Stockport

Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is the largest town within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport.

History

Stockport was originally a Saxon village. Its name may be derived from two Saxon words: STOC - a stockaded place or castle, and PORT - a wood. Literally, a castle in a wood. There is sufficient evidence that a fortified stronghold existed in the vicinity in ancient British times, and that Agricola in AD79 recognised its strategical advantages and fortified Stockport to guard the passage of the Mersey.

Related Topics:
Saxon - Village - Saxon - Agricola - Mersey

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(Source: Local history page on Stockport Council's web site, March 3 2005)

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An alternative theory put forward for the derivation of the town's name is that it is a corruption of Stopford, after a ford across the river at the bottom of what is now the town centre street named Market Street Brow. Pupils at the town's principal private secondary school, Stockport Grammar School (founded in the 17th Century) call themselves Stopfordians.

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After the Norman Conquest, it became ruled by a hereditary Baron of Stockport.

Related Topics:
Norman Conquest - Baron

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Stockport has never been a sea or river port. The river Mersey, which starts in Stockport at the confluence of the Rivers Goyt and Tame, is not navigable to anything much above canoe size, and in the centre of Stockport has been culverted and the main shopping street Mersey Way built above it. The town was connected to the national canal network by the 5 miles of the Stockport branch of the Ashton Canal opened in 1797 which continued in use until the 1930's. Much of it is now filled in, but there is an active campaign to re-open it.

Related Topics:
Mersey - Culvert - Stockport branch - Ashton Canal

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The 1835 Municipal Corporation Act made Stockport a town divided into seven wards. In 1888, its status was raised to County Borough.

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Due to its close proximity to Manchester, Stockport rapidly expanded during the Industrial Revolution, helped particularly by the growth of the cotton manufacturing industries. However, economic growth took its toll, and 19th Century philosopher Friedrich Engels wrote in 1844 that Stockport was "renowned as one of the duskiest, smokiest holes in the whole of the industrial area".

Related Topics:
Industrial Revolution - Friedrich Engels

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In 1967 the Stockport Air Disaster occurred, when a British Midland Airways Argonaut crashed in the town, resulting in the deaths of 72 passengers.

Related Topics:
1967 - Stockport Air Disaster

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