Disley

Its Anglo-Saxon name was Dystiglegh, meaning "wood or clearing by a mound" or possibly "windy settlement".{{cite web | url = http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Cheshire/Disley | title = Disley | work = The Key To English Place Names | publisher = English Place Name Society | access-date = 9 May 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151016211626/http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Cheshire/Disley | archive-date = 16 October 2015 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }} In the 13th century, in the time of Edward I, there are references to confirmatory grants of land made to Jordan de Dystelegh of Disley Hall and Roger de Stanley-de-Dystelegh of Stanley Hall in the district, pointing to even older local settlements. It later had the name Dystelegh.

Disley was the home of several farmsteads, including one at Stanley, where the golf club is now located. The barn, erected sometime around the 15th or 16th-century, still stands.{{Cite web|url=https://disleyparishcouncil.org.uk/discover-disley/history-of-disley/|title=History of Disley|date=2013-05-28|website=Disley Parish Council|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-08-12}}

Sir Piers Legh of Lyme founded St Mary's Church, completed in 1524 and consecrated as parish church in 1558. The earliest parish register is from 1591.

In 1724, the road from Manchester to Buxton became a turnpike road and in the early 1800s the road was rerouted from its original route along Jackson's Edge road to the current line of the A6.

At the time of the first census, Disley had a population of 995 residents. By 1881, this had increased to 3,312 and, as of 2019, the population is now in the region of 4,600.

The fountain in Fountain Square was donated by the Orfords in 1837 to provide the village with clean water, the stone coming from the Jacksons Edge Quarry. It was used until the 1920s.

The village had at least one cotton mill by the mid-19th century. As the cotton industry declined, more varied employment became the norm. As of 2005, there is a paper mill and some light engineering works, but most people travel out to work.

File:Disley - The Crescent.jpg

The parish of Disley was included in the 19th-century as one of three parishes in Hayfield rural sanitary district, alongside Hayfield and Mellor in Derbyshire. In 1894, under the Local Government Act 1894, rural sanitary districts became rural districts, but were required to be entirely within one county or another – this led to Disley, the only Cheshire parish of the sanitary district, to form the Disley Rural District on its own – one of only a few single-parish rural districts to exist. This remained in existence until 1974, when it was merged into the new Borough of Macclesfield, whilst retaining a parish council.

In April 2008, a referendum was announced for Disley residents because the Borough of Macclesfield was to become part of the new Cheshire East unitary authority, as a result of major local government changes in Cheshire in April 2009. Some residents believed that the village would be better served if it were part of the neighbouring boroughs of Stockport in Greater Manchester or High Peak in Derbyshire.{{cite news|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/village-vote-on-council-change-950062 |title=Village vote on council change |date=12 April 2010 |access-date=21 August 2019 |newspaper=Manchester Evening News}}

On 8 May 2008, this referendum was held, with an overwhelming result in favour of staying within Cheshire; less than a third of electors wished to become part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and an even lower proportion of the population wished the village to become part of High Peak Borough.

{{cite web |url=http://www.disley.info/images/news/Parish%20Poll.doc |title=Disley Parish Council – Declaration of Result of Poll |format=.doc |date=8 May 2008 |access-date=24 May 2008 |publisher=Disley Parish Council |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721195844/http://www.disley.info/images/news/Parish%20Poll.doc |archive-date=21 July 2011 |df=dmy

}} Macclesfield Borough Council was succeeded on 1 April 2009 by the new unitary authority of Cheshire East.[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080634_en_2#pt2-l1g3 Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517000027/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080634_en_2#pt2-l1g3 |date=17 May 2009 }}

Disley railway station is a stop on the Manchester to Buxton line. There is generally an hourly service in each direction between {{rws|Manchester Piccadilly}} and {{rws|Buxton}}, via {{rws|Stockport}}; services reduce to every two hours on Sundays.{{Cite web |title=Timetables and engineering information for travel with Northern |work=Northern Railway |date=2 June 2024 |access-date=10 September 2024 |url= https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/timetables |quote=}}

High Peak Buses operates bus route 199, which provides a regular service between Buxton, New Mills, Stockport and Manchester Airport.{{Cite web |title=Disley Bus Services |work=Bus Times |date=2024 |access-date=10 September 2024 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/disley |quote=}}

The A6, which connects Carlisle in Cumbria with Luton in Bedfordshire, passes through Disley; it connects the village with Stockport to the north-west and the Peak District to the south-east.

The Rams Head Inn, in the centre of the village, was built by the Legh family in c.1640, though the current exterior was built around 1840. It was formerly a lodge belonging to the Lyme Park estate. It became a main coaching stop on the Manchester to London route. In 1790, after three visits, Viscount Torrington voted it the best inn in England. The Rams Head is now a restaurant and pub; only part of what once was its extensive stabling block still remains. The pub{{NHLE |num=1231354 |desc=Ram's Head Hotel And Mounting Block |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=10 September 2024}} and its adjoining former stables{{NHLE |num=1231559 |desc=Former Stables At Ram's Head Hotel |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=10 September 2024}} are Grade II listed buildings.

