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Archive => Archived Boards => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Deniseamb on February 02, 2005, 11:25:24 AM

Title: The 'Function' of Marple
Post by: Deniseamb on February 02, 2005, 11:25:24 AM

My son has a question in his Geography homework - Describe how the  'function' of Marple has changed over the years.

Having difficulty with this in general however one query I have is this.  Could Marple ever have been described as a market town?

My son has written in his book something he took down in class which is that at one time Marple was a market town and the evidence for this is the name 'Market Street'.  

Am I right to dispute this?  I have never seen photos of an actual market on Market Street and I don't think that Marple has ever held a charter to have a Market.  One of our history books says that people took their goods to Stockport Market to sell.  Is the name 'Market' Street in any way related to a market or is it just a common name for a street?

Title: The 'Function' of Marple
Post by: on February 02, 2005, 12:25:45 PM

I can't remember if this came to me in a dream or what.. but.. I thought that once upon a time there used to be some kind of market on Stone Row, just of Oldknow Road.

Please remember though, school was a long time ago for me! and I've eaten a lot of red meat since then!!
 

Title: The 'Function' of Marple
Post by: Peter on February 02, 2005, 06:23:13 PM

I'm sure I have been told why Market St. is so called, but for the life of me I can't remember, (old age?).
However I can help with the Stone Row bit. If my recollection is correct Samuel Oldknow did build Stone Row with a market in mind but was refused a licence from the local authority. If I have managed to load a picture then the building in the centre is the market hall.



This of course adds credance to deniseamb's argument regarding licences.

Title: The 'Function' of Marple
Post by: wardie on February 03, 2005, 09:02:36 AM

Not a direct answer I'm afraid, but a couple of years ago I did find a local book in the library about Marple/Mellor/M.Bridge, which may help.  I certainly went back to the origins of Marple and to the present day.

Hope this helps.

Title: The 'Function' of Marple
Post by: sgk on February 09, 2005, 09:13:53 PM

Peter is absolutely right :-

At Stone Row a market building was also constructed but Oldknow was unable to obtain a licence to operate, probably due to resistance from Stockport Market, and this was eventually used for further housing.

More details on the Marple UK website, see this Link

Title: The 'Function' of Marple
Post by: Deniseamb on February 10, 2005, 12:10:56 PM

So I am right - in the historical context Marple could never have been described as a market town as it never had a charter.  However this is a geography question.  The function of Marple is described (in my son's notes) as changing from a farming community to a market town to an industrial town and to a dormitory town.  I still disagree with this as in one of the books on Marple it mentions that before Oldknow came along Marple was still just a collection of farms and hamlets.  So even in the georgraphical sense it wasn't a market town before being industrial.  Perhaps you could swop the order around though.  What do you think?

Anyone any good on Spanish Homework?!