Wilmslow, St Bartholomew's Church From The South West 1896

Photo ref: 37483

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Technically, Wilmslow was just the parish church and its immediate graveyard, however, the name is now given to the whole of the community. The original lords of the manor were the Fittons, then the Venables inherited the land and, in the 15th century, the two Venables heiresses each took their half of the estates to their husband's family, the Booths of Dunham Massey and the Traffords of Trafford Park. Until the railway came in 1842 it was an isolated rural community, best known for its fustian and for its cottage industry making silk buttons for the Macclesfield silk industry. There was even a cotton mill in the middle of the town in the late 18th century, owned by the Bowen family. However, once the trains came, Wilmslow became a thriving commuter community; its development hastened when the Earls of Stamford sold their land outright in the 1850s. This led to far fewer restrictions on building than in the neighbouring Alderley Edge, where strict leasehold conditions limited the development to select up-market residences. One of the purchasers of the Stamford lands was J C Prescott, who bought up the old Bowen mill with its tall chimney and demolished it; he wanted to develop Wilmslow`s residential potential and forget its industrial past. So, Wilmslow became a thriv- ing mixed community and the shopping centre for the whole area; more of a town than a village. In the last few years, with the building of the bypass round the town and its attendant retail devel- opment in Handforth, Wilmslow`s shops have suffered, and the full extent of the impact of these changes has yet to be worked out.