Page 15 - THE QUIRKS OF CHORLTON-CUM-HARDY

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Chorlton Green…

the heart of the village and once
Mr Wilton’s own private garden.

Now the old village green is
not what it seems, not least
because, for nearly a century, it
was the private garden of the
Wilton family, who lived in what
is now part of the Horse and
Jockey.

Just how Samuel Wilton
acquired the Green in the early
19th century is unclear, but
acquire it he did and, to make
sure it remained private, he
planted thick hedges around its
boundary, which effectively
closed it off to the residents of
the village until the death of his
daughter in 1895, whereupon the
land reverted to the Egerton
estate, which gifted it as a public
space.

Chorlton Green circa 1900
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