Notable features and buildings
The Underbanks area contains 42 listed buildings and 17 locally listed buildings.
Notable buildings
The former Underbank Hall, now the Natwest Bank at 10 Great Underbank, and the Three Shires at 30 to 32 Great Underbank, were originally the homes of influential local families.
The Three Shires was the townhouse of the Leghs of Adlington.
Underbank Hall was the townhouse of the Arderne family of Arden Hall in Bredbury.
Both of these buildings are statutory listed in recognition of their historic and architectural interest, and are located within the Market Underbanks Conservation Area.
They display distinctive timber framing and jettied upper floors dating from the 16th century. They provide evidence of early timber-framed townhouses within the area.
St Petersgate Bridge
Having already invested in improvements to the market place years before, Stopfordians decided to further improve access to it in 1864. They did this by building a bridge linking the market with St Petersgate over Little Underbank. Named St Petersgate Bridge, it offered easier access from the west of the town and the railway station.
This bridge was built next to Turner's Steps, a pedestrian link between the market place and Little Underbank. Property in the south west corner of the Market Place was demolished to make room for both. A brand new commercial building, the Bank of Stockport, was then constructed.
Rostron Brow
Rostron Brow is an ancient track with a steep slope leading from Lower Hillgate to the Market Place.
It has had many names. On a 1680 map of Stockport, it's named 'Rosen Banke' after a local farmer, and would have probably had timber-framed buildings on both sides.
During the first half of the 19th century, it became known as Rostron Brow due to its association with the Rostron brothers, a family of drapers who owned several properties nearby.
Rostron Brow was a busy thoroughfare back then. It was home to two pubs: the Dust Hole, and the Hare and Hounds. These pubs later gained bad reputations and were pulled down in the 1880s.
The arched-fronted building was initially built as a warehouse in around 1900, and still stands today. Albert Crossley, the former landlord of the demolished Hare and Hounds, later established Crossley's Tea Rooms and Dance Hall there. Today, it's home to the award-winning restaurant, Where the Light Gets In.
Rostron Brow has also been home to plumbers, a clog maker and a bird dealership. In the late 18th century, James Leech, who laid the foundation stone for Stockport Infirmary, ran a chemist's there. His daughter married Robert Rostron, whose family the brow is named after.