Heaton Norris

Historically part of Lancashire, Heaton Norris was part of the Manchester barony of the Grelley family, but between 1162 and 1180 it belonged to William le Norreys. In the early 13th century, Heaton Norris, a sub manor of Manchester, encompassed all of the Four Heatons. It was escheated (i.e. reverted) to the manor of Manchester in around 1280. In 1322 there were 32 dwellings suggesting a population of 150, the ten freeholders of the escheated manor had the right to graze on common pasture and to cut wood. There was no chapel of ease, unlike neighbouring St Ostwalds at Didsbury, and it did not get one until St Thomas' was built in 1758. The township remained part of the parish of Manchester…

In the 1990s, the BBC mock talk show The Mrs Merton Show, and its spin-off black comedy sitcom, Mrs Merton and Malcolm (1999), the title character, Mrs Merton, played by Manchester native Caroline Aherne, often refers to living in Heaton Norris. The latter series was set in the area. Another BBC sitcom, Early Doors, principally written by and starring Aherne's collaborator Craig Cash (also a former Heaton Norris resident), revolved around a failing pub, which by inference and local references was also in Heaton Norris. The pub was set in The Grapes, Stockport, and based on the since closed Three Crowns in Heaton Norris. Some of the scenes for the BBC One comedy drama Sunshine, starring…