Poynton is a town in the civil parish of Poynton-with-Worth, in the Cheshire East district and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England; from 1974 to 2009 it was in Macclesfield district. It is located on the easternmost fringe of the Cheshire Plain, south-east of Manchester, north of Macclesfield and south of Stockport.

The first mention of the manor of Poynton was in 1289. Coal was mined in Poynton from the 16th century and the collieries, under the ownership of the Lords Vernon from 1832 until their closure in 1935, were the largest in Cheshire. Consequent urbanisation and socioeconomic development necessitated better transport links; these came with the completion of the Macclesfield Canal through Poynton in 1831, the arrival of the Manchester and Birmingham Railway in 1845 and the Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway in 1869. In the late 20th century, Poynton became a commuter town for Manchester. Since 1945, the population has nearly trebled to 14,260 in 2011.

The settlement does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086. The first mention of the manor of Poynton occurred in the 13th century when it was held under the Earl of Chester by the Poutrells family and then by the de Stockeports, lords of Stockport. It was part of the barony of Stockport. Past spellings include Ponynton and Poynington. The Warren family held the manor from 1382, beginning with Sir John de Warren, who was a son of Sir Edward de Warren and his wife Cicely de Eton of Poynton and Stockport. This family held the manor until 1801, when Sir George Warren, the last surviving male, died. He was succeeded by his daughter, Lady Warren Bulkeley. She died childless in 1826 when she left the estate to Frances Maria Warren (then Lady Vernon) daughter of Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet.

Coal was found outcropping to the east of Towers Road, which corresponds to the line of the Red Rock Fault at the surface. The earliest record to be found is a lease dated 28 February 1589, which talks of the "Coal pit at Wourthe lately occupied by George Finche". This could be worked on the surface then by shallow shafts, and later by deeper shafts with waterwheels or steam engines operating pumps and winding gear. In the late 18th century, the Warrens of Poynton co-operated with the Leghs of Lyme to work the Cannel and Sheepwash seams at Norbury Hollow. Initially, the mines were pumped using waterwheels driven by the Norbury Brook; atmospheric steam engines were then used and then condensing engines thus allowing deeper pits to be sunk. Output in 1789 was over 23,586 tonnes (26,000 tons), rising to a production of 221,056 tonnes (243,673 tons) in 1859, an amount believed unlikely to have been surpassed. The Poynton Collieries were substantial, and the coal rights were held by the Warren family who leased them the Wrights and the Claytons. The canal, and new roads and railway lines, were used to remove the coal. In 1826, the estate passed to George John Venables Vernon, 4th Lord Vernon, who decided in 1832 to manage the mines himself. The pits had good transport links to their principal markets, cotton mills around Manchester. With the Lancashire Cotton Famine in 1861, and the subsequent recession, the price of coal collapsed, and the output dropped 112,840 tons, leading to worker redundancies. A new shaft, the Lawrance Pit, was sunk at Park in 1885, raising the output to 216,362 tons and paying for itself within a year. The Anson Colliery is now the site of the Anson Engine Museum; all other shafts have been capped and Park Pit has been levelled.

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thumb|right|Cottages originally built for miners at the bottom of the Coppice in Poynton

The Macclesfield Canal was originally proposed in 1765 but construction did not start until 1826 because of opposition from outside parties. The canal was designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1831. Sir George Warren was a promoter of the extension of the turnpike road from Manchester by way of Hazel Grove to Sandon, Staffordshire, where it joined what is now the A51 road. The Manchester and Birmingham Railway opened a line through Poynton in 1845, The Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway opened in 1869 with stations at Higher Poynton and Middlewood; it closed in 1970, and the line is now a footpath called the Middlewood Way. In 2009 the Parish Council resolved to become a Town Council and elect a Mayor, creating Poynton with Worth Town Council.

Cheshire East Council took over the responsibilities of the borough council and the county council on 1 April 2009.

Poynton is represented on Cheshire East Council in two two-member electoral wards, Poynton West and Pott Shrigley and Poynton East and Adlington, by four councillors, all members of the Conservative Party. Poynton is in the Macclesfield Constituency of the United Kingdom Parliament, which was represented by Conservative MPs from 1918 to 2024 but is currently represented by Labour Party MP Tim Roca.

Poynton was formerly a township and chapelry in the parish of Prestbury, in 1866 Poynton became a separate civil parish, in 1880 the parish was abolished.

Geography

thumb|right|[[Manchester city centre, from Poynton]]

Poynton is located at SJ925835 , between the Norbury Brook and the Poynton Brook at the easternmost limit of the Cheshire Plain. The land is between and above sea level. The town is approximately SSE of Manchester, from Manchester Airport, from junction 5 of the M56 motorway and from junction 3 of the M60 motorway. The west of the parish is predominantly residential, buffered from Hazel Grove and Bramhall by the North Cheshire Green Belt. To the south of the town are two business parks but here and to the east it is rural in nature, bounding on the former deer park of Lyme Hall.

Climate

Demography

At the time of the 2011 census, the population of the parish of Poynton with Worth was 14,260. The ethnic grouping of Poynton was 98% white, 1.1% Asian, 0.5% Mixed Race, 0.1% Black/African/Caribbean and 0.2% other groups. Religious division was 70.4% Christian, 21.5% no religion, 0.3% Muslim and 0.2% other religions. 59.7% of residents aged over 16 were married. and the Miners' Union. The Methodist Chapel was established in 1847 followed by the Baptists and Primitive Methodists chapels; together with St George's Church they were the social centres of the village. Lord Vernon opened the first school in 1838 which was extended as the number of children attending it grew, and this building is now used as the Poynton Youth and Community Centre.

