a market-town, parliamentary and municipal borough of England, in Cheshire, on the borders of Lancashire, at the confluence of the Mersey and the Tame, 5 miles S.E. of Manchester. It occupies a pretty steep hill, washed on two sides by the Mersey; and the houses rise in irregular tiers from the base to the summit, so as to present, especially by night, when the factories and other buildings are lighted up, a very picturesque appearance. The older part of the town occupies the central and most elevated position, where there is a spacious market-place on a pretty, flat piece of ground. From this the various streets, which are for the most part steep and narrow, diverge in different directions. The Mersey is crossed by four bridges, and the Tame by one, which connect the town proper with several extensive suburbs on their other sides. Heaton, Norris, Edgeley, and Portwood are the names of the largest of these. The old bridge over the Mersey consists of one lofty arch. Below this is another, recently built, with 11 arches, crossing not merely the river, but many of the streets, at an elevation of 40 feet above the water. Much loiter is the viaduct of the London and North-Western Railway, which is supported by 26 arches, the central one 110 feet above the river. The principal building in Stockport is the parish church, which stands near the marketplace. It was originally built in the fourteenth century, but has been almost entirely rebuilt in modern times, in the perpendicular style. The chancel retains the original decorated architecture, and was restored in 1848; it contains fine stone stalls and some interesting tombs. This church has also a lofty pinnacled tower, with a peal of eight bells. St Thomas's church is a fine Grecian building, with a tower and cupola. The other churches belonging to the Establishment are 6 in number within the limits of the borough; besides which, there are numerous dissenting places of worship, 15 belonging to different sects of Methodists, 5 to Independents, 3 to Baptists, and 1 each to Roman Catholics, Unitarians, and Mormons. Another conspicuous edifice in the town is the new market-house, which has a handsome front, and contains a spacious hall, roofed with

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1 See an Account of the Rise and Progress of the Beech Oil Invention, &c., 8vo, 1715. Stocks iron and lighted from above. Other public buildings are the court-house, barracks, theatre, and news-room. Some of the schools also occupy large and handsome edifices.

Chief among these is the free grammar-school, founded in 1487, and under the patronage of the Goldsmith's Company of London. The school-house was rebuilt in a handsome style in 1832. A national school, which was founded here in 1805, has a large and fine building. There are, besides these, British and infant schools, and Sunday schools belonging to the different denominations. One of the last-mentioned occupies an enormous building, containing 84 class-rooms, and attended by about 4000 children. Stockport has a mechanics' institute; an infirmary, with a Grecian front, occupying a prominent position in the town; a dispensary; almshouses; poorhouse; and other charitable institutions. The cotton manufacture has one of its chief seats in this town; where it has supplanted the silk trade that formerly used to flourish here, but has very much declined. For spinning and weaving cotton there are in the town and suburbs about 100 houses, employing in all more than 3800 horse-power. One of the factories is an immense building, 300 feet by 200, having six storeys and about 600 windows. In addition to these there are three houses for printing cotton, two for bleaching, and several for dyeing. Silk goods, thread, hats, brushes, spindles, &c., are also manufactured here: the casting of brass and iron, the making of machinery, and brewing are carried on, and there are several brick-fields in the vicinity. Manufacturing industry is greatly favoured by the abundance of coal found in the neighbourhood. Markets are held weekly, and fairs four times a year. The town stands on a branch of the Manchester and Ashton Canal, and is the place of junction of several important lines of railway. The borough is governed by a mayor, 13 aldermen, and 42 councillors; and returns two members to Parliament. Stockport is believed to occupy the site of an old Roman station, which stood at the junction of several roads, and was thus a place of considerable importance. A Roman fort probably stood on the place afterwards occupied by a castle, which has now entirely disappeared. It was held in 1173, by Geoffrey de Constantin against Henry II. During the civil war of the seventeenth century, Stockport was the scene of some fighting: it was taken from the Parliamentarians by Rupert in 1644, but retaken by Lesley in the following year. In 1745, the town was occupied by Prince Charles Edward. It was first made a municipal and parliamentary borough by the Reform Act of 1832. Pop. of the borough (1851) 33,835.