Norbury

The name 'Norbury' is at least 900 years old and is thought to have meant 'Northern manor house' - perhaps a reference to it being situated on the northern side of Macclesfield Forrest. The earliest reference to Norbury appears in the 1086 domesday book as follows :-

Nordberie

'The same Bigot holds Nordberie. Brun held it and was a freeman. There is one hide that pays geld. There is land for four ploughs. A radman there with three brothers has one plough. There is an acre of meadow, wood five leagues long and three leagues wide and three hays there. It was worth 10 shillings; now 3 shillings. He found it waste.'

According to D H Trowsdale in his book "This History of Hazel Grove" this roughly translates to " a man called Bigot (de Logas) was the tenant of Norbury. There were about 120 acres (or as many as one plough could cultivate in a year) on which he pays land tax. There is further land enough for four ploughs. A man there working on roads, (or in care of horses), with three men allowed cottages in exchange for poultry, eggs and labour, have one plough.The wood is about 7 miles long and 4 miles wide, and it has deer fences or enclosures. It was laid waste by the Normans during the conquest."

Thomas de Norburie owned the manor of Norbury in 1190 and at that time it included the hamlets of Norbury, Torkington and Offerton and it is thought that it was passed to his son Richard de Norburie.

In 1220 the manor was granted to the Hydes who held it for the next 500 years. During this time their neighbours 'of standing' would have included :-

The Torkingtons of Torkington

The Davenports of Bramhall

The Breretons of Bosden

The Leghs of Lyme

The Warrens of Poynton

The Davenports of Woodford

Apparantly the Hydes and Breretons were on different sides to the Davenports and Warrens during the civil war of 1644.

A manor house existed since at least the 13th century and it is known that this was rebuilt in 1559 by a descendant of Robert de Hyde.

Bosden

It is thought that Bosden was originally part of Handforth and later became known as Handforth-cum-Bosden. The word comes from 'Bosa's Hill' which was originally spelt Bosedun and there was a family living there with the name of Bosden up to the 13th century.

In 1640 Bosden was owned by Sir Thomas Brereton of Handforth who had to mortgage  Handforth-cum-Bosden to pay a fine of £2,000 to the Warrens.

By 1811, the population of Handforth with Bosden was 1315 and they lived in 265 houses.

Torkington

A lot of the early place names came from peoples names and it is thought that the word Torkington came from ' Turec's enclosure or farmstead' who probably lived there over 1,000 years ago.

A few interesting dates include :-

1225 - Richard who was the son of Simon de Torkington granted land to Robert, the son of William de Torkington.

1286 - Richard the son of Richard de Torkington was fined for letting his animals graze in Macclesfield Forest.

1527 - The manor of Torkington was recorded as being worth £12.8.8d.

1560 - Richard Bullock leased some land from John Torkington and built a smithy which led to the first name of Hazel Grove - Bullock Smithy.