Poynton, Cheshire - a coalmining heritage

         When I first came to live in Poynton in 1977, I was told that I had to be resident for 30 years before I would be accepted as a "local".  

    Having achieved that milestone, and now retired, that prophesy is at last coming true!............  

    With time to look around the village, study old maps and the censuses, photograph the interesting buildings, and reminisce with the true locals, I am beginning to understand the place (and still discovering things we had never noticed before)

    Poynton as a coalmining village has been well documented:  http://www.brocross.com/poynton/conten.htm

    This was originally a community local studies exercise 1978-83 in which I was priviledged to contribute a small part.

    The local census returns from 1841 to 1901 have also been thoroughly analysed and published as an occasional series in the Poynton Local History Society newsletters, copies of which are available in Poynton Library. The history of the Parish Church, the village shops, life in the Second World War, and the development of modern housing are covered in several excellent books published over the years.

    I have focussed on the older buildings and architecture of the village, combining data from the large-scale Ordnance Survey maps, the censuses, published details, photography and personal observation to produce as near complete a picture as possible of the development of our community...... 

Colliery  Tramways and Railways in Poynton

    In this illustrated article I have tried to summarise the development of tramways and railways serving the Poynton Collieries. In the original local studies exercise we were constrained to a description of those definitely known to have existed, through the medium of surviving records. Since then, evidence on the ground has suggested some possible additions, and these are mentioned here, hopefully to provoke further discussion and investigation!   

Poynton in the censuses      

Our interest in the village architecture and artifacts started from the 1881 census returns many years ago. We have more recently extended our summary database of the households, occupations and residences at that time to include all nine of the published censuses 1841-1921 inclusive......... 

The older buildings of the village 

         Adding properties shown in the other censuses and the various available old maps, together with a series of walks around the parish produced a spreadsheet of all known older buildings, dates where known, their current status and other information. I have tried to include all buildings dating from before around 1920, together with selected examples of special interest after that date (file last updated August 2022).......

         Vernon Estate tenanted properties

   In the 18881, 1891 and 1911 censuses, many of the Vernon properties known to have been tenanted by colliery employees etc and their families, are shown with numbers. There are many gaps though, and I suspect only those which carried clearly visible numberplates were recorded thus by the enumerators. These numbers are shown in a column of the above spreadsheet. There must surely have been something like a "Rent Book" detailing them all, with the tenant's names?  Does anyone have any further knowledge of this numbering system, or know of any other surviving documentation of it?  

        Things to see in Poynton     

    This survey originally started life around 1988 as "101 things to see around Poynton", but due to inevitable redevelopment and quite a few "new" discoveries, this has proved to be a somewhat variable quantity!  Having added in many maps and photographs it was convenient to split the whole into five separate walks around the parish, each of about 2-3 hours duration - see the descriptions and links below.

  There are no doubt many errors, omissions etc in these and the above spreadsheet; I would be most grateful to hear of any corrections, additions, detail including known building dates or alternative names, which will be included in updates as soon as practicable.......      

Poynton Walk 1    The north-western part                        13 pages     83 images

    Starting at the junction of Vicarage Lane with A523 London Road North, at the Bulls Head Inn.  Westwards along Vicarage Lane to Lower Park and through to the Woodford Road.   North along Woodford Road to Mill Hill Hollow.  Footpath eastwards past Barlow Fold back to the A523. North along A523 to Norbury Hall, then back southwards to Anglesey Drive. Through Poynton Park and back to the main road at South Lodge, then along the rest of this part of London Road to the centre of Poynton at Fountain Place. 

 Poynton Walk 2    The south-western part                        12 pages     72 images

     Starting at Fountain Place & the Parish Church in the centre of Poynton. Westwards along Chester Road, past the station to the “Finger Post” junction with Woodford Road and Distaff Farm.  (Optionally) further along Woodford Road to Woodford Church and back if desired. Back to Lostock Hall Road; down that and then by footpath past the end of Woodford Aerodrome runway to Lostock Road, passing under the very low railway bridge and on to the main A523. Southwards along London Road, over the railway bridge and as far as the milestone, then back northwards right through to Fountain Place. 

Poynton Walk 3     The south-eastern part                        17 pages     116 images

     Starting again at Fountain Place, then going eastwards along Park Lane as far as Clumber Road, opposite the old school. Clumber Road and Bulkeley Road to Dickens Lane. Dickens Lane eastbound past Sprink Farm to Wards End, then Waterloo Road through to Coppice Road. Eastwards along Coppice Road to Alma Cottages then back to Newtown & Hockley. Dalehousefold, then westwards along Park Lane back to the Clumber Road junction.

Poynton Walk 4     The north-eastern part                        11 pages     64 images

     Starting at Elmbeds Farm caravan park, on the west side of the canal. Out onto Shrigley Road, past the south end of Shrigley Road North and down Coppice Road past Smithfield Cottages. Footpath across to Worth Clough (Petrebank). Northwards along Middlewood Road to Worth Hall, then footpath to Park Pits and joining the Ladybrook Valley Trail down into Norbury Hollow.  Norbury Clock House, then Middlewood Road southwards to Middlewood railway station, Pool House Farm, New House Farm then German Lodge. Past Horsepastures Cottages to Green Lane Cottages; along Green Lane to the Boar’s Head Inn and up Nelson Road to Mount Vernon and the canal wharf.

Poynton Walk 5      The canal and beyond                        8 pages        44 images

     Starting at Adlington Wharf, then along the towpath past the canal aqueduct at Redacre on Shrigley Road. Northwards along the canal or the road to Hagg Bank Farm, then across the iron canal footbridge and footpath up towards Lyme Park at Green’s Farm. Footpath across to Haresteads Farm, then Longchimney and Hilltop Farm. Down to the canal at Mount Vernon Wharf, then along the towpath to Barlow House Farm. Footpath past Plattwood and Pheasantry Cottage to Middlecale Pit and down to the canal again. Northwards along the canal towpath to High Lane Wharf on the main A6 road.

 Poynton Diamonds & Cheshire Chimneys

   The traditional village diamond "motif" can be found in many forms on local buildings, walls etc; it has enjoyed something of a revival on new developments in recent years. I have always assumed it originated from the "black diamonds" (coal) upon which the community prosperity was founded?  Does anyone have a more definite interpretation or details?

   In contrast, what were described to me as "Cheshire Chimneys" many years ago are found only on one building in the village, the former Priorsleigh House (1930's) now the dental surgery at the corner of Park Avenue and London Road North. 

Some Poynton Conundrums

In May 2012 I made a presentation to the Poynton Local History Society entitled "Some Poynton Conundrums" in which various questions arising from the above research were aired. It is reproduced here together with the latest (Jan 2013) follow-up answering over half of the queries.....