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Hazel Grove
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hazel Grove | |
|
  Hazel Grove shown within Greater Manchester |
|
| Population | 38,724 (with Bramhall) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Metropolitan borough | Stockport |
| Metropolitan county | Greater Manchester |
| Region | North West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | STOCKPORT |
| Postcode district | SK6, SK7 |
| Dial code | 0161 |
| Police | Greater Manchester |
| Fire | Greater Manchester |
| Ambulance | North West |
| European Parliament | North West England |
| List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester | |
Hazel Grove is a village in Greater Manchester, north west England. It forms part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and is located close to the Peak District national park.
Until 1835 the village was known as Bullock Smithy, however this name was unpopular with its residents[citation needed] and so the settlement was renamed Hazel Grove, possibly due to the large number of Hazel trees found in the locale, though more probably from a small hamlet towards High Lane called Hessel Grove.[specify]
Contents |
Hazel Grove is made up of three separate townships, Norbury, Torkington and Bosden-cum-Handforth. Norbury (Nordberie) being mentioned in The Domesday Survey, 1086. Each of the townships were manorial lands. Until the 17th century the area was known exclusively by each of the respective townships.
In 1560 Richard Bullock built a smithy on the corner of what is now Torkington Park. This building later became the Bullock Smithy Inn and gradually the whole area became known as Bullock Smithy.
There was no church in the area until the end of the sixteenth century. The church consisted of a very basic Chapel, without communion. It was a favoured hotbed of the north-east Cheshire Non-conformist movement. After the Restoration in 1662, it was forbidden for ministers to preach without The Book of Common Prayer. The minister of Norbury Chapel, John Jolie, went to preach as usual, but found that the door was locked. He and his followers broke down the door and he preached as usual. Subsequently, he was tried for Non-conformity, but it was decided that Norbury Chapel was not a consecrated place. In 1750, John Wesley preached in Bullock Smithy describing it as "...one of the most famous villages in the county for all manner of wickedness."
By 1833, the village had grown to over 3000 people and it was decided the area should have its own parish. In July 1834, the Church of St. Thomas was consecrated at Norbury.
The village elders began to tire of the jokes surrounding the name Bullock Smithy. The Manchester Guardian had carried a humorous story about an auctioneer trying to sell a rare book. No bidders were coming forward, so in an act of encouragement he told the crowd "Come on, Where's tha al from? Bullock Smithy? because tha don't know a book from a brick." In 1835, it was decided that the village would be known as Hazel Grove. The name Hazel Grove had been used in the village previously. An area called Hassel Grave near High Lane appears on a map of 1674, and an area near Poise Brook was locally known as Hazel Grove. The present Grove Inn had been called The Hazel Grove Inn since it opened. On the 26th September, 1836, the name was officially changed.
The village was part of the civil parish of Norbury which was included in the Stockport Rural District of Cheshire from 1894 to 1900. From 1900 to 1974 Hazel Grove was part of the Hazel Grove and Bramhall civil parish and urban district. Hazel Grove and Bramhall was abolished in 1974 and its former area was transferred to Greater Manchester to form part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport.
Notable features of Hazel Grove include the A6 road - a major thoroughfare running from London to Carlisle which passes through the centre of the village. There have been many attempts and plans to build a by-pass for the large amount of heavy traffic which uses the A6 on its way into and around Stockport and South Manchester, but so far none has been built. The village is served by Hazel Grove railway station which is on the Hope Valley and Buxton lines from Stockport. Hazel Grove has a number of primary schools and is served by Hazel Grove High School.
Though the constituency of Hazel Grove is named after it, the western part of the village actually lies in the Cheadle constituency. Its current MP is Andrew Stunell of the Liberal Democrats.
Village residents work outside the village. The village is also home to Adidas who have their main warehouse on the edge of Hazel Grove, and the nearby Stepping Hill Hospital which is the main Maternity and A&E hospital serving the Stockport and South Manchester areas.
Speak, R - The Story of Hazel Grove and Bramhall, The Crescent Press, Stockport 1964
Coutie, H - Hazel Grove: A Village History Trail: Hazel Grove or Bullock Smithy? Stockport Historical Society 1982 ISBN 0-905164-75-X