Handforth

Handforth
Cheshire
The Paddock (Handforth Precinct)
Location
Grid reference:	SJ8583
Location:	53°21’0"N, 2°12’58"W
Data
Population:	6,266  (2011)
Post town:	Wilmslow
Postcode:	SK9
Dialling code:	01625
Local Government
Council:	Cheshire East
Parliamentary constituency:	Tatton

Handforth is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, nine miles south of Manchester. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 6,266. In the 1960s and 1970s, two overspill housing estates, Spath Lane in Handforth and Colshaw Farm nearby in Wilmslow, were built to re-house people from inner-city Manchester. It lies between Wilmslow, Heald Green and Styal.

History

Handforth, township and hamlet with ry. sta., Cheadle par., E. Cheshire, 5 miles SW. of Stockport, 1311 ac., pop. 736; P.O., T.O.

—John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887, 

Handforth's original name was Handforth-cum-Bosden in the ancient parish of Cheadle in some of its earliest mentions. The name "Handforth" is believed to originate from the Saxon name for a crossing on the River Dean, "Hanna's Ford". The first mention of Handforth is found in a charter dated between 1233 and 1236, with a later mention found in a deed of transfer between Lord Edmund Phitoun and Henry de Honeford, dated to 1291. The settlement is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, though it may have, at that time, been recorded as a component part of the parish of Cheadle.

During the Crusades, Handforth acquired its own Coat of Arms, displaying the Honford Star emblem of Henry de Honeford, a member of the local nobility. The town was referred to as "Honford" in John Speede's map of the area in 1611, also named after the de Honford family.

Handforth Hall

The oldest building in Handforth is Handforth Hall, a typical Tudor-styled black and white timber building built by Sir Urian Brereton in 1562, also originally named "Honford Hall" after the de Honfords. Sir Urian Brereton, the escheator of Cheshire and one of the privy grooms to King Henry VIII, died at Handforth Hall on 19 March 1577, and is thought to be buried in one of the chapels of St Mary's Church, Cheadle. In the church's south chapel, two recumbent effigies depicted in alabaster are thought to represent members of the Hondford family; Sir John, who died in 1461, and his son, also named John. A third, depicted in sandstone, represents Sir Thomas Brereton, who died in 1673. The most famous resident of Handforth is Sir Urian's great grandson, the Parliamentary General Sir William Brereton, 1st Baronet, who fought in the Civil War.

During the First World War, an internment camp was set up in Handforth, for both civilian and military prisoners. The site, converted from a disused print works built in 1910 and requisitioned by the War Office in 1914, was designed to hold no more than 3,000 men, and was opened on 6 November 1914 with the arrival of 500 prisoners. From May 1915, following the aftermath of a number of Anti-German riots which swept a number of cities in England, the camp's civilian population increased, following decisions to intern 'enemy aliens', with a number of men sent to Handforth from Liverpool. The camp was inspected by an attaché to the American Embassy in London on 1 April 1916, at which a time there were 2,713 prisoners living in the camp.

At the height of the camp's operations, the interned population of the camp was greater than that of the village of Handforth itself; later in the war, when German soldiers captured from the front lines began to arrive, the local population started to take a greater interest in the camp, and would watch the new arrivals, with crowds gathering at the nearby railway station. The Manchester Evening News reported on 17 March 1915: "Great excitement prevailed at Handforth and Wilmslow today when it became generally known that about 600 German prisoners taken during heavy fighting in the North of France were expected to arrive for internment at the concentration camp."

During the Second World War, Handforth, along with Cheadle Hulme, became home to large parts of RAF Handforth, a maintenance unit classed as a universal stores depot, with the official Royal Air Force name 'RAF Handforth No 61 M.U. (Maintenance unit)'. The depot, which covered large areas of land in both Handforth and neighbouring Cheadle Hulme, opened in 1939 and closed in 1959. The depot's stores spanned every single item required by the RAF in wartime, from utensils and everyday tools to aircraft engines. The site was served by a large, internal railway system, which left the Manchester to Crewe mainline near Handforth railway station; the site of the exchange sidings and junction is now found on the modern-day Epsom Avenue. The depot also featured its own shunting locomotives, which were stored in an engine shed that stood at the Wilmslow bound exit slip road for the Handforth Dean shopping centre. The only surviving buildings of RAF Handforth are the government pay offices, now found on Dairyhouse Lane; these buildings, used as the headquarters of the depot, have survived in Ministry of Defence use to this day.

