Loading AI tools
Town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Mossley | |
---|---|
![]() View of Mossley | |
Location within Greater Manchester | |
Population | 10,921 (2011 census)[1] |
OS grid reference | SD9702 |
Civil parish |
|
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE |
Postcode district | OL5 |
Dialling code | 01457 |
Police | Greater Manchester |
Fire | Greater Manchester |
Ambulance | North West |
UK Parliament | |
Website | www.mossley-council.co.uk |
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.
Believed to originate in around 1319, the name Mossley means "a woodland clearing by a swamp or bog".[4]
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]
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]
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.
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.
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2008) |
Mossley lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines, on the western edge of Saddleworth Moor.
The eccesiastical parishes correspond to the boundaries of the historic counties:
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 March 2024):[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.
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. [15]
The local newspaper is the Tameside Reporter, published on Thursdays.[16]
Mossley's French twin town is Hem, situated near Lille, in the Nord département.[citation needed]
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.
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.[17]