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MACCLESFIELD, 
body was to confift of twenty-four capital burgdTes; but 
a later charter, from king Charles II. names a town-clerk, 
a coroner, two ferjeants at mace, &c. as part of the cor¬ 
poration. At prefent it is governed by twenty-four al¬ 
dermen, four of whom are in the commilfionof the peace, 
and one of them is mayor and juflice of the quorum ; who 
has for his afliftants, a town-clerk, who is always coroner 
for the borough, two ferjeants at mace, four javelin- 
bearers, and a conltable, or town crier. It fends no mem¬ 
bers to parliament. The mayor is always lord of the ma¬ 
nor. Among other articles delivered into the cuftody of 
the ferjeants at mace, in the year 1620, was “a bridle for 
a curft queane.” 
The filk and cotton trade is carried on in this town to 
a confiderable extent, there being nearly thirty (ilk-mills, 
fame of them on a large fcale, and about ten cotton-fac¬ 
tories ; a great quantity of goods of both forts is alfo 
manufactured in private houles; there are feveral muflin, 
filk-weaving, and twift, factories. The weaving of filk- 
handkerchiefs, and the making of ferret and calico, are 
increafing manufactures: here are five or fix dye-houfes, 
principally for fiik, a tape manufactory, and a bleaching- 
ground. And the filk-manufaCturers and weavers of this 
place, have juft received the pleafing intelligence, that the 
Ealt-India Company will wave their privilege of felling 
Bandanna filk-handkerchiefs for home confumption. 
This communication was made to them, by authority, on 
the 2.6th of January, 1815. 
Macclesfield has two churches and five chapels. The 
old church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a large Gothic 
firufture, luppofed to be built by the family of Savage ; 
here are many marble monuments and effigies of antique 
mode and form : at the altar is (hown the niche where for¬ 
merly food the holy water. Adjoining to this church is 
a chapel which formerly belonged to earl Rivers, but 
through intermarriage is now come into the family of 
lord Cholmondeley, and is ftill ufed as the family-vault, in 
■which is interred one of the family who was archbilhop 
of York, with a Greek infcription over him. In this 
chapel is reprefented a real pardon, granted by the pope 
of Rome, to a woman and her feven children, for twenty- 
fix-thoufand years and twenty-fix days, for faying five 
Ave Marias and five Pater Nofters. Here is alio an ele¬ 
gant effigy of earl Rivers leaning upon a pillow, fupport- 
ing his head with his right hand, full dreffed, and the 
curtains undrawn, neatly cut in marble 5 and many others 
of the fame family in the dt'effes and ornaments of the 
times. Alfo a chapel belonging to the family of Leigh, 
lords of Lime, in which is a brafs plate, fignifying, that 
for his gallant behaviour at the battles of Poictiers and 
CrelTy, in France, he obtained his title and the eftates of 
Lime. The new church, called Chriftchurch, built by 
Charles Rowe, efq. is a regular elegant pile of building, 
thirty-three yards long, twenty-two wide, and ten and a 
half high, befides the tower and chancel; the tower is 
forty-two yards high, fix yards fquare within, and has ten 
bells. The church has a handfome organ, and a maho¬ 
gany pulpit. At the altar is a buft of the faid Charles 
Rowe, and Genius weeping over him, holding a cog¬ 
wheel in her hand, done by Bacon, in white and black 
marble, with a handfome infcription to his memory. In 
the church-yard, which is open and fpacious, over the fa¬ 
mily-vault of Rowe, is a handlome monument in the form 
of a pyramid. This church was begun the 22d of March, 
1775, and opened the 10th of October in the fame year. 
The meeting-houfes are, two for Methodifts, and one for 
each ot the following fefts; Prefbyterians, Quakers, and 
Independents. A grammar-fchool was founded here by 
fir John Percival, knr. and not by king Edward VI. as 
commonly (fated. This monarch increafed its revenues, 
by giving lands and houfes in and near the city of Chelter. 
An ad of parliament was obtained, in 1768, to regulate 
the management and define the conftitution of this noted 
fern inary. 