Lyme Park is in the civil parish of Lyme Handley, rather than in the Disley parish, but it is sufficiently close to be associated with the village. It is owned and managed by the National Trust. The hall was used by the BBC as a setting in its 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

The Bowstones are two upright crosses on moorland above Lyme Park on the route of the Gritstone Trail. Their origins are unknown but they are believed to be religious. From here it is possible to see seven counties: Derbyshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Clwyd.

The village is home to Disley Cricket Club,{{cite web |url=http://www.disleycc.co.uk/ |title=Disley Cricket Club |publisher=www.disleycc.co.uk

|access-date=8 August 2008}} a member of the TACS Cheshire Cricket League, playing their home games at Disley Amalgamated Sports Club (DASC). The 1st XI play in Division 1, having won the Division 2 championship in 2014 and Division 3 in 2013.

Moorside Golf Club, in Higher Disley, first appeared in the 1930s; it continued to operate until the late 1950s.{{cite web |url=http://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=511 |title=Moorside Golf Club, Higher Disley, Cheshire (1930–1950s) |work=Golf's Missing Links |access-date=21 August 2019}} Disley Golf Club, still in operation to the north of the village, opened in 1889 and is "one of the oldest inland courses in the UK".{{cite web |url=https://www.disleygolfclub.co.uk/ |title=Home page |publisher=Disley Golf Club |access-date=18 September 2024}}

Stanley Hall Farmhouse is a Grade-II-listed building from the 16th-century.{{NHLE |num=1231812 |grade=II |desc=Stanley Hall |access-date=21 August 2019}} Stanley Hall was given to the Stanleys by the Black Prince in 1388 and bought by the Leghs in 1488. Part of the barn, also Grade II listed,{{NHLE |num=1277457|grade=II |desc=Barn attached at right angles to Stanley Hall |fewer-links=yes |access-date=21 August 2019}} was used as the first clubhouse of the Disley golf club.

Disley has a primary school, Disley Primary School,{{cite web |url=https://www.disley.cheshire.sch.uk/ |title=Home page |publisher=Disley Primary School |access-date=7 May 2021}} which in 2020 became an academy as part of The TRUE Learning Partnership, and two nurseries, Blue Grass Purple Cow{{cite web |url=https://www.bluegrasspurplecow.co.uk/ |title=Blue Grass Purple Cow}} and Disley Under Fives.{{cite web |url=https://www.disleyunderfives.org/ |title=Disley Under Fives}}

File:The Grey Cottage, Disley.JPG lived from 1893 to 1902]]

• Piers Legh (1389-1422), second generation of the Leghs of Lyme, soldier injured at the Battle of Agincourt and whose dog, a mastiff, stood over him and protected him for many hours before returning to Lyme Park
• Thomas Brown (1772–1850), surveyor, civil engineer, businessman and landowner.
• Allan Monkhouse (1858–1936), playwright, critic, essayist and journalist; lived locally.Blue plaque on building reads: "Literary editor at the Manchester Guardian Allan Noble Monkhouse 1858–1936 lived at the Grey Cottage 1893–1902. Novelist and playwright of the "Manchester School" of drama."
• Christopher Isherwood (1904–1986), novelist, playwright, screenwriter and autobiographer; born at Wyberslegh Hall.{{cite book |last=Jolly |first=Margaretta |date=2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pedJAgAAQBAJ&q=Christpher+Isherwood+Wyberslegh+Hall&pg=PA475 |title=Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |isbn=1-57958-232-X |page=475}}
• A. J. P. Taylor (1906–1990), historian, journalist and broadcaster, lived in the village in the 1930s.{{cite book |last=Morley |first=Paul |date=2013 |title=The North (And Almost Everything In It) |author-link=Paul Morley |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0747578161 |page=[https://archive.org/details/northandalmostev0000morl/page/289 289] |url=https://archive.org/details/northandalmostev0000morl/page/289 }}
• Molly Clutton-Brock (1912–2013), therapist and youth worker, helped physically disabled children in centres in Rhodesia and Botswana.
• Barney Storey MBE (born 1977), cyclist, medallist at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7607585.stm |title=Storeys add to GB cycling golds |access-date=29 October 2008 |publisher=BBC |date=10 September 2008}}
• Dame Sarah Storey (born 1977), cyclist and swimmer, multiple gold medallist in the Paralympic Games.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7607585.stm |title=Storeys add to GB cycling golds |access-date=29 October 2008 |publisher=BBC |date=10 September 2008}}
• Ian Clark (born ca. 1980), film director and screenwriter, brought up locally.{{cite web|url=http://www.mandmclark.com/index.htm|title=Clark family history|publisher=mandmclark.com|access-date=7 March 2017|archive-date=17 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217213357/http://mandmclark.com/index.htm|url-status=dead}}

{{Portal|Cheshire}}

• Listed buildings in Disley

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Disley}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.disleyparishcouncil.org.uk |title=Disley Parish Council Website |publisher=Disley Parish Council }}

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Category:Villages in Cheshire

Category:Civil parishes in Cheshire

Category:Towns and villages of the Peak District