Macclesfield, market town and municipal borough of Cheshire, England, 267 km (166 mi) northwest of London, on the Bollin River. Hills rising as high as 300 m (1000 ft) on the east lead to the bleak upland known as Macclesfield Forest.
Before the Norman conquest of England in 1066 Macclesfield was held by Leofric, earl of Mercia, but afterward it belonged to the earl of Chester. In 1261 Edward, Prince of Wales, granted Macclesfield the first of its many charters, making it a free borough. Further charters were granted in 1564 by Queen Elizabeth I and in 1684 by Charles II. The charter granted by Charles II continued until William IV's Municipal Reform Act of 1835. Macclesfield borough sent two members to Parliament for the first time in 1832. In 1880 the borough was disfranchised, and in 1885 it was merged with the county division of Macclesfield. The center of the English silk industry during the 18th and 19th centuries, Macclesfield still possesses several operative silk mills. Population (1996 estimate) 152,604.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Macclesfield Information info
|
