Glossop
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- For another town of the same name, see Glossop, South Australia
Glossop (Template:Gbmapping) is a town of approximately 28,500 in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England, about 13 miles east of Manchester. It is to the west of the Peak District national park, and so falls into the Greater Manchester sphere of influence.
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Geography
Glossop nestles in the foothills of the Pennines, with Bleaklow to the northeast and Kinder Scout to the south. It lies on Glossop Brook, a tributary to the River Etherow.
History
The site was occupied by the Romans - in Gamesley, there are the remains of a Roman fort, named Ardotalia by the Romans, but renamed Melandra by a 19th-century amateur historian.
A history of Ardotalia (Melandra), provided by Glossop Heritage Centre Heritage Centre, is located here History of the fort.
Ardotalia was constructed by Cohors Primae Frisiavonum - The First Cohort of Frisiavones Roman Britain.org. Evidence for the existence of this unit exists not only from the building stone found at the site but also from various diplomas and other Roman writings Roman Britain.org. This unit would have had around a thousand men, including the specialist craftsmen needed to perform the skilled work of buliding the fort Glossop Heritage
This unit was assisted in constructing the fort by the 3rd Cohort of Bracara Augustani. These men were probably Iberian Celts from the colony of Braga in Portugal who seem to have been attached to the XX Legion Valeria Victrix in Chester. Whilst it is unknown which of these Cohorts actually manned the fort it seems more likely that the 3rd Cohort of Bracara Augstani performed this duty, as they were from a hilly region and so were more experienced in holding terrain such as that found around Glossop. The Frisavones were from low lying lands beyond the Rhine and so may have been divided between the lower terrain of Manchester and Norwich Glossop Heritage.
The First Cohort of Frisavones were also present at Brocolitia, one of Hadrian's wall forts and settlements, in Carrawburgh Northumberland. Evidence for this relies on an inscription on an altar stone, which tells us that Optio Maus (an NCO within the Cohort) had repaid a vow to the goddess Coventina Roman Britain.org. Whether this altar was the repayment of the vow is unknown.
Glossop is mentioned in the Domesday Book and became the property of the monks of Basingwerk Abbey in North Wales. Later on, it became the property of the Dukes of Norfolk. In the nineteenth century it became an important cotton 'mill' town as part of the Industrial Revolution. One of the mills was owned by Edmund Potter, the uncle of Beatrix Potter.
In the early part of the 20th century, the Glossop Estate was sold by the Dukes of Norfolk, and Glossop became a town in its own right.
Leisure
The town is notable in sporting terms for having been the smallest town in England ever to have a top division professional football club. Glossop North End played in The Football League from 1898 to 1915, though they are now a semi-professional club playing at the ninth level of English football.
Glossop also has a cricket club, Glossop CC, which plays at North Road. Their professional for several seasons up to 2004 was Damien Eyre who moved to Flowery Field Cricket Club for 2005. For 2005 the club has an overseas amateur, Ben Pahl. Glossop CC is also a host to Derbyshire CCC's 2nd XI on occasion.
There is also a Glossop Rugby Union Football Club, which has its clubhouse and pitches in the open country between Glossop and Charlesworth. As of 2006, their first team is in the East Midlands (North) League.
North of Glossop is the Longdendale valley, with a chain of five reservoirs and the Longdendale Trail, part of the Trans-Pennine Trail long distance footpath.
Transport
The main road through Glossop is the A57. Manchester lies to the west along this road (you could take part of the journey along the M67 motorway), while Sheffield lies to the east, along the Snake Pass. Heading north out of Glossop along the B6105 would take you, via the Woodhead Pass, towards West Yorkshire. Chapel-en-le-Frith and Buxton lie to the south, along the A624.
A train runs every half hour to Manchester along the remaining stub of the former Woodhead railway. This line has been electrified for over fifty years.
Education
Glossop has two secondary schools - Glossop Community College and St Phillip Howard RC Comprehensive School. For a complete list of schools, including primary schools, see Glossop schools.
Trivia
The town is twinned with Bad Vilbel in Germany.
"Glossop" is defined in The Meaning of Liff, by Douglas Adams & John Lloyd, as being a globule of hot food which lands on your friend's newly polished solid wood dining table.
John Goodhall came from Glossop. He has been described as soccer's first star player.