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| Straddling the National Park boundary, Rainow was once a silk and cotton weavers' village, but these days have long passed and the cottages of the village are now occupied mostly by commuters to Macclesfield and south Manchester. Gritstone quarrying is another industry which once flourished around the village but which has now passed by.
The site of the village has been occupied since at least Roman times and in mediaeval times it was a staging post on one of the 'salt routes' along which packhorses carried salt eastwards from the mines of Cheshire. This particular route went from Macclesfield via Rainow to Saltersford and thence over the ridge to the Goyt valley and Buxton.
The village has little of intrinsic interest but is nicely placed for walks on nearby Kerridge Hill, a part of the Gritstone Trail. This gives fine views over Bollington and the Cheshire Plain. |
