St Mary's East Window

At the beginning of the month I showed you a glimpse of the East Window through the entrance to St Mary's.

The church is Grade I listed and whilst the chancel dates from before 1334, the nave and tower were rebuilt in 1814 after the original tower was cracked due to excessive bell ringing in celebration of Nelson's victory at the battle of Trafalgar.

The tower has recently been renovated again and the interior of the church is still undergoing restoration.

More information can be found on the St Mary's in the Market Place website.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays and also Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.

Steps to Stonemill Terrace

From Penny Lane Fields.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

Signs on the old workhouse

"Welcome to edge hill Faculty of Health" says the sign on the left of the doorway of the former workhouse building once part of St Thomas' Hospital. "Press buzzer and wait for response" it says underneath but the building has been empty and derelict for some time - see earlier post Union Offices of Shaw Heath Workhouse for more details.

The sign on the door itself informs "Stockport Community Drugs Team is located around the corner of Flint Street".

A contribution to signs, signs.

D is for Davenport Station

Davenport Station 2014
Davenport is a residential suburb on the outskirts of Stockport. It takes its name from its railway station, itself named after the Davenport family which for centuries lived at Bramhall Hall. When the railway came to the area in the 1850s in the shape of the Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge line, there was no settlement here; it was just a remote corner of the Davenport family's estate. However, the Davenports had ideas of developing this part of their land as a residential suburb.

Davenport Station 1988
  © Copyright Peter Whatley and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
The station was built at the point where the Stockport to Bramhall road crossed the railway; although the station was not actually built in time for the opening of the line in 1857, but the following year, 1858 after complaints from the Davenports that a station had been promised. It was named Davenport after its sponsors. Not long afterwards, however, the Davenports sold all their land, including what is now Davenport, much of it to a property company, and moved away from the area. A few large houses were constructed around the station in its early years, several of them to be occupied by moguls of the hatting and cotton-spinning industries for which Stockport is famous.

Davenport Station circa 1910
Courtesy of Greater Manchester County Record Office
The now-familiar station booking office is not an original feature but dates from the 1880s.

A train for Preston via Deansgate and Bolton arriving at platform 2
See the train at Deansgate on Ackworth born, gone West.

More information on the station and its environs can be found on the Davenport Station website.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Union Offices of Shaw Heath Workhouse

A workhouse was designed by Henry Bowman and built at Shaw Heath to accommodate up to 690 inmates. The workhouse later became Shaw Heath Hospital, then from 1954 was known as St Thomas' Hospital. The hospital finally closed in 2004 and the site acquired by Stockport College as part of their campus expansion. This building photographed here was built in 1905 as a new office and board-room block and was erected at the west of the workhouse site at the corner of Flint Street.

Information is scarce as to its exact function prior to closing in 2004. What is known is that it was used by Edge Hill University as a Faculty of Health comprising several functions including teaching. It was also used by Stockport Community Alcohol Team as a drop in centre and needle exchange. Additionally it was a drop in centre for victims of domestic violence.

Photographs of the derelict interior can be found on the Derelict Places website.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Tiviot Way Bridge

This modern bridge takes Tiviot Way, the A626 Heaton Chapel to Dinting Junction road, over Penny Lane.

Penny Lane is cut off for through traffic just below the bridge to prevent it being used as a rat-run for drivers trying to avoid the main road from Reddish to Lancashire Hill.

A full account of the route of the A626 is on the Sabre website.

A contribution to Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Entry to Stockport Parish Church

Entry to the Parish Church of "St Mary's in the Market Place" is through the Great West Doors which stand underneath the tower. The main body of the church dates from 1817, although parts date back to the 14th century. Through the left hand side of the modern glass door can be seen the East window.

The Packhorse Inn can be seen reflected in the right hand side.

This photograph was taken on Christmas Eve 2011.

Since then the Packhorse Inn has changed to become the Cocked Hat and on January 4th I posted a photo of one the church windows reflected in the pub window.

A contribution to the Entry theme at City Daily Photo and to Weekend Reflections and also to Inspired Sundays. Also a contribution to Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.