The Poynton Show is held every August bank holiday weekend. It started in 1885, as an agricultural show, and has grown in size; 35,000 people visited the show in 1970. It offers a range of events in the main arena such as stunt riding and aerobatics, a fairground, exhibitions and competitive events. The Vernon Building Society (Poynton) Brass Band first started within the Poynton coal-mining community and was supported by the mine owners, the Vernon family. Records from 1832 stating that new uniforms had been purchased by Lady Vernon suggest that it has existed for over 160 years.

Poynton has two Anglican churches: St Martin's, Higher Poynton, and St George's, which occupies a prominent position in the town centre. St George's church dates from 1859 and is in the Victorian Gothic style; the steeple was added in 1884. The two churches have active congregations and run services, youth groups and a children's group.

Poynton is twinned with Érd in Hungary. Since 2016, it has also been twinned with Haybes in France.

Landmarks

thumb|right|Poynton Pool

Sir George Warren bought the Worth estate in 1792. Worth Hall, now redeveloped as flats, was originally the home of the Downes family of Worth; it lies within Davenport Golf Club. Several halls were built in Poynton Park, each one then demolished to make way for a new hall. The final hall, Poynton Towers, was demolished in the 1930s. The ornamental lake, known locally as Poynton Pool, was created in the 1760s by Sir George Warren, who dammed a tributary of Poynton Brook as part of his landscaping of the park. The dam itself served as the foundation for the turnpike. Other landmarks include St George's Church, with the town's war memorial in its churchyard, Park Colliery and Anson Pit. The route was chosen so it could pass close to the Poynton Colleries to transport coal to Macclesfield for the steam engines and c5,000 houses. It shortened the canal journey from Manchester to London by and allowed easy carriage of coal to the cotton mills at Dukinfield.

Railway

thumb|right|[[Poynton railway station in 2008]]

The Manchester & Birmingham Railway opened a line through Poynton in 1845, which now forms a spur of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Manchester Picadilly.

The Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway was opened in 1869, The town is within 5 miles of the M60 motorway at Stockport and M56 motorway at Manchester Airport.

Shared Space

In December 2011, the village road network was reconstructed at the junction of Chester Road/Park Lane and London Road, creating the first double roundel for a high-traffic intersection. Similar to a roundabout, the new junction reduces the four-lane approaches to two lanes, allowing pedestrians to cross quickly and safely allowing the elimination of traffic signals. Multiple coloured and textured cobbles separate traffic from pedestrian areas; however, it functions as a shared space, allowing pedestrians to cross anywhere that feels safe. According to the town, businesses have seen increased foot traffic and congestion has been considerably lessened. The total cost was £4m. As a result, special ticketing arrangements are in place within the parish.

The 391/392 bus services, operated by Belle Vue Coaches, run between Stockport and Macclesfield every two hours in each direction on Mondays to Saturdays.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter.

The town is served by these local radio stations:

  • BBC Radio Manchester
  • Heart North West
  • Smooth North West
  • Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West
  • Canalside Radio, a community-based station broadcast from Macclesfield.

The Poynton Post and regional Manchester Evening News are the town's local newspapers.

Education

Education in Poynton is now run by Cheshire East Council; it was formerly run by Cheshire County Council. Given the proximity to the border, some parents choose to have their children educated in Stockport.

There are 5 primary schools and Poynton High School. After secondary school, young residents can attend Poynton High School's sixth form or colleges nearby such as Aquinas College, Marple College or Macclesfield College.

Notable people

thumb|upright=0.65|The post box outside [[Poynton High School was painted gold in honour of ex-pupil Sarah Storey winning four gold medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.]]

  • Leslie Wood (1920–1994), artist and illustrator, lived in Poynton
  • Joyce Scott (born 1938), an Australian oil painter and ceramicist, migrated to Adelaide, in 1951.
  • Alan Beith (born 1943 in Poynton), Lib Dem MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed 1973–2015
  • Stephen Oake (1963 in Poynton – 2003), a police officer who was murdered while attempting to arrest a suspected terrorist
  • Graham Evans, Baron Evans of Rainow (born 1963 in Poynton), MP for Weaver Vale in Cheshire 2010–2017, Member of House of Lords since 2022
  • Luis Troyano (1971–2020), The Great British Bake Off finalist in 2014, lived in Poynton
  • Reuben Singh (born 1976 in Poynton), entrepreneur, known in the mid-1990s for his Miss Attitude retail chain
  • Andrew Stephenson (born 1981), a former British Conservative Party politician, MP for Pendle from 2010 to 2024, went to Poynton High School

Sport

  • James Meunier (1885 in Poynton – 1957), played first-class cricket and association football for several Football League teams
  • Jimmy Murphy (1910–1989), footballer, played 204 games for West Bromwich Albion F.C. & 15 for Wales; moved to Poynton after retiring.
  • Dame Sarah Storey (born 1977), road and track racing cyclist, former swimmer, multiple gold medal winner at the Paralympic Games and twice British national track champion
  • Sophie Thornhill (born 1996), a visually impaired English racing cyclist who competes in para-cycling tandem track events
  • Edward Francis (born 1999), footballer who has played over 150 games

See also

  • Listed buildings in Poynton with Worth

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • Cheshire East Council
  • PoyntonWeb
  • Anson Engine Museum
  • Poynton Colleries
  • Poynton Post Newspaper