Prestbury Then & Now
Switch between old Ordnance Survey maps of Prestbury, from around 1900 and the 1950s, and a map of today, or put two side by side. Ten stops tell the story of an old church village on the River Bollin: tap one to read it, or walk the route yourself.
Ten stops in the story of the village
The stops run from the station, down Pearl Street to the river and up through the churchyard and the village street. It's well under a kilometre, with a short climb from the river. Allow about 45 minutes.
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1 · 1845
Prestbury Station
Then: Start at the station on the north-east edge of the village, where the line from Manchester heads into a tunnel.
Prestbury station opened on 24 November 1845 on the Manchester and Birmingham Railway's line to Macclesfield. Just north of the platforms the line runs into Prestbury Tunnel, and the stone arch over its south entrance, designed by the railway's engineer George W. Buck, is a listed building.
Now: Trains still stop here, between Manchester, Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent. The station was refurbished in 1986.
Have an old photo of Prestbury Station? Send it in and it could appear here with your name on.
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2 · c.1730
The Admiral Rodney
Then: Walk down to Pearl Street, the old main street of Butley, across the river from the church, and find the inn.
The inn may go back to around 1730, when it was called the Board. It was renamed after Admiral George Rodney (1718–1792), a naval hero of the day. Before New Road was built in 1833, Pearl Street was the turnpike road, so the inn's front door was on what is now the back.
Now: The Leghs of Adlington owned it for many years and sold it to Robinson's brewery in 1939, who remodelled the inside in “Brewer's Tudor” style. It's a listed building.
Have an old photo of The Admiral Rodney? Send it in and it could appear here with your name on.
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3 · 1686
Brooks Cottages
Then: A few steps along Pearl Street, look for a plaque on a pair of cottages.
The plaque reads: “Rodger Brooks and Ellen his wife erected this house in the 24 years of his life Ano Dom 1686.” It was built as a farmhouse and later split into two cottages.
Now: The plaque is still there to read, more than 330 years on.
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4 · 1855
The bridge over the Bollin
Then: Cross the River Bollin, which divides Butley, on the Admiral Rodney side, from the village street. Just downstream, below the churchyard, the map marks the corn mill with its weir and mill pond.
Until the 19th century people crossed here by a ford between Pearl Street and the village street. A bridge of two arches was built around 1825, and the single arch you cross today replaced it in 1855. Prestbury itself sits mostly on higher ground, above a river that often floods.
Now: The Bridge Hotel beside it began in 1626 as a row of five cottages. The corn mill, one of the last working in the area, was badly damaged by fire on 29 March 1940.
Have an old photo of The bridge over the Bollin? Send it in and it could appear here with your name on.
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5 · 1220
St Peter's Church
Then: Climb up into the churchyard of St Peter's, the mother church of a huge old parish.
Monks from St Werburgh's Abbey in Chester began the present church in 1220. The tower, 72 feet high, was added around 1480. Above the pillars inside are paintings from 1719 of the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel, and the ringers' gallery over the west porch dates from 1637. The Scott family of architects restored the church in the 1880s.
Now: It's still the parish church, and it's Grade I listed, the highest grade.
Have an old photo of St Peter's Church? Send it in and it could appear here with your name on.
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6 · 1100s
The Norman chapel and the Saxon cross
Then: In the churchyard, south of the church, find the small chapel with a carved doorway.
The chapel is older than the church: Norman, from the 1100s, built after the church here was given to the monks of St Werburgh's in the 1170s. When the new church went up in the 1220s the chapel was left standing and fell into ruin. In 1747 Sir William Meredith rebuilt it as his family's burial place, keeping the carved west doorway, which is still original Norman work.
Now: It was restored in 1953 and is used by the church again. Look out for the carved fragments of an Anglo-Saxon cross, found built into the church walls in Victorian times and kept behind glass: the oldest sign of a church here.
Have an old photo of The Norman chapel and the Saxon cross? Send it in and it could appear here with your name on.
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7 · 1500s
The Priest's House
Then: Across the street from the churchyard gate, find the black-and-white timber-framed house.
The Priest's House is timber-framed, from the 1500s, and was once the vicarage, later a cottage. Local tradition says that during the Commonwealth, in the 1650s, when the vicar was shut out of the church, he preached to his parishioners from its balcony.
Now: For much of the 20th century it was a bank. It's one of the few Grade II* listed buildings in the parish.
Have an old photo of The Priest's House? Send it in and it could appear here with your name on.
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8 · 1800s
The village street and the stocks
Then: Stand in the middle of the village street, wide enough for the cattle fairs that were once held here.
This one street held the school, smithies, the mill, inns and the stocks. Many of the cottages had upper floors built for weaving, and Swanwick's silk factory employed people here in the 1800s, with rows of workers' houses nicknamed Irish Row. The stocks are early 19th century and were set in their present spot in 1938.
Now: The street is a conservation area full of listed buildings, and the curved row of four old weavers' cottages still stands on the east side.
Have an old photo of The village street and the stocks? Send it in and it could appear here with your name on.
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9 · 1500s
The Legh Arms
Then: Find the old inn on the west side of the village street.
Parts of the Legh Arms go back to the late 1500s, and it was extended in the 1700s. It's named after the Leghs of Adlington, who bought the manor of Prestbury in 1580 and have held the right to choose the vicar ever since.
Now: It still stands on the village street, carrying the family's name.
Have an old photo of The Legh Arms? Send it in and it could appear here with your name on.
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10 · 1721
The old school
Then: Towards the south end of the street, find the old school building.
Prestbury's school was built in 1721, and a house for the schoolmaster was added in 1751. Later it became a bank and the village library.
Now: It's offices today, and one of more than fifty listed buildings in the parish.
Have an old photo of The old school? Send it in and it could appear here with your name on.
Know more about these places?
Do you remember the corn mill by the river before the fire of 1940? Did you go to school in the village? Send a memory, an old photo you own, or a correction, and the best ones will be added to the map with your name on.
About this map
Prestbury Then & Now is part of a free local history project from Lime Fresh Design, a web design studio in Macclesfield. It's our way of giving something back to the area, and a small example of what a website can do for a museum, a history society or a local attraction.
Old maps: Ordnance Survey 25-inch, Cheshire, about 1900, and OS 1:10,560 National Grid, 1950s–60s, courtesy of the National Library of Scotland (CC-BY). Today: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Map: Leaflet. Dates and facts are from Historic England listings and published local histories; where sources disagree we've said so.