Who doesn’t love a Glossop!?
Belonging to the borough of High Peak, Glossop lies in Derbyshire to the west of the Peak District National Park. With a population of over 33,000 people, the town has an ancient past which reaches all the way back to pre-history. Found in the East Midlands, Glossop was once a cotton town and mill town of extreme importance. We don’t need to know all that though. We just want to know if it is the place good quality family holidays are made of. On with the guide!
What is Glossop Famous For?
Modern-day Glossop is famous among foodies for the many prime restaurants and eateries in the area. Historically the town produced and printed coarse calico fabrics. With a textile and cotton history, Glossop is unsurprisingly most known for its unusual name.
The Early Days of Glossop
There is evidence that shows the town was already settled as long back as the Stone Age. There is Bronze Age activity throughout the area, and there is a large Iron Age Fort here, too. The Bronze Age burial is located near Old Glossop, while archaeologists believe that there may be further prehistoric evidence of settlement on the slopes of Bleaklow.
In the days before the Romans arrived, Britain was far from one united empire. Instead, the whole of the UK was tribal land, split into smaller kingdoms or regions. The Picts were in the north, while Germanic tribes helped boost numbers in the north of England. The tribe that ruled in the Glossop area were the Brigantes tribe. They were a large tribe formed of many smaller groups. Ruled by a Queen named Cartimandua they chose to ally with Rome instead of fighting it. They built a fort here naming it Ardotalia – the place of the High Dark Hill.
When the Romans did arrive in the early centuries, the town would become a Roman Garrison for over 70 years. The Iron Age fort builders were correct. The town is of strategic importance when it comes to waterways and seeing for miles. The fort was on the high lands near Gamesley. There is evidence that not all of the Romans went home. A Romano-Celtic population may have remained. By 650, the town was a thriving Anglo-Saxon settlement.
Now, instead of building one big settlement, these new settlers created as many as 10 settlements in the area. This is how you have old Glossop and New Glossop. The town was a stopping point for those travelling to the Pennines.
Medieval Times in High Peak
By the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, Old Glossop fell under the Hundred of Blackwell and in the county of Derbyshire. The land had no recorded population and may have been a wasteland when the Normans invaded. After, though, it was worth 2 pounds, so they must have done something right.
During the Norman invasion, King William awarded the land to William Peverel. HE built a manor and tried to build a castle before the king cut him off. The town gained nearby Basingwerk Abbey in 1157. It didn’t receive its own charter to hold a market and fair until 1290. The nearby town of Charlesworth, later to merge with Glossop, received its charter in 1328. By 1433 the local monks were leasing the land to the Talbots who would later become the Earls of Shrewsbury. The Talbots gained the land for themselves after Henry VIII cancelled faith. By the 1600s it had passed onto the Howards, who liked sheep.
Why did they like sheep? The land around the town is on the edge of the Pennines. Good for quarrying stone but too wet for growing a lot of standard crops. Instead, filling the land with the sheep that already came from those hills gave good pastoral ground, incorporated a native solution, and allowed local freeholders to make a small profit. It was the town’s situation on the edge of the Pennines which forced it into the textile world.
Fun trivia and facts about Glossop, Derbyshire
We love to scrape up fun facts about the places we review. Here is what our spies drummed up about Glossop’s interesting history:
- Glossop received its name in Anglo-Saxon times, circa 700AD. ‘Hop’ was a small valley or part of a valley, while Glott was likely the owner of the land, a local lord, or a chieftain.
- After the sheep farmers moved onto the land, the town grew in wool production. Better, the town has the perfect humidity for fulling the wool and for cotton spinning. The right humidity allows greater tensile strength as the fibres spin, allowing the fibres to lengthen to their fullest. This means you get more fabric for your money.
- Glossop is part of the pilot Liveability Scheme. This is where lottery funding goes towards the ‘gentrification’ of the town. Erm. Maybe buy a bowler hat?
- There are several settlements which Glossop has swallowed over the years through its expansion. These include Hadfield, Padfield, Dinting, Whitfield, Chisworth, Simmondley, Charlesworth, Chunal, Mellor, Ludworth, Rowarth, Whitle, Beard, Thornsett, Ollersett, Chinley, Brownside, Kinder, Phoside, Little Hayfield, Hayfield, and Bugsworth. Oh yes, and Howard Town.
- Glossop was the hiding place of the King of Soho. Born as Geoffrey Quinn, this nightclub owner published pornography that saw people through WWII. Just prior to the outbreak of the war, he was forced to relocate here. They say the Christian Brothers educated him when he got here, but his work still lives on. Don’t call us out for not linking. We are respectful in this house.
Glossop is a cool place with interesting gossip. If we uncover any more we will add it later.
