Visit Tameside Places

Visit Tameside Place – things to do & explore

  

Tameside places overview by Walkfo

---

Tameside history

---

The history of the area stretches back up to 10,000 years; there are 22 Mesolithic sites in Tameside, the oldest dating to around 8000 BC; 21 of the 22 sites are in the hilly uplands in the north east of the borough. Evidence of Neolithic and Bronze Age activity is more limited in the borough, although the Bronze Age Stalybridge Cairn is the most complete prehistoric funerary monument in the borough. The people in the area changed from hunter-gatherers to farmers around 2500 BC–1500 BC due to climate change. Werneth Low is the most likely Iron Age farmstead site in the borough, probably dating to the late 1st millennium BC. Before the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD, the area was probably part of the territory of the Brigantes, the Celtic tribe controlling most of what is now north west England. The area came under control of the Roman Empire in the second half of the 1st century. Roads through the area were established from Ardotalia fort in Derbyshire to Mamucium (Manchester) west of Tameside and Castleshaw Roman fort in the north. Romano-British finds in the borough include a bog body in Ashton Moss, occupation sites at Werneth Low, Harridge Pike, Roe Cross, and Mottram. A 4th-century coin hoard was found in Denton and is one of only four hoards from the 4th century in the Mersey basin. A Byzantine coin from the 6th or 7th centuries, also found in Denton, indicates continued or renewed occupation once the Romans left Britain in the early 5th century. Nico Ditch, an earthwork stretching from Stretford to Ashton-under-Lyne, is evidence of Anglo-Saxon activity in Tameside. It was probably dug between the 7th and 9th centuries and may have been used as a boundary between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. Further evidence of Anglo-Saxon era activity in Tameside comes from the derivation of settlement names from Old English such as -tun, meaning farmstead, and leah meaning clearing. According to the Domesday Survey of 1086, Tameside was divided into four manors, those of Tintwistle, Hollingworth, Werneth, and Mottram. The land east of the River Tame was in the Hundred of Hamestan in Cheshire and held by the Earl of Chester while to the west of the river was in the Hundred of Salford under Roger de Poitevin. These manors were divided to create further manors, so that by the 13th century most of them were owned by local families and remained in the hands of the same families until the 16th century. Manorialism continued as the main for of administration and governance until the mid-19th century. The Industrial Revolution had a significant impact on Tameside; the area, whose main towns had previously been Ashton-under-Lyne and Mottram-in-Longdendale, was transformed from a collection of the rural, farming communities into mill towns. The towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge have been described as “amongst the most famous mills towns in the North West”. With only a brief interruption for the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861 to 1865, factories producing and processing textiles were the main industry in Tameside from the late-18th century until the mid-20th century. In 1964, Dukinfield Borough Council convened a meeting of neighbouring local authorities with the aim of formulating a policy of cross-authority social improvement for the districts in the Tame Valley. Following deindustrialisation, the area had suffered “gross-neglect” and had large areas of housing unsuitable for human habitation. This joint enterprise comprised the nine districts that would become Tameside ten years later, plus the County Borough of Stockport. This collective agreed on creating “a linear park in the valley [of the River Tame] for the use of the townspeople and as a major recreational resource within the Manchester metropolis”. Tameside was created on 1 April 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972 as one of the ten metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester. It took over the local government functions of nine districts which were formerly in the administrative counties of Lancashire and of Cheshire. Including the municipal boroughs of Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge, and the urban districts of Audenshaw, Denton, Droylesden and Longendale In 1986 Tameside effectively became a unitary authority with the abolition of the Greater Manchester County Council. A name for the metropolitan borough proved problematic. The Redcliffe-Maud Report had used the name Ashton-Hyde, but double-barrelled names were prohibited for the new districts. Had Ashton-under-Lyne been a county borough, or had had a less common name, “it might have been chosen as the new name” for the new district. The eight other towns objected, adamant that “a new name should be found”. Thirty suggestions were put forward, including Brigantia, Clarendon, Hartshead, Kayborough, Tame, Ninetowns, and West Pennine, with Hartshead (with reference to Hartshead Pike) being the most popular throughout most of the consultation period. However, the name Tameside (with reference to the River Tame, but a concocted name with no historical basis) won 15 votes to Hartshead’s 10 in a final stage of voting. The borough underwent a boundary review in 2002. The review altered the areas covered by some wards to ensure councillors represented roughly equal numbers.

