About Our Village
Holmes Chapel is a large village of just under 6000 residents sited about a mile from Junction 18 on the M6, 20 miles north of Stoke on Trent and 25 miles south of Manchester. Originally on a drovers route and then coaching routes the farming community had strong transport links with surrounding towns. These links were further enhanced by the coming of the railways and more recently the M6. The impact on Holmes Chapel has been a growth from about 400 residents in the 1800′s to almost 6000 now and most of that growth has occurred since the 1950’s.
Holmes Chapel is still quite compact and green fields can be reached within a mile of the centre in any direction. Furthermore it has retained its character as a village with a central parish church, several pubs and a good mixed range of private shops.
Although surrounded by mixed farms there have been manufacturing industries in Holmes Chapel for a long time. There is evidence of early iron manufacturing in the area and more recent industries have been wallpaper and pharmaceuticals. In the 1930’s, Benger’s Food company moved to Holmes Chapel from Manchester and constructed the elegant building façade which is still present along London Road although the company name has changed several times since then.
With the good transport links it is not surprising that Holmes Chapel has grown rapidly especially from 1970 to 1990. Several modern housing estates have developed around the centre which resulted in the need for improved educational establishment (a large comprehensive school), medical facilities(a centrally placed Health Centre) and an extended library.
A large number of societies and clubs are active in the village including the Victoria Club, the Holmes Chapel Music Society, the Twinning Association, two private Health Clubs and others too numerous to mention.