Mossley | |
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View of Mossley |
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Mossley shown within Greater Manchester | |
Population | 10.921 (2011) |
OS grid reference | SD9702 |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE |
Postcode district | OL5 |
Dialling code | 01457 |
Police | Greater Manchester |
Fire | Greater Manchester |
Ambulance | North West |
EU Parliament | North West England |
UK Parliament | |
Website | www.mossley-council.co.uk |
Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a small town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The town is in the upper Tame Valley in the foothills of the Pennines, 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Oldham and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) east of Manchester.
The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire meet in Mossley and local government wards and church parishes correspond to their boundaries. In 2001, Mossley had a population of 9,856. This had increased to 10,921 at the 2011 Census. It is the only parished area of Tameside, having had a parish council since 1999.
Believed to originate in around 1319, the name Mossley means "a woodland clearing by a swamp or bog".
Mossley - alongside neighbouring Stalybridge and Uppermill in Saddleworth - helped launch the annual Whit Friday Band Contest, an internationally known brass band event. This came about when the three towns held unconnected brass band events on 6 June 1884.
George Lawton, the son of magistrate and alderman John Lawton, inherited a family fortune and, when he died in August 1949, he left his entire estate (apart from some legacies) to the people of Mossley. Part of his estimated £40,000 estate was left to build a public meeting place, the George Lawton Hall, which is a testament to his generosity.
Following the passing of the Public Health Act 1848 and the Local Government Act 1857, a Local Board of Health was established in Mossley in 1864. On 13 March 1885 Mossley was granted a Charter of Incorporation to become a municipal borough, replacing the local board. The whole borough was unified under the administrative county of Lancashire under the Local Government Act 1888. In 1974 the borough of Mossley was absorbed under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 into the new metropolitan borough of Tameside in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. It became an unparished area.