Where was Sandy Brow?

Many of you are probably wondering where the famous Sandy Brow is located today?

In antiquity Sandy Brow was renamed Duke Street and only a small portion of Duke Street remains today. From the map below you can see that Duke Street once ran south from St Peter’s Church, past the Stockport Sunday School and all the way up to John Street. Roughly following the equivalent line of Piccadilly street today.

Sandy Brow gets its name from the sandy soil in the area and the vacant land to the west of it was once a scene of gardens and natural springs where the townspeople would collect their fresh water.

Rev. Joseph Harrison himself lived at Castle Row near Sandy Brow in 1818 – 1820.

Sadly there is no monument to mark the spot where this important place once stood. Who knows, maybe one day (quoting Sir Charles Wolseley):

‘Sandy Brow would be more famed in history than the field of Waterloo.’

In an article from the Manchester Observer dated April 4, 1818, we can more accurately determine where the Reformers erected their hustings. The advertisment declares the Reform “meeting will be held on the Sandy Brow, near St. Peter’s Church.”