The Industrial Revolution
Luckily for the residents of Glossop, there was only ever a little mining in the area. The coal here was hard to reach and poor in quality. It was only ever extracted on a small scale. This meant the lucky town of Glossop got to bypass all those horrible coal mining deaths in exchange for mill working and producing textiles like cotton. The first mills went up in 1774 and by 1832 there were 1,000 spindles operating. The first steam engine and looms came in 1825.
In 1825, a resident of nearby Howard Town bought the old woollen mill. He demolished it and built 6 houses, tripling the town’s size. By this time the town had worked wool and cotton for generations. The method of textile production was moving into factory conditions. The town would soon become one of the earliest wool and cotton producers given its excellent climate and proximity to both quality flocks and running water. By the 1840s, four of the largest textile factory producers had a base in Glossop. The last of the early mills were gone by the 1890s to be replaced by factory-style production. In 1884 the top 6 producers made 82% of the fabric and had 13,571 looms between them. About 80% of that was exported. Edward Partington expanded so much that by his death in 1925, he employed 1,000 locals. Basically, everyone in this town was a weaver.
The town received its first official charter to open a market very late in its existence. The market opened in 1838. Prior to that, locals were transporting everything to nearby towns to sell. The market still runs every Sunday, nearly 200 years later. The 6th of May was the annual fair, which dealt mainly with cattle. In the 1850s the market finally opened. In 1850 the Temperance Hall opened, shortly followed by three Chapels. By this time, there were the Odd Fellows, the Foresters, the Druids, and the Freemasons, all with clubs in the area.
Although the original buildings in town were built from locally sourced stone, the town hall, and the market house area of Italian stone. They opened in celebration of Queen Victoria’s coronation. The town gained a prison with four cells around the same time. The entire cost, plus that for a clock for the tower of the market house, cost £8,500, which was massive in the day. By then, Howard Town and New Glossop merged, although Howard Tow contained only 9 houses. One was a pub because of Britain.
The last thing we want to recall about this period was the workhouse for the poor which opened in 1834. This is where the old folk, inform, and poorest of society lived and worked. Although the poor law union came into play in 1837, it did very little to improve working conditions. People here worked the full day for their meals and board. By 1831 the census showed over 9,000 people would fall into the poor house bracket. Between 1836 and 1838 the cost was over a thousand pounds a year, or 2 shillings and thruppence for each resident of Glossop. Isn’t it odd that we record the financial side of the workhouse and ignore the horrors of living in one! Imagine working 12-16 hour shifts, 7 days a week, only to remain underfed. Then to have this ignored in the history books and your life reduced down to a figure. 2s 3d. That’s how much it cost to have a person work their whole lives away.
Modern Day Glossop
Modern-day Glossop is the kind of town which made all its money in the 19th century. The interesting buildings date mainly to this time. Over the course of the 1900s the mill factories closed and the town took on a different direction. Retail and the service sector increased in importance. The town twinned with Bad Vilbel in Germany in 1985. Until 1947 the town had its own police station but they amalgamated into Derbyshire District for safer coverage. Back in the 90’s the TV show Songs of Praise covered the Victorian Weekend. This used to be a famous festival in town. The days of traditional community are not holding up, unfortunately, and the weekend was cancelled in 2009 due to a lack of local support.
Glossop has gorgeous views, lovely walks, and still retains the sheep. It has many cultural groups you can join to occupy your time, and the people are as welcoming as they have been for the last two or three thousand years. Spend some time here and you will realise that it is a comforting place to live. You have the best of the city and the best of the country here. That’s a nice balance for any town.
Famous People from Glossop, Derbyshire
We have yet to come across a town that didn’t have at least 5 celebrities come from it. Whenever we do a new tour, we like to research the local famous people because you never know whose son is at school with your daughter. Here’s what we found about famous people living in Glossop:
- Jeremy Heywood, a Tory cabinet secretary to both David Cameron and Theresa May.
- Lord John Vernon, created children’s illustrations.
- Hilary Mantel DBE, the British Novelist.
- The King of Soho – or Paul Raymond among other aliases – was from Glossop.
- Dan Money, British Bobsleigh Winter Olympics team, is a Glossop guy.
- Oo and the co-creator of Top Gear, Andy Wilman.
So although there are not a huge variety of celebs in Glossop, there are an interesting bunch. Other towns are known for footballers, but football is a tough game on the edge of the Pennines. Nevertheless, we have a special shout-out to Andy Cannon, who was born in 1996 and plays for Hull.
Best Glossop Attractions
Glossop has a long history and that comes with local attractions. Here are the places you should visit if you go to Glossop on holiday.
