Over time we plan to make available all the past publications of the Wilmslow Historical Society.
Wilmslow History Trails
The Apprentices’ Walk: A walk from Wilmslow to Styal by J. T. Bever (second edition, revised, 1977)
A walk of about two miles from Wilmslow parish church to Quarry Bank Mill at Styal, through the Carrs and the woods of the Bollin valley. It follows in reverse the route once taken each Sunday by the mill’s indentured apprentices on their way to church. Along the way the booklet tells the story of Samuel Greg’s mill and the Apprentice House, and of the cottages, school and chapel he provided for his workers. Some details of the route reflect the 1970s and may have changed since.
Around the Manor of Bolyn and industrial Wilmslow
“Sans Changer”: a walk through Stanley country
Fulshaw: a walk around that ancient township
Saxon Site to Quaker Ground: a walk from Mobberley Parish Church to Knolls Green and the Quaker Graveyard
Wilmslow Historic Trail
Mobberley Revisited: a walk through Mobberley village
Pamphlets
Pownall Hall: the Chapel of St.Olaf by Patricia Hodson (1993)
In 1886 Henry Boddington of the Manchester brewing family bought Pownall Hall. He transformed it with the work of leading designers of the day, among them the Century Guild, whose metalwork on the front door is still admired. He also built a small chapel in the Carrs dedicated to St Olaf, of which only scattered stones now remain. The booklet tells the story of the house and chapel, and of the oak Boddington grew from the first sod of the Manchester Ship Canal. It also lists the staff the household employed.
George Gissing at Lindow Grove School, Alderley Edge
The Newton Family of Wilmslow by Dorothy Jolley 91993)
Sir Isaac Newton claimed descent from this Cheshire family, through Humphrey’s grandson William, who left Wilmslow in 1543. The booklet gives a short account of Sir Isaac. It then turns to the Newtons’ long history as landowners in Wilmslow, Styal and Mobberley, drawing on local wills and Humphrey Newton’s own careful records of his property.
Mirrors of an Age: Wilmslow Wills, 1582-1640
“Church in the Field”: Mobberley Quaker Graveyard and its history byPatricia Hodson (1995, revised 2002)
On Graveyard Lane, near Knolls Green, a walled plot of ground was used for Quaker burials for some two hundred years. The first recorded burial was in 1656, though there was never a building on the site. The booklet traces the early Friends of Mobberley, Morley and Wilmslow through years of fines and imprisonment, and follows the later history of their meeting houses. It includes a map of the area and notes on the burial ground records.
Oral History in Wilmslow
“Wear It For My Sake”: clothes nd jewellery of our ancestors
Peter Crosse of Willmeslowe 1561? – 1621
Wyches Farm and the Stanley Estate Alderley 1726 – 1997
Other Publications
Three Sundays in Wilmslow (Editors J. H. Hodsom, J. H. Smith, 1981)
The Fourth Sunday in Wilmslow 1881 (Editor J. T. Bever, 1997)
Handforth Matters: aspects of parish administration 1773-1836
Victorian Handforth
Handforth National School
“Cotton Town” – Bollington. Swindells Family in the 19th century
Note: Where a publication is listed above in bold without a download link an online version is in preparation. If you have any of the others in good condition and are willing to lend to us for scanning please let us know.