Monument record 1561/1 - Macclesfield

The Manor of Macclesfield was important in Saxon & Medieval times & situated a distance S of the Borough in the present Park Green (1). Prior to the Conquest,Macc was held by Saxon Earl Edwin, who had a hall or court there. At Domesday it went to Earl of Chester. There was a wood 9 x 6 miles& a meadow for oxen, prob along River Bollin, & 7 hedged enclosures for cattle. The Manor of Macc included a large no of smaller manors in neighbourhood, all held by Earls of Chester. On extinction of Norman Earls of Chester in 1237, this manor passed to the crown & was held by Princes of Wales or reigning sovereigns as Earls of Chester. In C18, profits of the manor were leased out & in 1796, when commons & wastelands in the manor & borough of Macclesfield were enclosed, the Manorial rights of the crown were extinguished (2). Ormerod locates the local seats of Earls of Chester to "Castle Field", nr Congleton Rd. He reports a circular mound still remaining in "Walley Heys" field, poss remains of blg(3).

<1> Turner, RC, 1986, Macclesfield Castle (Unpublished Report). SCH2059.

<2> Earwaker, J P, 1877-1880, East Cheshire Past & Present, 2/1880/458 (Y) (Book). SCH1080.

<3> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 3/742 (Book). SCH1389.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ97SW10/1962 (Index). SCH2487.