Dukinfield Town Hall

To celebrate the reopening of the fully refurbished Dukinfield Town Hall completed in February 2005

Back to History | Welcome | Town Hall Tale | Dukinfield and the Charter | Dukinfield Civic Silver | A Chronology of Dukinfield | First Town Council 1899/1900 | Last Town Council 1973/1974 | Freemen of the Borough | Mayors of the Borough

A Chronology of Dukinfield

• 1265: Robert de Dokenfeld is Lord of the Manor.
• 1398: Chapel at Dukinfield Hall licensed by Bishop of Lichfield.
• 1500: Gothic chapel built at Dukinfield Hall around this time.
• 1619: Birth of Colonel Robert Duckenfield.
• 1640: First Independent congregation in England established at Old Hall Chapel.
• 1647: George Fox preaches at Dukinfield.
• 1651: Troops under Colonel Duckenfield's command capture Isle of Man.
• 1681: John Fletcher dies in an accident at the Dukinfield Pit.
• 1689: Death of Colonel Duckenfield.
• 1708: First service held at Old Chapel.
• 1751: Foundation stone laid for first Moravian chapel, Old Road.
• 1752: Cotton spinning starts in Dukinfield.
• 1755: Dukinfield Moravian Congregation gains official recognition.
• 1758: Death of Sir William Duckinfield.
• 1760: Lady Duckinfield Daniel, Sir William's widow, marries John Astley.
• 1762: Lady Duckinfield Daniel dies, estates pass to John Astley.
• 1770: First Methodist chapel opened at Dukinfield Hall.
• 1775: Dukinfield Lodge completed.
• 1787: John Astley dies aged 67. Buried at Old Chapel.
• 1792: Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham Canal Act gets royal assent. First two cotton mills opened in Dukinfield: Old Mill, Park Road; and Furnace Mill, Bridge Eye.
• 1794: Huddersfield Narrow Canal and Peak Forest Canal Acts passed.
• 1800: Crescent Road opened.
• 1807: Hunters Tower and Old General pub opened. First service at Providence Chapel, Crescent Road.
• 1810: Old Chapel School opened at corner of Pickford Lane and Town Lane.
• 1812: Luddite unrest reaches Dukinfield.
• 1816: First Primitive Methodist Meetings held in Dukinfield.
• 1819: Peterloo Massacre in Manchester. Robert Moffat marries Mary Smith of Plantation Farm. Their daughter Mary Moffat was to marry David Livingstone.
• 1822: William Kenyon born.
• 1825: New Providence Chapel opens. St. Mary's R.C. Church opened on Astley Street.
• 1826: Handloom weavers' riots. Second Moravian chapel opened.
• 1829: Methodist Church and School opened on Wellington Parade.
• 1830: "General Strike" of cotton operatives.
• 1833: Dukinfield Library founded.
• 1835: Barnmeadow mill opened at Dukinfield Hall.
• 1836: Foundry Street Primitive Methodist Church opens. Foundry Street Wesleyan Methodist Church opens.
• 1938: Chartist troubles.
• 1839: Rebuilding of Old Chapel begins.
• 1841: St. John's Church consecrated.
• 1842: Plug Riots in Dukinfield.
• 1844: Friedrich Engels writes about Dukinfield. Dog Lane station closes and a new station opens on Ashton-Stalybridge branch line, near to Alma Street.
• 1845: Viaduct collapses during construction of Ashton-Stalybridge line. Sixteen men killed.
• 1846: New station opens at Dog Lane.
• 1849: St. Mark's Church consecrated.
• 1853: Library moves to Town Lane.
• 1854: Third Providence Chapel opens. Dukinfield Gasworks built.
• 1855: Dukinfield Hall School opened. Alma Bridge built at a cost of £4,900.
• 1856: Ensign Andrew Moynihan wins Victoria Cross at Sebastopol. St. Mary's R.C. Church opened on Zetland Street.
• 1857: Dukinfield Board of Health established.
• 1858: Death of Sir Henry Dukinfield, bringing the line to an end.
• 1859: Tame Valley Methodists admitted to Ashton New Connexion Circuit. Magistrates' court opened on Russell Street.
• 1860: Third Moravian chapel opens.
• 1863: Cotton Famine riots.
• 1864: Dukinfield Central Station opened, Wharf Street. Refuse Assurance Company establishes H.Q. at 59 Astley Street.
• 1865: Crescent Road Church built on Providence Chapel site.
• 1866: First burial at Dukinfield Cemetery. William Kenyon enters business as rope-maker.
• 1867: Tame Valley mill opened.
• 1868: Murphy Riots.
• 1870: Foundation stone laid for St. Mark's School. Dukinfield Cricket Club founded.
• 1872: Foundation stone laid for Old Hall Chapel extensions. Astley Street Primitive Methodist Church opens.
• 1873: Old Hall Congregational Church opens.
• 1874: Astley pit disaster - 54 men killed. Eighteen cotton mills in Tame Valley.
• 1875: Kenyons move to Chapel Field. Dukinfield mining industry at its height. Six collieries employ 1,120 miners.
• 1877: Foundation stone laid for Primitive Methodist Schools, Foundry Street.
• 1878: Tower mill and River mill opened on Park Road.
• 1879: Death of Reyner Stephens. Buried in St. John's churchyard.
