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Hollingworth is a village in the Tameside district, in Greater Manchester, England. It is about 11 miles (19 km) east of Manchester, on the Derbyshire border near Hadfield. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, and became part of Greater Manchester in 1974. It gave its name to a family who owned much of the surrounding area from before the time of the Norman conquest.
Hollingworth was in the ancient Hundred of Hamestan before 1000 AD which is believed to be the ancient boundaries of the Pecsaetan tribesmen. After the Norman conquest in 1086, the Hundred of Hamestan was redefined and renamed the Macclesfield Hundred.
In 1059 when the Saxons ruled Cheshire, Hollingworth was held by a freeman who owed his rights to his senior lord; Edwin the Earl of Chester. Edwin was the chief lord of all the manors in the Hamestan Hundred. He leased the manor of Hollingworth to a freeman and his descendants for an annual rent and military service. In 1059, Hollingworth had 30 acres of productive farmland. The Saxon freeman in possession of the manor was removed sometime before 1086 by the Normans.
After the Norman conquest of England, Earl Edwin's lands were forfeited. The Domesday Book in 1086 shows that Hollingworth manor was barren and worthless. Paul Howson and William Booth wrote that 'No population is recorded for the area covered by the later forest of Macclesfield or the Lordship of Longdendale ...'. The Lordship of Longdendale was a term that came into common use around 1359, to describe a parcel of manors which includes Hollingworth. The wholesale ejectment of the Saxons from manors in Longdendale appears to have specific to those lands under the control of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester. He replaced the Saxon freeman on the Cheshire side of Longdendale with Normans and Saxon farmers under the control of a local Saxon chieftain called Wulfric (pronounced Uluric). On the Derbyshire side of Longdendale, which was controlled by the king, many ancient Saxon families remained in control of their lands.
The Domesday Book shows that Hollingworth was held by the Earl of Chester with no local lord in control of the manor. The Saxon chieftain Wulfric managed manors in Longdendale on behalf of the Earl of Chester. Heavily wooded and dangerous because of wolves in the forests, Hollingworth and the manors of Mottram, Matley, Tintwistle and Stayley appear to have been wilderness until 1211. By 1140 local farmers assumed the name of their manor as their surname. Sometime before 1211, Sir William De Neville (De NovaVilla), took up residence at Bucton Castle in Tintwistle, and was installed as over-lord to manage the local lords in possession of Hollingworth, Wolley, Broadbottom, Hattersley, Wernet, Matley, Stayley, Mottram-in-Longdendale and Tintwistle.
In 1211, William De Neville gave his son-in-law, Thomas de Burgh or Burgo, control of all the manors in Longdendale as the supreme over-lord. Around 1222, Thomas de Burgh took the neighbouring manor of Godley from Albinus and gave it to Adam, son of Reginald de Bredbury. Witness to this deed was a 'Tomas de Holinwurthe'.
The earliest recorded Hollingworths are Tomas de Holinwurthe circa 1222, 1246; and Henry de Holenwart in 1222. The ancient manor of Hollingworth including the minor manors of Thorncliffe and Wolley was held by the de Holynworths of Hollingworth Hall by 'knight's service'. By 1359, the manor was owned by different scions of the Hollingworth family. Greater Hollingworth was owned by the senior branch living at Hollingworth Hall. Little Hollingworth was inherited by a younger brother who lived at Old Mottram Hall; he married the heiress to Matley Hall. A younger sister held a share of Thorncliffe Manor, also called Little Hollingworth manor, and was at Thorncliffe Hall in 1359.
The ancient family of Hollingworth migrated to Devon, London, Lincoln, Maidstone in Kent and Dale Abbey in Derbyshire. A pedigree for the family shows they descended in a continuous male line from the Lords of Hollingworth to the present day.
Hollingworth Hall is no longer standing, but the family's chapel remains.
The Hollingworth township was made a local government district in 1863, administered by an elected local board. Such districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894. In 1913, the council moved its headquarters to Albion Lodge (now called Albion House) on the street called Mottram Moor.
Hollingworth Urban District was abolished in 1936 to become part of the new Longdendale Urban District. In 1931 (the last census before the abolition of the parish and urban district), Hollingworth had a population of 2,299. Longdendale Urban District was in turn abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The area became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in Greater Manchester.
Hollingworth is also served by Metroline Service 237 from Glossop to Ashton-under-Lyne, passing every 30 minutes until 6pm then every hour thereafter.
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