History of Industry in Poynton

Industrial History of Poynton

Early industry (agriculture) in Poynton and Worth (and Norbury) consisted of Forestry (Timber) and farming of wheat, oats and corn crops. There was a corn mill sited at the lowest part of Norbury brook just before it passes under the Hazel Grove-Woodford road on a site now occupied by Tanglewood Cottage which was probably itself reconstructed from the original mill buildings. It was driven by a water wheel but unfortunately there is now no trace of the mill. There were also corn mills driven by water wheels at Norbury and Worth. By the 1840's the Norbury mill had a wheel which reached 30 feet in diameter and was 5 feet wide. In the 17th century, the needs of coalmining overtook those of corn milling.

Timber was used for building and for making tubs, crates, bobbins, fencing etc. In 1824 there was a sale of 819 trees held at the Crescent Inn in Poynton - the trees being in Lower Park, Lostock, Worth and Poynton Coppice.

There were also stone quarries with local stone masons and later brickmaking. Brick was used extensively in colliery building.

Pickford headquarters and stables were in Poynton which brought in work for local blacksmiths, wheelwrights and sadlers.

Poynton is situated almost half way between Macclesfield and Stockport. In the 18th century the silk industry became established in Macclesfield while the Stockport had its cotton industry. This provided spinning work, landlooming etc for the people of Poynton. In 1783-1812 there were 14 spinners of cotton in Poynton and 2 in Worth. In 1851 3 men and 7 women worked in silk.

The industry that has had by far the most profound effect on Poynton is coalmining. most of the coal seams that were worked in Poynton outcropped in the district and so must have been worked from a very early date. The earliest record found was in 1589, but it is likely that coal was used in the area many years before this. The advent of steam in the early a8th century enabled deeper pits to be worked. These engines were very expensive but were used widely indicating the worth of coalmining in the area.

In 1765 when the Macclesfield canal was proposed it was estimated that the Norbury pits alone with their new engine could provide 10,000 tons of coal a year to Macclesfield (at 4d per cwt) which was considerably more than the 700 tons of 1707. The canal provided cheap transport to Macclesfield, Marple and Bollington and in 1836 production had risen to 180,184 tons and profits were £30,049. Stockport was still the largest market and transport problems to there were eased with the coming of the tramways and a new coal yard was built at the end of Towers Road.

In 1897 Poynton produces 244,516 tons of coal or about 1/3 of all coal produced in Cheshire with over 400 men working underground. After being Poynton's main industry for 150 years the last Poynton pits were closed in 1935. There were over 60 mine shafts dotted around Poynton. Railways were built to move the coal and the remains of the industry can still be seen.