Hazel Grove

Until the 16th century, there was very little development at Hazel Grove. The area straddled the boundaries of four townships or manors: Bosden, Bramhall, Norbury, and Torkington. Norbury was mentioned in the Domesday Survey in 1086 (as Nordberie). In 1560, a blacksmith called Richard Bullock built a smithy on the corner of what is now Torkington Park. This building later became the Bullock Smithy Inn. It stood on the main road from Manchester and Stockport to Buxton and London, later numbered as the A6 road. A village known as Bullock Smithy gradually grew up along the road. The name Hazel Grove, referring to a grove of hazel trees, was also sometimes used for the area, appearing on a 1749…