Timperley was once part of Cheshire and is now in the Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester. It was part of the parish of Bowdon until becoming a civil parish in 1866, but in 1936, Timperley was added to Altrincham. It lies on the main route from Manchester to Chester (the A56) by road and has a rail link to Manchester - The Metrolink. The Bridgewater Canal also passes through Timperley, parallel to the railway line. Although no longer part of Cheshire it still retains the county as part of its postal address.

The area had seventh century Anglo-Saxons settlers from the South, and existing Britons (Celts) probably integrated with the newcomers. Later there were ninth century Norse (Norwegian and Swedish) settlers from the Isle of Man and Ireland to the west and tenth century Danes from the east. Some of the outer boundaries of the area being probably Anglo Saxon field boundaries which in turn were replaced by Roman ones. There is evidence of a Roman road in the area that linked the Roman fortress of Chester (Deva) with the fort of York (Eboracum). Before the Norman invasion of 1066 the land in the area was ruled by a Saxon Thegn Alweard, after it came under the influence of Hamon de Massey. When the de Massey's died out in 1340 the lands became the property of the Earl of Stamford.

The name probably originates from the words "timber" and "leah" meaning a glade or clearing, and originally the spelling might have been Timperleie or at other timesTimperlegh.

Timperley is a suburban area with most of its housing dating from the 1930's. It was amalgamated with nearby Altrincham because of the large areas of farmland available for building, when in the early 1900's Altrincham was expanding but was short of land itself.

Timperley benefited from the extension of the Bridgewater Canal in 1765 and was an area used for market gardening. Along with Altrincham it was famous for its vegetables, including the famous "Timperley Early" rhubarb, the "Altrincham" carrot, "Bowden Down" potatoes as well as onions, celery and strawberries. The canal was considered to be the first commercial canal in Britain and was built by Francis Egerton, the Duke of Bridgewater, to carry coal from his mines in Worsley to the centre of Manchester. The canal is about 40 miles in length and is unusual in that it has no locks. Before the coming of the railway, both market garden produce, as well as commuters travelled by canal into the centre of Manchester.

One claim to fame is that Ian Brown and John Squire, founder members of the Stone Roses, were brought up in Timperley and attended Altrincham Grammar School, and later South Trafford College