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Mossley

Coordinates: 53°30′53″N 2°02′19″W / 53.5147°N 2.0387°W / 53.5147; -2.0387
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This article is about the town in Greater Manchester. For other uses, see Mossley (disambiguation).
Mossley
View of Mossley
Mossley is located in Greater Manchester
Mossley
Mossley
Location within Greater Manchester
Population10,921 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSD9702
Civil parish
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townASHTON-UNDER-LYNE
Postcode districtOL5
Dialling code01457
PoliceGreater Manchester
FireGreater Manchester
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
Websitewww.mossley-council.co.uk
List of places
UK
England
Greater Manchester
53°30′53″N 2°02′19″W / 53.5147°N 2.0387°W / 53.5147; -2.0387

Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England.[3] It is located in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Oldham and 9 miles (14.5 km) east of Manchester. In 2011 it had a population of 10,921.

The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire meet in Mossley and local government wards and church parishes correspond to their boundaries. Mossley had a population of 10,921 at the 2011 Census.[1] It is the only parished area of Tameside, having had a parish council since 1999.

History

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Toponymy

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Believed to originate in around 1319, the name Mossley means "a woodland clearing by a swamp or bog".[4]

Events

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Mossley—alongside neighbouring Stalybridge and Uppermill in Saddleworth—helped launch the annual Whit Friday Band Contest, an internationally known brass band event. This came about when the three towns held unconnected brass band events on 6 June 1884.[citation needed]

Public venue

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George Lawton, the son of magistrate and alderman John Lawton, inherited a family fortune and when he died in August 1949, he left the bulk of his wealth to the people of Mossley. Part of his £77,760 wealth (equivalent to £3,500,000 in 2023) was left to build a public meeting place, the George Lawton Hall.[citation needed]

Governance

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For the electoral ward of Tameside Council, see Mossley (ward).
Mossley Town Hall

Following the passing of the Public Health Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 63) and the Local Government Act 1857, a Local Board of Health was established in Mossley in 1864.[5] On 13 March 1885 Mossley was granted a Charter of Incorporation to become a municipal borough, replacing the local board.[6][7] The council was based at Mossley Town Hall.[8] The whole borough was unified under the administrative county of Lancashire under the Local Government Act 1888.[5] In 1974 the borough of Mossley was absorbed under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 into the new metropolitan borough of Tameside in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.[5] It became an unparished area.

Under the provisions of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 local electors were given the right to request that a new parish and council be created in unparished areas. The people of Mossley exercised this right and a civil parish for Mossley was established in 1999. The civil parish council voted to adopt town status and Mossley now has a town mayor. The town has three parish wards based on the historic county borders, with four members representing the Cheshire part, three members the Lancashire part and two members the Yorkshire part. The town's unofficial coat of arms includes Cheshire's sheaf of corn, Lancashire's red rose and Yorkshire's white rose to signify the historic demarcation.

Parliament

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From 1918 to 1950 the town gave its name to the Mossley constituency which returned a Member of Parliament; for most of the period, the MP was Austin Hopkinson, who was notable for being elected as an Independent candidate. The town is now represented by the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde.

Geography

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View of Mossley from near Mossley railway station.
Mossley's proximity to the Saddleworth Moor and the Pennines makes it prone to precipitation.

Mossley lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines, on the western edge of Saddleworth Moor.

Churches

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The eccesiastical parishes correspond to the boundaries of the historic counties:

  • St. Joseph's Church, in the centre of Mossley, is Roman Catholic
  • All Saints' Church is in Micklehurst, aligned to Cheshire
  • St John the Baptist Church is of Yorkshire
  • St George's Church is of Lancashire

Education

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Primary schools

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  • St. Joseph's R.C. Primary School
  • Livingstone Primary School
  • St. George's Primary School
  • Milton St. John's Primary School
  • All Saints Micklehurst

Secondary school

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Transport

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Mossley railway station is sited on the Huddersfield line. Services are operated by TransPennine Express to locations including Manchester Piccadilly, Stalybridge, Huddersfield, Leeds and Hull.[9]

Several bus routes serve Mossley, including (as of January 2025):[10]

A tram network operated by the SHMD Joint Board ran lines through Mossley from 1904 to 1945, until their replacement by buses.[11] The second-generation tramway Manchester Metrolink currently terminates at nearby Ashton-under-Lyne for connections to the city centre.

Media

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Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter [12] and one of the two local relay transmitters (Saddleworth [13] and Brock Bottom [14]).

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Manchester, Capital Manchester and Lancashire, Heart North West, Smooth North West, XS Manchester, Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West, and Tameside Radio, a community based station.

The local newspaper is the Tameside Reporter, published on Thursdays.[15]

Twinning

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Mossley's French twin town is Hem, situated near Lille, in the Nord département.[citation needed]

Sport

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Local sport teams include Mossley A.F.C., Mossley Mayhem Softball Club, Mossley Athletic JFC, Mossley Juniors F.C., Mossley AFC Running Club and Micklehurst Cricket Club.

Fairtrade

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Mossley's Town Council passed a resolution in November 2009 to make Mossley a Fairtrade Town. A group of local campaigners and activist have started the Fairtrade Mossley group to make 2010 the year that Mossley becomes a Fairtrade Town.[16]

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Mossley Parish (1170210822)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Mossley Town Council : Homepage". Mossley-council.co.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Greater Manchester Gazetteer". Greater Manchester County Record Office. Places names - M to N. Archived from the original (http) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  4. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Flavia Hodges; A.D. Mills; Adrian Room (2002). The Oxford Names Companion. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860561-7.
  5. ^ a b c Nevell, Michael (1993). "Chapter 2: An Industrial Society". Tameside 1700–1930. A History and Archaeology of Tameside. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. p. 17. ISBN 1-871324-08-4. OCLC 53181546.
  6. ^ Holt, Alfred (1974) [1926]. The Story of Mossley; Ancient and Modern. Mossley Civic Society. p. 9.
  7. ^ Nevell, Michael (1993). "Chapter 2: An Industrial Society". Tameside 1700–1930. A History and Archaeology of Tameside. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. p. 11. ISBN 1-871324-08-4. OCLC 53181546.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Former Mossley Town Hall (1068044)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Timetables". TransPennine Express. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Stops in Mossley". Bus Times. 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley & Dukinfield Joint Transport and Electricity Board 1903-1969". petergould.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. May 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Full Freeview on the Saddleworth (Oldham, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. May 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Freeview Light on the Brook Bottom (Tameside, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. May 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Tameside Reporter". British Papers. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Make Mossley Fairtrade; the Fair Trade Campaign for Mossley, Lancashire". JUrang.co.uk.
  17. ^ "Green Fingered George". Green Fingered George. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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