• 1880: Gertrude Susan Astley marries Sir Arthur Nicholson. Dukinfield Rugby Club founded.
• 1881: Baptists begin to meet on Town Lane.
• 1884: Dukinfield Liberal Club opens.
• 1885: Astley mill opens at junction King Street and Dewsnap Lane. Daniel Adamson becomes chairman of Manchester Ship Canal Company.
• 1888: Adamson's Military Band formed.
• 1889: St. Luke's Church licensed.
• 1890: Daniel Adamson dies.
• 1893: Dukinfield and Ashton station opened on Cooper Street.
• 1895: Dukinfield Technical School opened, Town Lane. Dukinfield Urban District Council established.
• 1897: Public meeting held demanding that Dukinfield petition for Charter of Incorporation.
• 1898: Crescent Road Board Schools opened.
• 1899: Dukinfield receives Charter of Incorporation as a borough. Henry Pratt becomes first mayor. Park Road Spinning Mill opened.
• 1900: Sewerage works opened.
• 1901: Astley pit closes. Queen mill opened - last cotton mill built in Dukinfield. Town Hall opened.
• 1902: Dukinfield Park opened. Alma Bridge toll booth burned.
• 1903: Reliance Rope Walk opened on Charles Street, longest in England. County Bridge widened. Dukinfield Court and police station opened, Chapel Street. Dukinfield Post Office opened.
• 1904: First tram passes through Dukinfield. First domestic customer connected for electricity.
• 1905: Construction of Great Central Railway Wagon and Carriage Works begins.
• 1907: Operatic Society founded.
• 1910: Wagon Works in full operation. First cinema opens: Electric Palace, Crescent Road (later Palladium).
• 1913: Golf course opens. Princess Cinema opens on King Street.
• 1914: Pte Richard Furnival is first Dukinfield serviceman to die. Lt. Arthur Stuart Nicholson dies on the Aisne. Pte John Wilcock wins French Medaille Militaire. Dukinfield Volunteer Defence Corps founded.
• 1915: Lt. William Dukinfield Nicholson dies at Ypres. Astley line now without male heir.
• 1917: Newton Wood war memorial unveiled.
• 1918: Dukinfield becomes part of Stalybridge and Hyde constituency.
• 1919: First Labour councillors elected - W. Dickinson, F. G. Temple and T. Benson.
• 1920: Lady Gertrude Nicholson dies. Globe Square and Tame Valley war memorials unveiled.
• 1921: Oxford cinema opens on corner of Oxford Road and Foundry Street.
• 1922: Chapel Hill war memorial unveiled.
• 1926: Cemetery war memorial unveiled.
• 1927: Dukinfield gets first motor bus service, to Audenshaw.
• 1928: Clarendon Fields housing estate opened.
• 1930: St. Alban's Mission opened, Tame Valley.
• 1931: Traffic lights erected at King Street - Wharf Street junction. Dukinfield Baptist Church opened. Lakes Road Girls School opened.
• 1936: First tenants move into Barlow Road estate. Jubilee Hall foundation stone laid.
• 1941: Shaw's Brewery taken over by John Smith's.
• 1944: Astley Street Primitive Methodist Church closes.
• 1946: Memorial to Robert Moffat unveiled at Plantation Farm. George VI passes through Dukinfield on visit to Manchester area.
• 1947: Development of Yew Tree Lane area begins.
• 1948: Dukinfield Lodge demolished. Dukinfield Town AFC founded.
• 1949: Electric lighting installed on King Street and Victoria Road.
• 1950: Dukinfield Hall demolished. Dukinfield and Ashton station closes. Tame Valley Methodist Church opens.
• 1951: Second World War memorial tablet unveiled at Chapel Hill war memorial.
• 1953: Kenyon's provide ropes for Everest expedition. The two Foundry Street Methodist chapels merge, the Wesleyan one being vacated. Dukinfield Crematorium opened.
• 1955: Dukinfield estates pass to Margaret Becher.
• 1956: Moravians establish base on Yew Tree Lane. Astley Grammar School opened.
• 1958: Palladium cinema closes.
• 1959: Dukinfield Central Station closes.
• 1960: Princess and Oxford cinemas close.
• 1961: Charlotte Gertrude Astley Nicholson dies.
• 1962: St. Peter and St. Paul's (All Saints) R.C. School opens.
• 1963: Dukinfield Park boating pool war memorial opened.
• 1964: Prince Philip visits Kenyons. Swimming baths opened.
• 1965: Oxford cinema reopens.
• 1966: Oxford cinema closes.
• 1968: Queen visits Dukinfield. Foundry Street (Primitive) Methodist Church closes.
• 1972: LNWR viaduct demolished. Crescent Road URC reopens.
• 1973: George Hatton becomes last Mayor of Dukinfield. Moravian chapel opened on Yew Tree Lane, Old Road site sold.
• 1974: Dukinfield becomes part of Tameside M.B.C.
• 1978: New Methodist Church opened on Wellington Parade.
• 1984: New central library opened on Concord Way.
• 1995: Last service held at St. Alban's Mission.
• 1996: Miss Becher dies. Last textile-producer, Bowker and Ball, Tame Valley, closes.
• 1997: Dukinfield becomes part of Denton and Reddish Parliamentary constituency.
• 2005: Refurbishment of Dukinfield Town Hall completed.