A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



was paid to beauty by the busy and prosperous 

 traders, it became necessary, in the interests of busi- 

 ness itself, to widen the old streets in the heart of 

 the town. In 1775, therefore, an Act was sought 

 for raising money for this purpose, 10 ' and similar Acts 

 have been obtained frequently since, the result being 

 a great improvement in the appearance of the grow- 

 ing town. 108 



New bridges over the Irwell also became necessary. 

 Blackfriars Bridge was erected in 1761 in a temporary 

 manner by a company of comedians playing in the 

 riding school in Salford, in order to induce Manchester 

 people to patronize them, and was afterwards kept up 

 at the public charge. It was at first a wooden bridge, 

 flagged, for foot passengers only ; the approach from 

 the Manchester side was down twenty-nine steps, to 

 gain the level of Water Street in Salford. 109 In 1817 

 the old bridge was taken down and replaced by a stone 

 one. 110 In 1783 was laid the foundation of the New 

 Bailey Bridge, opened in 1785 ; it was built by sub- 

 scription, and a toll was charged until 1803, the 

 capital having by that time been refunded. 111 Regent's 

 Bridge was opened in 1 8o8, m about the same time as 

 Broughton Bridge leading from Salford to Broughton. 113 

 The Strangeways Iron Bridge was built in i8i7, lu 

 and others have followed. Aston's Picture of Man- 

 chester in 1 8 1 6 states that there were also seven bridges 

 over the Irk, including Ducie Bridge, completed in 

 1814; nine bridges over the Medlock, and others 

 over Shooter's Brook and various canals. 115 



The same guide book notices the following public 

 buildings in addition to churches and schools : The 

 Infirmary and Asylum in Piccadilly, 116 the Lying-in 

 Hospital in Salford, close to the old bridge, 117 the 

 House of Recovery for infectious diseases, near the 

 Infirmary, 118 the Poor House u * and House of Correc- 

 tion lto at Hunt's Bank, the Poor House m and New 

 Bailey Prison m in Salford, the Exchange, built in 

 1 806-9, m somewhat behind the old one, also libraries 

 and theatres. 124 " 9 The compiler could urge little in 

 favour of the appearance of the town at that time : 

 ' The old part of the town is sprinkled with a 

 motley assemblage of old and new buildings, and 

 the streets, except where they were improved by the 

 Acts of 1775 and 1791, are very narrow. The 

 new streets contain many capital modern houses, but 

 they are more distinguished for their internal than 

 their external elegance.' After noticing Mosley 

 Street and Piccadilly, he proceeds : * There are few 

 other streets which can claim credit for their being 

 pleasantly situated, attention having been too minutely 

 directed to the value of land to sacrifice much to 

 public convenience or the conservation of health. 

 This, perhaps, has occasioned the present prevalent 

 disposition of so many persons, whose business is 

 carried on in the town, to reside a little way from 

 it, that the pure breath of Heaven may freely blow 

 upon them.' 1S<) 



The agricultural land still remaining in the parish 

 is utilized as follows : Arable land, 4,835 acres ;. 



W 1 6 Geo. Ill, cap. 63. Exchange 

 Street, leading to St. Ann's Square, was 

 then formed. A deed referring to the im- 

 provements of this time is printed in Local 

 Glean. Lanes, and Cbes. i, 135. 



108 A description of the town as it was 

 in 1783 was reprinted in 1887, with a 

 memoir of the author, James Ogden 

 (1718-1802), a native of the town, by 

 Mr. W. E. A. Axon. It was followed by 

 numerous guide books. 



In 1821 an Act (i & 2 Geo. IV, cap. 

 126) was obtained for widening Market 

 Street ; the schedule contains a list of the 

 owners and occupiers. The work was not 

 completed till 1834. In 1832 an Act 

 was passed for the improvement of London 

 Road ; 2 Will. IV, cap. 36. 



109 Joseph Aston, Mancb. (1816), 200. 

 The author afterwards removed to Roch- 

 dale and lived at Chadderton Hall, Old- 

 ham ; he died in 1844 ; Procter, Manch. 

 Streets, 164-74. 



110 57 Geo. Ill, cap. 58. The new 

 bridge was opened in 1820, a toll of J</. 

 was levied on each passenger, the result 

 being that passage by it was avoided. It 

 was made free in 1848. 



111 Aston, Manch. 200. It was rebuilt 

 in 1844 and called the Albert Bridge. 