Historical Sites
If you go out onto the Glossop moors you will find a strange attraction, unique to this area. In 1948 a B-29 Superfortress aircraft crashed into the land. It was part of a team of photographic reconnaissance vessels, but this one never made it home. The B-29 crashed into the Bleaklow Hills, thinking they had already passed them due to low-hanging clouds. All thirteen crew members died. In the 8’s the Royal Air Force erected monuments to the fallen crew members. They left most of the plane in the moor and you can still visit it today.
Landmarks
Head out to Melandra Castle, built upon the ruins of Ardotalia, the ancient Roman fortress. Situated in Gamesley, the ruins are perched on the edge of a high lookout point, overlooking the River Etherow. It was an auxiliary fort and is now a scheduled ancient monument. No going there with your metal detector, they might prosecute. The site stretches for three and a half acres.
Outdoor Attractions
The Manor Park is a favourite spot for many locals. With lovely, well-tended flowerbeds, it is evidence of the gentrification program. Found on the eastern edge of the town centre, it borders the conservation area surrounding Old Glossop and its original native stone buildings. Run by High Peak Borough Council, there is no better place to chill out with a cool drink in summer. The Snake Pass and Howard Pass are another two outdoor attractions to visit.
If you like a good hike or if you want a bike trail to follow, get out onto the Longdendale Trail. This 7-mile trek takes you around Torside Reservoir, a beautiful area of wildlife and habitats. Be careful around reservoirs but otherwise enjoy the view. This Peak District reservoir saw construction in 1849-64, courtesy of John Frederick Bateman.
Recreation
Head to the Partington Players Theatre to catch a show. This beautiful building contains the local theatre groups plus visiting shows. View what is one, book your tickets, and sponsor the Glossop Arts. The present weekly runs of 6 shows per season. If you fancy a career in the arts, joining a group here is a must.
Walk up to the Higher Shelf Stones if you fancy a more demanding hike. The shelf stones are up in the hills, with the stones being large, flat, and forming the peaks of some of the mountains. This one is for serious walkers, of whom Glossop attracts many each year. The walk takes you past the site of the plane crash, where you can either turn back or keep going to the peaks.
Cultural Sites
You will find an art gallery within Glossop Train Station. The art gallery is a permanent installation within the waiting area. You can enjoy some fine art while you are waiting for your train. This is an excellent idea which allows art to reach the masses.
Manor Park also has a mini railway, which does attest to the culture of the town.
The nearest museum is the Portland Basin Museum. It has free entry and opens from Tuesdays to Sundays. You will find it situated in Ashton-under-Lyme, along the Ashton Canal. They run temporary exhibits, warmly welcome groups, and have a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence.
Sports and Teams
Glossop has the Glossop North End AFC for those who want to start playing football. They play in the Non-League Division One. You will find them on Surrey Street. You can also donate on their website to help them buy things like kits and boots.
Glossop Cricket Club first opened in 1833. They have a seniors and juniors team, with the aim of helping youngsters get into this traditional English sport.
Glossop Rugby Club was formed in 1969. They run a seniors team and options for mini and junior teams. They can only provide this service to the community by working with sponsors and running fundraising events.
If you fancy a few holes, the Glossop & District Golf Club is an excellent place to let off some steam. There are greens fees for visitors but you can book the course in advance. They also allow venue hire here. It’s a hilly course, of course.
Shopping and Retail
Glossop has both a business park and a retail park. You can find everything you need at Wren Nest Retail Park. It has a reasonable gathering of shops but Glossop is not famous for shopping. Remember you have that weekly Sunday market to attend for everything else.
Where to Eat and Drink in Glossop?
If you would like to eat and drink at the same time, as in alcohol, the local Queens Arms is a good place to get a pie and a pint. You can eat at the Beehive, where their Thai food never fails to impress. The Pico Lounge is another favourite for eating out in Glossop. For Italian food, try La Corrente. Get a traditional pint at the Bulls Head while we wonder whatever happened to apostrophes in Glossop. Get a great cocktail at the Mixologist Bar & Grill, or head to Tweed for a micro bar experience.
Other Notable Attractions Nearby
The Derbyshire area is filled with good times, should you know where to look. Check out our other travel guides to locations near Glossop to find holiday hotspots and great adventures. Try:
- Go to Chesterfield and visit the squinty spire of the local church.
- Visit Bury and explore the Western Pennines.
- See the Anglo-Saxon crosses in Sandbach.
- Learn about the textile industry in Wigan.
- Go shopping in historic Derby
How to Get to Glossop
We wouldn’t be very good at the travel guide role if we didn’t tell you where you were going. By that same token our directions are a bit rubbish, so enter at your own risk.
By Road
Take the M67 out of Manchester and continue straight on through Hyde.
By Rail
Glossop Train Station is run by Northern Rail.
By Air
The nearest airport is Manchester.
By Sea
Unfortunately, Glossop is landlocked.
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