Alsager


Alsager is a town that is located in the south of the county of Cheshire in the north west of England. It is to the north of Stoke on Trent and east of Crewe and is part of Congleton Borough Council.



The Alsager area has much evidence of early settlements including the Church Lawton Barrows on a Bronze Age site close to the town itself. Originally referred to as Eleacier in the Domesday Book Alsager remained a quiet agricultural village for many centuries. It is thought by many that the town was given its name due to its connections with the Alsager family who lived here in the 1700s and who were responsible for building the well known Christ Church here.



During the Industrial Revolution local rail connections opened up the town and its surrounding areas and many people who worked in industrial areas such as Stoke on Trent chose to make their homes here. The town was particularly popular with people who worked in the pottery industry, for example. The town expanded once again during the Second World War following the building of an armaments factory on its outskirts and again in the 1960s with an influx of ICL workers from the nearby site in Kidsgrove.



Nowadays Alsager is also well known as the site of Manchester Metropolitan University’s Contemporary Arts and Sports Science Departments which are located on the site of the old Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education. It is anticipated, however, that in a few years the sites here will be fully relocated to a campus in Crewe and the college sites will be redeveloped for housing, commercial and retail developments.

The town of Alsager is well known for the lake that stands in the middle of the town - the Alsager Mere. To the north of the town visitors and holiday makers can pick up the Trent and Mersey Canal which forms part of the famous Cheshire Ring Canal Walk. The South Cheshire Way footpath is also easily accessible from Alsager.



Visitors to the area can also take advantage of the Alsager Arts Centre which is located on the university campus in the town. Many people also visit the town each February when it hosts the largest five mile endurance road race in the country. Local churches such as Christ Church and St Mary Magdalene are worth a visit and many visitors to Alsager also enjoy a trip to the Rode Hall and its gardens.

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