Stockport Heritage was formed by volunteers in 1987 as a campaigning conservation group to help preserve and regenerate historic and architecturally sensitive buildings in the

Metropolitan Borough of Stockport The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is south-east of central Manchester and south of Tameside. As well as the towns of Stockport, Bredbury and Marple, Greater Manchester, Marple, ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. Staircasehouse

Its main work focussed on Staircase House, a 15th-century merchants' warehouse and home with later additions, which had been semi-derelict for a number of years on Stockport's 750-year-old Market Place. The group successfully opposed plans to demolish the house. Stockport Heritage was granted charitable status in 1988, and was renamed Stockport Heritage Trust. The objective of persuading the local civic authorities to take up the Staircase House project was achieved and the house became the flagship of a regeneration scheme for the historic town centre. The house opened to the public in 2005, after a £4 million restoration by

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC), also known as Stockport Council, is the Local government in England, local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council an ...

, as a restored historic town house (Staircase House itself) and the town's museum of local history (The Stockport Story Museum) – thus giving the borough two heritage sites under the same roof. In 2001, Stockport Heritage Trust sponsored a Stockport friendship link with

Dodge City Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city ...

, Kansas, in consideration of the many American descendants of the Dodge family, who emigrated from Offerton (DNA evidence from December 2015 conflicts with this assertion), in the Parish of Stockport, in the 17th century. Members of the Dodge Family Association (DFA) regularly visit their ancestral homes in Stockport, one of which is Staircase House (however DFA now considers

East Coker East Coker is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its nearest town is Yeovil, to the north. The village has a population of 1,667. The parish includes the hamlets and areas of North Coker, Burton, Holywell, Coker Marsh, Darvole, ...

, Somerset, to be the ancestral home of the Dodges in the United States). Starting in 1992, Stockport Heritage Trust initiated a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

programme commemorating various sites in the town including the birthplace of John Bradshaw, the republican regicide and Lord President of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

of the puritan

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

of 1649–53. The commemorative plaques now record sites and people throughout the town centre and a blue plaque trail was launched in 2007. Since 1999, Stockport Heritage Trust volunteers have run a free heritage centre open to the public on market days in the part-13th/14th century

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

on the Market Place. This building has also been the subject of a multimillion-pound restoration scheme. Alongside their changing exhibitions the Heritage Trust have an archive of several thousand local images accessible to visitors and trust members produce books, videos, pamphlets and a local '' Stockport Heritage Magazine''. They are also involved in events,Stockport Express giving walks, talks and outreach on local heritage, including civic award schemes and committees on tourism and conservation. __NOTOC__

References

;Bibliography * *, {{refend

External links

www.stockportheritagetrust.co.ukwww.stockportheritagemagazine.co.uk
1987 establishments in England Charities based in Greater Manchester Clubs and societies in Greater Manchester Heritage organisations in England History of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Organisations based in Stockport

See also

References

External links