderley village.
Owned by the National Trust, it is a public access wooded area attracting 300,000 visitors annually from Manchester and the nearby towns of Wilmslow and Macclesfield. It features a car park, toilet facilities
and is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its unique geology. The woodland contains remnants of the old Alderley Edge Mines.
Views
The Edge offers views across Cheshire and the Peak District. The Cheshire Plain is visible, stretching from Macclesfield Forest in the south-east towards the Derbyshire peaks in the east, and north to Manchester and the Blackstone Edge in Yorkshire.Hundreds of Scots pines were planted on the Edges by Sir James and Sir Edward Stanley, between 1745 and 1755. Before trees were planted, the Edge provided a full 360° panorama. Today, views are limited to the northerly and easterly directions. Trees obscure views of landmarks like the Wrekin in Shropshire; The Cloud near Bosley, Mow Cop and the mountains of North Wales.