Macclesfield

Macclesfield (/ˈmækəlzfiəld/) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies 16 miles (26 km) south of Manchester and 38 miles (61 km) east of Chester.

Before the Norman Conquest, Macclesfield was held by Edwin, Earl of Mercia and was assessed at £8. The medieval town grew up on the hilltop around what is now St Michael's Church. It was granted a municipal charter in 1261. Macclesfield Grammar School was founded in 1502. The town had a silk-button industry from at least the middle of the 17th century and became a major silk-manufacturing centre from the mid-18th century. The Macclesfield Canal was constructed in 1826–31.

Hovis breadmakers were another Victorian employer; modern industries include pharmaceuticals, such as Astra Zeneca. Multiple mill buildings are still standing and several of the town's museums explore the local silk industry. Other landmarks include Georgian buildings such as the Town Hall and former Sunday School; St Alban's Church, designed by Augustus Pugin; and the Arighi Bianchi furniture shop.

At the 2021 census the population of the parish was 52,496 and the population of the built up area was 54,345. A person from the town is referred to as a Maxonian.

The town is recorded in the Domesday Book as Maclesfeld and in 1183 it was referred to as Makeslesfeld. The English Place-Name Society gives its name as being derived from the Old English name, Maccel, and field, yielding the meaning "Maccel's open country".

Although "Silk Town" seems to be its preferred nickname, the traditional nickname of Macclesfield is "Treacle Town". This refers to an historical incident when a horse-drawn wagon overturned and spilt its load of treacle onto the street, after which the poor scooped the treacle off the road.

Before the Norman Conquest, Macclesfield was held by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, who also held much of the east of the county. Three crosses survive from this period, originally located in Sutton and now in West Park, and J. D. Bu'Lock speculates that there might have been a Pre-Conquest church. The area was devastated by the Normans in 1070, and had not recovered by 1086; the Domesday Book records the manor as having fallen in value from £8 to 20 shillings. Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester held the manor himself after the Conquest; there was a mill, meadow for oxen, and woodland 6 leagues by 4 leagues. A Norman castle was built at Macclesfield.

At the time of the Domesday Book, Macclesfield was in the hundred of Hamestan. By the 13th century, the Hundreds of Cheshire had been reorganised, and the town gave its name to the Macclesfield Hundred, which covered a similar area to the old Hamestan Hundred in the east of the county.