Macclesfield is the head of the hundred of Macclesfield 
Foreft, where the feffions are held atMichaelmas and EafteF 
to try caufes lefs than felony ; an inferior court is held by 
the mayor and juftices every Friday to try the petty caufes ; 
and a bench of juftices is held every Monday. This town 
gives the title of earl to the family of Parker. In the 
town-box is preferved a copy or counter part of a petition 
fent to the king (Henry VII.) foon after the battle of 
Bofworth Field, in Leicefterfliire ; informing his majefty, 
that, having loft fo many of the principal inhabitants of 
this town in that battle, the}'- were unable to fill up the 
number of aldermen, viz. twenty-four, which their charter 
required ; on which account, they petitioned the king 
that their charter might not be broken or loft, as their in¬ 
habitants had loft their lives in the king’s fervice. In the 
year 1791, an ad w'as palled for inclofing the commons 
and wafte-grounds within the borough and manor of 
Macclesfield. By this ad, all encroachments within the 
manor (except fuch as had occurred within fixty years, 
and had no buildings) were fecured on certain terms to 
their refpedive poffeffors; the manorial rights of the 
crown, with refped to the foil, mines, and minerals, of 
the feveral wafte-grounds within the manor and borough 
were extinguilhed, with the relerve of coal-mines; as a 
compenfation for which concefiions, an allotment of ngi 
acres was made to his majefty, which allotment, and the 
right of digging coal, were fold in 1803, under the land- 
tax redemption ad, to Charles Cooke, of this town. The 
corporation are entitled to all fprings and water-courfes 
for fupplying the town with water ; from which fources, 
with the tolls of the market and fairs, a confiderable emo¬ 
lument is derived. The markets were Monday and Satur¬ 
day ; but the Monday-market, which was formerly very 
confiderable for corn, had greatly declined, but has been 
juft now revived, and is ordered, from and after the ift of 
January, (1815,) to be holden on the Tuefday. The fairs 
are, May 6, June 22, July 11, Od. 4, and Nov. is. chiefly 
for cloth, cutlery, toys, &c. 
In Back-ftreet are three alms-houfes ereded and en¬ 
dowed in the year 1703, by Mrs. Elizabeth Stanley, wi¬ 
dow, relid of Mr. James Stanley, of the family of AI- 
derley, daughter and heir of John Byram, alderman of 
this borough, for the maintenance of three poor widows 
who have their fettlement in this town, with a penny a- 
day to each for ever. In a ftreet called Backwall-gate are 
fome remains of a manfion of the dukes of Buckingham. 
Smith, in his defcription of Chelhire (1585), defcribes it 
as “ a huge place, all of done, in manner of a caftle, 
which belonged to the duke of Buckingham, but now 
gone to decay.” Webb, writing in 1622, fays, “in this 
towne are yet feen fome ruines of the ancient manor- 
houfe of the renowned duke of Buckingham, who (as 
yet report goeth) kept there his princely refidence, about 
the time of king Edward IV. of whole great hofpitality 
there, much by tradition is reported.” Other ancient 
manfions of this town were formerly occupied by families 
of diltindion ; among thefe was Stapleton-hall, belonging 
to the Stapletons of Upton ; Beate-hall, inhabited by the 
earl of Courtown, is now a public-houfe ; Worth-hall 
was the town-refidence of the family of Worths ; and is 
traditionally faid to have been the birth-place of archbi- 
(hop Savage. 
On Macclesfield Common are about forty brick-kilns; 
and the mountains on the left produce all kinds of ftone 
for the fupply of the town, fuch as (late, flag and grave 
(tones, fome of which are twenty feet long. At the bot¬ 
tom of thefe hills, upon a flat nearer, are four different 
feams of coal one below another, which are worked to 
fupply the town and burn the bricks; a large quantity is 
alio conlumed at the copper-works. On the laid common 
there is alfo a large building, with an open counter-yard 
in the middle ot about thirty yards fquare, called the 
Smelting Houfe, where they firlt melt down the copper ore, 
and make large quantities of Ihot, or pellets; they alio 
make large white bricks for their ovens, and deep pots in 
the form of garden-pots, but much larger, to melt their 
copper 
