Thornsett
{{Short description|Derbyshire hamlet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
File:The Printer's Arms in Thornsett - geograph.org.uk - 4210528.jpg
Thornsett is a hamlet within the civil parish of New Mills in Derbyshire. It lies between New Mills and Hayfield,{{cite map |publisher=Ordnance Survey |title=OL1 Dark Peak area |scale=1:25000 |series=Explorer }} and includes a primary school,{{cite web | url = http://www.thornsett.derbyshire.sch.uk/ | title=School Homepage |publisher=Thornsett Primary School | access-date=15 April 2014}} a nursery, two pubs, a band room and a cemetery (created in 1993). It is roughly {{convert|13|mi}} southeast of central Manchester and {{convert|22|mi}} west of Sheffield. The hamlet is governed by High Peak Borough Council and, as it lies within New Mills' parish boundaries, New Mills Town Council.
History
File:Birch Vale railway station 1800648 0025e56c.jpg
Thornsett has always been in Derbyshire, unlike some other parts of New Mills. It was originally grouped, along with Beard, Ollersett and Whitle, as one of the ten hamlets that formed the area of Bowden Middlecale.{{Cite web|title=New Mills|url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Derbyshire/New%20Mills|access-date=11 November 2020|website=Key to English Place-Names |publisher=University of Nottingham}} Bowden Middlecale has since been split up, with only these four hamlets forming part of the new township of New Mills.
The hamlet was once served by Birch Vale railway station{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Ian R |last2=Fox |first2=G K |date=2003 |title=Manchester London Road to Hayfield: Scenes from The Past 45 |publisher=Ian Allan Publishing |isbn=1-870119-73-8}} on a branch line (now the Sett Valley Trail) from New Mills Central to Hayfield Station (now demolished). The line opened in 1868, but passenger numbers declined after the Second World War. Lack of use led to the line's closure in 1970 as part of the Beeching cuts. By 1975, the land occupied by the railway had been sold to Derbyshire County Council.
Birch Vale and Thornsett were served by a post office until its closure in 2008.{{cite news |url=https://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-views-unheeded-in-post-office-closures-1-649863 |title=Local views unheeded in post office closures |newspaper=Buxton Advertiser |date=15 August 2008 |access-date=26 December 2019}} The nearest post offices are now in Hayfield and New Mills.
There were two chapels in the hamlet,{{Cite web|title=Thornsett, Derbyshire |publisher=UK Genealogy Archives |url=https://ukga.org/england/Derbyshire/towns/Thornsett.html|access-date=26 December 2019|website=ukga.org}} both of which have been converted into houses.
Geography and transport
The hamlet is accessed only by local roads and is connected by road to nearby New Mills, Rowarth, Mellor, Marple and Hayfield.
The only bus route that runs through Thornsett is the High Peak 60,{{Cite web|title=Route 60 Hayfield – New Mills – Whaley Bridge – Macclesfield Service Information |url=https://www.highpeakbuses.com/bus-services/60/|access-date=11 November 2020|publisher=High Peak Buses}} which runs to Hayfield and New Mills.
File:High Hill Road, Thornsett - geograph.org.uk - 1066131.jpg]]
The nearest stations are New Mills Central and New Mills Newtown, both with services to Manchester and Stockport, also offering services to Buxton, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Preston.
The River Sett runs below the hamlet, flowing from Kinder Scout to The Torrs in New Mills, where it joins the River Goyt.