113 Ibid. 202. A toll was levied until 

 1848. 



1U Ibid. 201. It was built by Samuel 

 Clowes in 1804-6, as an aid to the develop- 

 ment of his Broughton estate. His tenants 

 had a free passage, others paid a toll. It 

 was rebuilt in 1869 and made free in 

 1872. 



114 56 Geo. Ill, cap. 62. Lord Ducie's 

 tenants were exempt from the toll. 



115 Op. cit. 202-4. Six of the Irk 

 bridges were low and liable to be over- 

 flowed in flood time, but the seventh, the 

 Ducie Bridge (finished in 1816), was 

 lofty. 



116 Ibid. 116-25. The Infirmary was 

 first established in Garden Street, Shude 

 Hill, in 1752, and removed to new build- 

 ings in Piccadilly (then called Lever's Row) 

 in 1755. In front of it were the old Daub- 

 holes, afterwards transformed into a piece 

 of ornamental water, with a fountain ; 

 this was removed in 1857. A lunatic 

 asylum was added in 1765, public baths 

 in 1781, and a dispensary in 1792. The 

 building was refaced with stone about 1835. 

 The lunatic asylum was removed to Stock- 

 port Etchells in 1854. 



Lever's Row was so named from the 

 estate and town house of the Levers of 

 Alkrington ; see Lanes, and Cbes. Antiq. 

 Soc. xx, 238. 



117 Aston, Picture of Manch. 12733. 

 The charity was founded in 1790 

 and at first housed at the south-west 

 end of the Old Bridge ; it was removed 

 in 1796 to Stanley Street, Salford, by 

 the New Bailey Prison. In 1821 it 

 was again removed, finding a home 

 on the Manchester side of the Irwell, near 

 St. Mary's Church. From this it seems 

 to have taken the name of St. Mary's 

 Hospital, by which it is now known. To 

 commemorate Queen Victoria's visit in 

 1851 a new building was erected, which 

 was opened in 1856. This has now been 

 abandoned, a new St. Mary's being opened 

 in Oxford Road in 1904. The Southern 

 Hospital formerly at Chorlton has been 

 amalgamated with it. 



U8 Ibid. 134-7. I* was opened in 

 1796. 



19 Ibid. 161. It is on the north side 

 of Victoria Station and was opened in 

 1793; the manufacture of cotton goods was 

 carried on in the house, and in 1815 

 produced a profit of 222. The present 

 workhouse, built in 1855, is in Crump- 

 sail. 



180 Ibid. 192. It is supposed to have 



182 



represented the New Fleet Prison erected 

 in the time of Queen Elizabeth for the 

 punishment of ' Popish recusants.' A new 

 building was erected in 1774 and removed 

 in 1790. The prisoners at one time used 

 to hang out bags for alms. There is a full 

 account of it in Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. 

 iii, 89. A new borough gaol built in Hyde 

 Road in 1847-9 wa8 demolished about 

 1885. 



m Aston, Picture of Manch. 164, It 

 was situated in Greengate, and opened 

 in 1793. It was pulled down in 1856, 

 the new workhouse in Regent Road hav- 

 ing been opened. 



122 Ibid. 194. The foundation stone 

 was laid by T. B. Bayley in 1787 ; the 

 building was a consequence of John 

 Howard's prison reform. 



188 Ibid. 204 ; the old building had 

 become little more than 'a harbour for 

 vagrants and dirt.' It was greatly extended 

 and partly rebuilt in 1845-56, and from 

 1851 has been named the Royal Ex- 

 change. In 1866 an Act was obtained 

 to enable the proprietors to pull it down 

 and rebuild it. The eastern facade re- 

 mains. 



124.9 p or tne libraries, see note 99 

 ( P . 181). 



The first theatre was built in Marsden 

 Street in 1753, but not used till 1760 ^ 

 Manch. Guardian N. and Q. no. 1233. It 

 was replaced by the Theatre Royal, under 

 a special Act of Parliament, in 1775. A 

 new Theatre Royal was opened in 1807, 

 the old building being used as a circus ; 

 Aston, Manch. 181-6. The Theatre 

 Royal was burnt down in 1 844, and rebuilt 

 in the following year. 



The Assembly Rooms in Mosley Street 

 were opened in 1792; ibid. 187. They 

 were sold in 1850, new ones being built in 

 Cheetham. 



180 Ibid. 219-20. 