Greyhound Inn, Handforth, c. 1905 (since demolished)

In January 2017, government plans were announced to build a garden village on the eastern margin of Handforth village, to include 2,000 houses with facilities including a nursery and care home.

Geography

Handforth borders Heald Green to the north and Wilmslow to the south, between the Cheshire Plain and the Pennines. The area lies near the River Dean, a tributary of the River Bollin that flows north–west and eventually joins the River Mersey near Lymm. The local geology is mostly glacial clay, as well as glacial sands and gravel.

The majority of buildings in the area are houses dating to the 20th and 21st centuries, with a small number of buildings - such as that of Hadnforth Hall - dating to before this time.

Places of worship

St Benedict's Roman Catholic Church

There are three churches in Handforth:

• Methodist
  • St Mary's Methodist Church was built in 1872, though Methodism was present in the Handforth and Wilmslow area long before this. It is recorded that John Wesley preached at nearby Finney Green on 1 September 1748.
• Roman Catholic
  • St Benedict's Roman Catholic Church is part of the Diocese of Shrewsbury, and was officially opened by the Bishop of Shrewsbury on 29 November 1968. The church is noted for its connection to Ambrose Barlow, a Benedictine monk whose mother was born at Handforth Hall.
• Anglican
  • St Chad's Church of England, part of the Diocese of Chester, is an Anglican church based in Handforth. During the 19th century, a chapel of ease was built in Handforth. The chapel was consecrated in 1837 as a chapel to St Mary's Church, Cheadle, becoming the parish church for Handforth and part of Cheadle in 1877. Due to the growth of the population of Handforth in the late 19th century, the chapel went through extensive redevelopment and expansion, and the new building - known as St Chad's Church - was consecrated by Francis Jayne, Bishop of Chester on St Chad's day, 2 March, in 1899.

Transport

Handforth railway station is on a double-track electrified line that runs from Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe via Levenshulme, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport and Wilmslow. The A34 bypass is situated to the east, and the main thoroughfare is Wilmslow Road (B5358). Manchester Airport lies just 3½ miles to the north-west, though Handforth lies away from the airport's approach and departure routes, and therefore suffers only slightly from aircraft noise. Bus 42C runs between Handforth and Manchester city centre, via Cheadle and East Didsbury.

Economy

Handforth Dean is a retail park that houses shops such as Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Outfit and Boots the Chemist, and is situated by the A34 bypass. Pets at Home has its headquarters in Handforth.

Schools

Handforth is served by three primary schools: Handforth Grange (formerly Wilmslow Grange, 1951–2019), Dean Oaks Primary and St Benedict's RC Primary.

Facilities

Pavilion at Meriton Park

Parks

Meriton Road Park, opened in 1935, covers an area of 8½ acres and is situated to the rear of the Paddock Shopping Centre. Until the mid-1980s, the park was the site for the Handforth Gala. Current attractions in the park include a multi-sport court, tennis courts and a miniature railway, which is operated by the Handforth Model Engineering Society.

Stanley Hall Park is situated between the Spath Lane Estate and the railway line from Handforth to Cheadle Hulme. The park was donated by Manchester City Council in the early 1960s. The park is owned and maintained by Cheshire East Council's environmental partner Ansa, and has an active 'friends of the park' group. Facilities include the Swingtime play areas and Multi-Use Games Area donated by Spath Lane Residents Association, and a 52-seat all-inclusive picnic area with space for 15 wheelchairs or buggies and a concrete skatepark installed by the Friends of Stanley Hall Park in 2015-16.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Handforth)

• Handforth Parish Council
• Handforth Model Engineering Society
• Saint Benedict's Roman Catholic Church
• Saint Chad's Parish Church of England
• Handforth