Davenport Railway Station: Local History

Davenport station, c. 1910.

Davenport,  a residential suburb which lies on the outskirts of the town of Stockport in Greater Manchester, takes its name from its railway station, itself named after the Davenport family which for centuries lived at Bramall Hall. When the railway came to the area in the 1850s in the shape of the Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge line, there was no settlement here; it was just a remote corner of the Davenport family's estate.  However, the Davenports had ideas of developing this part of their land as a residential suburb.

The station was built at the point where the Stockport to Bramhall road, believed by some to be a Roman Road, crossed the railway; the station was not actually built in time for the opening of the line in 1857, but the following year, 1858 after complaints from the Davenports that a station had been promised, as small station was built. It was named Davenport after its sponsors. Not long afterwards, however, the Davenports sold all their land, including what is now Davenport, much of it to a property company, and moved away from the area. A few large houses were constructed around the station in its early years, several of them to be occupied by moguls of the hatting and cotton-spinning industries for which Stockport is famous.

The map above shows the station area as it was in the 1870s. The current station booking office is not an original feature; it dates from the 1880s. Our heading picture (courtesy of Stockport Library) shows a train from the Manchester direction arriving in Edwardian days.

Between 1880 and 1914, much building development created the village of Davenport as we know it, including the row of shops (originally built as houses) along Bramhall Lane south of the station, and the main shopping area we now know as 'Davenport Village' although this does not fall within the original definition of Davenport, which referred only to the area south of Kennerley Road.  As the map shows, the boundary between Bramhall and Stockport followed Kennerley Road and the old route of Garner's Lane, and development on the Stockport side was of a more industrial and commercial character with smaller houses, while larger homes for the wealthier citizen, including the private housing estate of Davenport Park, continued to dominate the Bramhall side.

In 1901, the boundary was changed to follow the  Midland Railway railway line (then under construction) nearer to Bramhall, the new line becoming the border between Stockport County Borough and the Hazel Grove and Bramhall Urban District. Since 1974 both have been part of Stockport. From the 1920s onwards, there was more housing development in the area which had become part of Stockport, and after World War II a new phase began with the demolition of a number of the original large houses, to be replaced by flats and smaller houses. This process continues today, with homes being built on any land which becomes available. Fortunately, however, some areas of open land still survive.

Today, Davenport is a good place to live, with its good transport links, useful shops and profusion of trees giving a feel of the countryside. Community facilities such as libraries and meeting rooms are not easily found. There is the open space of Cale Green Park opposite the station as well as a large area of playing fields, while the excellent 'Jolly Sailor' pub/restaurant is a short walk towards Bramhall. Stockport with its many facilities is just a short train or bus ride, and Manchester is just 20 minutes away by train.