Discover 20 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Stockport (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Bramall Hall, Hat Works Museum, and St Mary's Church. Also, be sure to include Staircase House in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Stockport (England).
Table of Contents
Bramall Hall
Landscaped parkland with woods and trails. Bramall Hall is a largely Tudor manor house in Bramhall, within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is a timber-framed building; the oldest parts of which date from the 14th century, with later additions from the 16th and 19th centuries. The house, which functions as a museum, and its 70 acres of landscaped parkland with lakes, woodland and gardens are open to the public.
Dating back to Anglo-Saxon England, the manor of Bramall was first described in the Domesday Book in 1086, when it was held by the Masseys. From the late 14th century, it was owned by the Davenports who built the present house; they remained lords of the manor for about 500 years. In 1877, they sold the estate of nearly 2,000 acres to the Manchester Freeholders' Company, a property company formed expressly for the purpose of exploiting the estate's potential for residential building development. The Hall and a residual park of over 50 acres was sold on by the Freeholders (though not the lordship of the manor) to the Nevill family of successful industrialists. In 1925, it was purchased by John Henry Davies and then, in 1935, acquired by the local government authority for the area, Hazel Grove and Bramhall Urban District Council. Following a local government reorganisation in 1974, Bramall Hall is now owned by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC), which describes it as "the most prestigious and historically significant building in the Conservation Area".[1]
Address: Hall Rd, SK7 3NX Stockport (Stockport)
Hat Works Museum
Museum in Stockport, England. The Hat Works is a museum in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, which opened in 2000. Before that, smaller displays of hatting equipment were exhibited in Stockport Museum and in the former Battersby hat factory.
The building, Wellington Mill, was built as an early fireproof cotton spinning mill in 1830–1831 before becoming a hat works in the 1890s. It is a Grade II listed building on the A6, Wellington Road South, between the town centre and Stockport railway station.[2]
Address: Wellington Rd S, SK3 0EU Stockport (Stockport)
St Mary's Church
Building. St Mary's Church is the oldest parish church in the town of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It stands in Churchgate overlooking the market place. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Stockport.[3]
Staircase House
Building in Stockport, England. Staircase House is a Grade II* listed medieval building dating from around 1460 situated in Stockport, historically in Cheshire, now within Greater Manchester, England.The house is famous for its rare Jacobean cage-newel staircase. An audio guide recounts the full history of the house. It's available in English, French, German, Cantonese and Urdu.[4]
Address: 30/31 Market Pl, SK1 1ES Stockport (Stockport)
Vernon Park
Park in Stockport, England. Vernon Park is the oldest country park in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The Victorian park contains the Vernon Park Museum.[5]
Address: Turncroft lane, Offerton, Stockport (Stockport)
St George's Church
Anglican church in Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, England. St George's Church is in Buxton Road, Heaviley, an area of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Stockport, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. Its benefice is united with that of St Gabriel, Adswood. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The authors of the Buildings of England series express the opinion that it is "by far the grandest church of Stockport", and state "St George is a church on a splendid scale". According to the visitors' guide to the church, the Rt Revd Geoffrey Fisher, former archbishop of Canterbury, said that it is "the finest church built in England since the Reformation".[6]
Address: 28 Buxton Rd, SK2 6NU Stockport (Stockport)
St Thomas' Church
Commissioners' church in Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, England. St Thomas' Church is in St Thomas's Place, Wellington Road South, Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Church of England church in the parish of Stockport and Brinnington, in the deanery of Stockport, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It was a Commissioners' church, having received a grant towards its construction from the Church Building Commission.
When it was built, Stockport was in the county of Cheshire, and it was the only church in that county to receive money from the first parliamentary grant administered by the Commission. It was designed by the architect George Basevi, and was one of his earlier works. It is his only surviving Commissioners' church.[7]
Address: Holt St, SK1 3PY Stockport (Stockport)
Edgeley Park
Event venue in Stockport, England. Edgeley Park is a football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for rugby league club Stockport RFC in 1891, by 1902, the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County Football Club moved in.
Edgeley Park is an all-seater stadium holding 10,900 spectators. Stockport County shared it with Sale Sharks rugby union club between 2003 and 2012.
