Northen Etchells

Northen Etchells was a civil parish in Cheshire, England. It was abolished in 1931 when the area was absorbed into the County Borough of Manchester.

Northen Etchells
Whitsand Road
Northen Etchells Location within Greater Manchester
Metropolitan borough	Manchester
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
List of places UK England Greater Manchester 53.3884°N 2.2558°W / 53.3884; -2.2558

Toponymy

"Northen" is an old name for Northenden and "Etchells" came from Anglo-Saxon ēcels = "land added to an estate".^[1]

History

Northen Etchells, sometimes called Northenden Etchells,^[2] was historically a township in the ancient parish of Northenden, which formed part of the Macclesfield Hundred of Cheshire.^[3][4] From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under the poor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Northenden, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so Northen Etchells became a separate civil parish, which therefore diverged from the ecclesiastical parish.^[5]

When elected parish and district councils were established under the Local Government Act 1894, Northen Etchells was given a parish council and included in the Altrincham Rural District (which was renamed Bucklow Rural District in 1895).^[4][6]

The civil parishes of Northen Etchells and Northenden were both abolished in 1931, when their areas were absorbed into the county borough of Manchester.^[4] In 1921 (the last census before its abolition) the parish of Northen Etchells had a population of 906.^[7]

Geography

Whilst it existed, Northen Etchells was predominantly rural. There was no central village, but the area included a number of small farming hamlets or clusters of labourers' cottages, including Hey Head, Moss Nook, Poundswick, Sharston, Crossacres Green and Brownley green.^[8]

To the north of Northen Etchells was the township of Northenden. Stockport Etchells lay to the east, Styal to the south with Baguley and Altrincham townships to the west.^[9] Northen Etchells and Stockport Etchells were sometimes collectively referred to as Etchells.

After the area's absorption into Manchester in 1931, much of the former Northen Etchells civil parish was developed as part of Wythenshawe.