Tameside landmarks

In February 2001, Tameside had one Grade I listed building, 19 Grade II* and 289 Grade II listed buildings. Three Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the borough include Boar Flat, part of Dark Peak, the Hollinwood Branch Canal and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Buckton Castle is a 12th-century enclosure castle near Carrbrook. Nico Ditch is an earthwork running from Ashton-under-Lyne in the east to Stretford in the west.

Tameside geography / climate

Tameside features flat lowlands in west and highlands in the east where the western edge of the Pennines encroaches on the borough. The River Tame crosses the borough north to south, giving the borough its name. Waterways in the borough include the rivers Medlock and Etherow, which form parts of the western and eastern boundaries.

You can visit Tameside places and use Walkfo Tameside to discover the history & things to do in Tameside whilst walking with our free digital tour app. Walkfo Tameside has 142 places on our Tameside map with history, culture & travel facts that you explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Tameside, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route – you choose where you want to go, when you want to go and Walkfo Tameside will keep up.
–
With millions of places including tourist walks, Tameside travel destinations, National Trust locations converted to audio experiences, our Tameside places AI guide will help you get the best from your visit to Tameside & the surrounding areas. The Tameside places app for iPhone & Android delivers hidden history, interesting culture and amazing facts in interactive audio stories in response to where you walk at National Heritage sites, tourist attractions, historic locations or city streets, with no predefined walk map requirements.

“The Walkfo AI has curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 142 audio facts unique to Tameside places forming an interactive Tameside map for you to explore.”

Walkfo’s Visit Tameside Places Map
142 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

---

–

Tameside historic spot	Tameside tourist destination	Tameside plaque	Tameside geographic feature
Walkfo Tameside tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Tameside

  

Best Tameside places to visit

---

Tameside has many places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Tameside’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Tameside’s information audio spots:

Curzon Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Curzon Mill, later known as Alger Mill, was a cotton spinning mill in the Hurst district of Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester. It was built between 1899 and 1902 for the Ashton Syndicate by Sydney Stott of Oldham. The mill was sold to the Alger Spinning Co. Ltd in 1911, and closed in 1942.

St Michael and All Angels’ Church, Ashton-under-Lyne St. Michael’s Church in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, is a Grade I Listed Building. It is one of 116 surviving medieval parish churches in the North West. The church dates back to at least 1262, and a church on the site was mentioned in the Domesday Book.

Stamford Park, Tameside Stamford Park is a park in Stalybridge, Tameside, Greater Manchester. The park was Grade II listed with Historic England in 1986.

Ashton Park Parade railway station Ashton Park Parade was a station on the line between Guide Bridge and Stalybridge in Greater Manchester. This station served the town of Ashton-under-Lyne, now served only by Ashton Charlestown, north of this former station.

Minerva Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Minerva Mill was a cotton spinning mill in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester. It was built between 1891 and 1892 for the Minerva Spinning Company. It ceased spinning cotton in the 1920s and was demolished in 1937.

Texas Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Texas Mill was a cotton spinning mill in the Whitelands district of Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester. It was built between 1905 and 1907 for the Ashton Syndicate by Sydney Stott of Oldham. The mill was destroyed in a massive fire on 22–23 October 1971.

Ladysmith Barracks Ladysmith Barracks was a British military installation on Mossley Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester. It is located in the area of Manchester.

Old Street drill hall, Ashton-under-Lyne Old Street drill hall is a former military installation in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. The Old Street Drill Hall is located on the Old Street Road, Old Street.

Cavendish Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Cavendish Mill was built between 1884 and 1885 for the Cavendish Spinning Company by Potts, Pickup & Dixon of Oldham. It ceased spinning cotton in 1934 and was then used for a variety of purposes before it was converted into housing in 1994.

Rock Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Rock Mill was cotton spinning mill in the Waterloo district of Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester. It was built between 1891 and 1893 for the Ashton Syndicate by Sydney Stott of Oldham. It ceased spinning cotton in the 1960s and was demolished in 1971; the site became the location for the town’s first Asda supermarket.

Visit Tameside plaques