STALYBRIDGE  , a municipal and

parliamentary borough of Cheshire, England; the parliamentary borough extending into Lancashire . Pop . (19o1), 27,673 . It lies on the river Tame, in a hilly district, 6 m . E. of Manchester, and is served by the London & North-Western, Great Central, and Lancashire & Yorkshire railways . Immediately to the west lie the towns of Dukinfield, and across the river in Lancashire, Ashton-under-Lyne; while 2 M. south of Stalybridge is the town of Hyde . The whole district is thus very densely populated . Stalybridge is one of the oldest seats of the cotton manufacture in this locality, the first cotton mill having been erected in 1776, and the first steam engine in 1795 . There are also machine works, nail works, paper mills, and iron and brass foundries . The development of the town is modern, as it was created a market town in 1828, incorporated in 1857, and created a parliamentary borough, returning one member, in 1867 . It is under a mayor, 7 aldermen and 22 councillors . Area, 3130 acres .