In 2015, Stockport Council purchased the stadium for around £2 million, leasing it back to the football club, in order to prevent it from being demolished and redeveloped.[8]
Address: Hardcastle Rd, SK3 9DD Stockport (Stockport)
Stockport Town Hall
Stockport Town Hall is a building in Stockport, England, that houses the government and administrative functions of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. Stockport Town Hall is a Grade II* listed building.[9]
Address: 93 Wellington Rd S, SK1 3SL Stockport (Stockport)
Reddish Vale
Reddish Vale is in the Tame Valley close to Reddish, Greater Manchester, England. The centre of the vale is around the bottom of Reddish Vale Road. Reddish Vale Country Park is a country park managed by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. It covers 161 hectares in all and comprises some of the traditional Reddish Vale area, Reddish Vale Farm and the grazing land and Woodhall Fields, about half a mile to the south. Part of it is a designated local nature reserve.[10]
The Co-operative Bank
The Stockport Pyramid, otherwise known as the Co-operative Bank Pyramid or simply The Pyramid is a commercial office building in Stockport, Greater Manchester.[11]
St Peter's Church
Parish church in Stockport, England. St Peter's Church is the second oldest parish church in the town of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The church stands in St Peter's Square and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Stockport. Its benefice was combined with that of St Thomas, Stockport until 30 April 2012.[12]
Address: St Petersgate, SK1 1NZ Stockport (Stockport)
Our Lady and the Apostles Church
Building. Our Lady and the Apostles Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in the Edgeley area of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It was built from 1903 to 1905 and replaced St Philip and St James Church, built in 1803, which was the first permanent Catholic church to be built in Stockport after the English Reformation. It is situated on the corner of Shaw Heath and Greek Street, south west of Stockport College and south of Stockport railway station. It was built in the Gothic Revival style by the architect Edmund Kirby and is a Grade II listed building.[13]
St Elisabeth's Church
Church in Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, England. St. Elisabeth's Church is an Anglo Catholic church in Reddish, Stockport designed by Alfred Waterhouse in the Victorian Gothic style. It is a grade I listed building.[14]
Address: Leamington Rd, SK5 6DJ Stockport (Stockport)
Christ Church
Commissioners' church. Christ Church consists of the remains of a redundant Anglican church at Wellington Road North, Heaton Norris, Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Only the tower and part of the walls of the aisles survive. They are located on the crest of a hill on the main road linking Stockport with Manchester. The church remains are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, and are under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[15]
Chadkirk Chapel
Tourist attraction in Romiley, England. Chadkirk Chapel is a restored historic chapel near Romiley in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.[16]
Address: Vale Rd, SK6 3LB Stockport (Stockport)
Stockport Air Raid Shelters
Museum in Stockport, England. The Stockport Air Raid Shelters are a system of almost 1 mile of underground air-raid shelters dug under Stockport, six miles south of Manchester, during World War II to protect local inhabitants during air raids.
Four sets of underground air raid shelter tunnels for civilian use were dug into the red sandstone rock below the town centre. Preparation started in September 1938 and the first set of shelters was opened on 28 October 1939; Stockport was not bombed until 11 October 1940. The smallest of the tunnel shelters could accommodate 2,000 people and the largest 3,850. It was subsequently expanded to take up to 6,500 people.
In 1948, the shelters were sealed off from the public.
The largest of the Stockport Air Raid Shelters have been open to the public since 1996 as part of the town's museum service.[17]
Address: 61 Chestergate, SK1 1NE Stockport (Stockport)
Etherow Country Park
Country park in Romiley, England. Etherow Country Park is situated at Compstall, England, between Marple Bridge and Romiley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester. It is a Local Nature Reserve and the starting point of the Goyt Way.
It was one of England's first country parks. Originally it was an industrial area incorporating a mine, a mill and a mill pond. The River Etherow flows through the park and is the source for the mill pond. With the decline of industry, the mill pond and park have become a nature reserve and a place for people to spend time walking and taking in the peaceful surroundings.[18]
Address: George Street, SK6 5JD Stockport (Stockport)
The Peel Centre
Shopping centre in Stockport, England. The Peel Centre is a retail park located in Stockport, Greater Manchester. It currently contains 20 units, with all currently occupied It is owned and operated by the Peel Land and Property Division of The Peel Group. It currently extends to 230,000 sq ft, with units varying in size. It is located close to the town centre shopping areas, including the Merseyway Shopping Centre, with which it competes for similar tenants.
The site on which the park stands has had a variety of different usages over time, it previously had industry and housing. It then contained a power station and gas works, and then had a variety of industrial usages, it was only developed in its current form from the late 1980s onwards. It was constructed in phases with the latter phases being those at the eastern side.[19]
Address: Stockport, Great Portwood Street, Stockport, Greater Manchester, SK1 2HH
St Joseph's Church
Parish church. St Joseph's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It was built from 1861 to 1862 and designed by Matthew Ellison Hadfield. It is situated on St Petersgate, south west of the High Street. It is the only church in England administered by the Priests of the Sacred Heart and is a Grade II listed building.[20]