Sale, Greater Manchester
Sale, Greater Manchester
Main page
2216383

Sale, Greater Manchester

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
2216383

Sale, Greater Manchester

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Sale, Greater Manchester

Sale is a town in the Trafford district of Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Mersey, 2 miles (3 km) south of Stretford, 3 miles (5 km) north-east of Altrincham and 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Manchester. Sale lies within the historic county boundaries of Cheshire and became part of Greater Manchester in 1974. At the 2021 census, the Sale built-up area, as defined by the Office for National Statistics, had a population of 62,550.

Evidence of Stone Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon activity has previously been discovered locally. Sale was historically a rural township in the parish of Ashton upon Mersey; its fields and meadows were used for crop and cattle farming. By the 17th century, Sale had a cottage industry manufacturing garthweb, the woven material from which horses' saddle girths were made.

The Bridgewater Canal reached the town in 1765, stimulating Sale's urbanisation. The arrival of the railway in 1849 triggered Sale's growth as an important town and place for people who wanted to travel to and from Manchester, leading to an influx of middle class residents; by the end of the 19th century, the town's population had more than tripled. Agriculture gradually declined as service industries boomed.

Sale became a separate ecclesiastical parish from Ashton upon Mersey in 1856 and a separate civil parish in 1866. It was administered as a local government district from 1867, which became an urban district in 1894. In 1930, Sale Urban District absorbed Ashton upon Mersey, and in 1935 it was raised to the status of a municipal borough. The borough of Sale was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the metropolitan borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester.

Since then, Sale has continued to thrive as one of the main urban centres of Trafford due to its proximity to the M60 motorway and the connections to Manchester and other areas by the Manchester Metrolink network.

A flint arrowhead discovered in Sale suggests a prehistoric human presence at the location, but there is no further evidence of activity in the area until the Roman period. A 4th-century hoard of 46 Roman coins was discovered in Ashton upon Mersey, one of four known hoards dating from that period discovered within the Mersey basin. Sale lies along the line of the Roman road which runs between the fortresses at Chester (Deva Victrix) and York (Eboracum), via the fort at Manchester (Mamucium); the present-day A56 follows the route of the road through the town.

Some local field and road names, and the name of Sale itself, are Anglo-Saxon in origin, which indicates the town was founded in the 7th or 8th centuries. The Old English salh, from which "Sale" is derived, means "at the sallow tree", and Ashton upon Mersey means "village or farm near the ash trees". Although the townships of Sale and Ashton upon Mersey were not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, that may be because only a partial survey was taken. The first recorded occurrences of Sale and Ashton upon Mersey are in 1199–1216 and 1260 respectively. The settlements were referred to as townships rather than manors, which suggests further evidence of Anglo-Saxon origins as townships were developed by the Saxons.

The manor of Sale was one of 30 held by William FitzNigel, a powerful 12th century baron in north Cheshire. He divided it between Thomas de Sale and Adam de Carrington, who acted as Lords of the Manor on FitzNigel's behalf. On de Sale's death, his land passed to his son-in-law, John Holt; de Carrington's land passed into the ownership of Richard de Massey, a member of the Masseys who were Barons of Dunham. Sale descended through the Holt and Massey families until the 17th century, when their respective lands were sold. Sale Old Hall was built in about 1603 for James Massey, probably to replace a medieval manor house, and was one of the first buildings in northwest England to be made of brick. It was rebuilt in 1840 and demolished in 1920, but two buildings in its grounds have survived: its dovecote, now in Walkden Gardens, and its lodge, the latter now occupied by Sale Golf Club.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.