SALFORD HUNDRED 



MANCHESTER 



centre and the latter to the east, to join the Med- 

 lock ; ' but all have long been covered over. The 

 physical features have been greatly obscured by the 

 buildings which cover the surface, which is in general 

 level, though rising steeply from the Irwell. The 

 portion of the town between Shooter's Brook and 

 the Medlock is called Ancoats. The north-east 

 corner of the township, on the bank of the Irk, is 

 CoUyhurst ; half-way between this and the cathedral 

 lies Newtown. The population in 1 90 1 numbered 

 132,316. 



In the north-west corner, at the junction of the 

 Irk and the Irwell, stands Chatham's Hospital and 

 Library, with Hunt's Bank to the west. The church, 

 now the cathedral, stands in its cemetery, immediately 

 to the south, the western tower overlooking the 

 Irwell. At its south-west corner lies Victoria Bridge, 

 representing the ancient bridge over the river to Sal- 

 ford. In the open space stands the Cromwell statue, 

 erected in 1875. From the same point start Deans- 

 gate, leading south to Alport and Campfield near the 

 Medlock, which river Deansgate crosses at Knott 

 Bridge ; and Victoria Street, a new thoroughfare, 

 leading south-east to the Market Place. On the 

 south side of the Market Place another main street 

 of the city runs west to Blackfriars Bridge over the 

 Irwell — being there called St. Mary's Gate and 

 Blackfriars Street — and east and south-east towards 

 Stockport — being called in turn Market Street, 

 Piccadilly, and London Road. The Exchange Build- 

 ing stands in Market Street over against the old 

 Market Place. From its west end may be seen St. 

 Ann's Square, with the church to the south and a 

 statue of Cobden in the centre ; its east end stands in 

 Cross Street, which leads past the old Nonconformist 

 chapel and the Free Library to Albert Square, domi- 

 nated by the new Town Hall. In the square are 

 statues of Prince Albert, Bishop Fraser, W. E. Glad- 

 stone, John Bright, and Oliver Heywood. Piccadilly 

 has the site of the infirmary on its southern side ; in 

 front are statues of Queen Victoria, Watt, Dalton, 

 Wellington, and Peel. 



From the infirmary Mosley Street, in which is the 

 Art Gallery, runs south-west to St. Peter's Square, a 

 little south of the Town Hall, and continues as 

 Lower Mosley Street till it crosses the Medlock into 

 Hnlme at Gaythorn. From St. Peter's Square, Peter 

 Street, in which is the Free Trade Hall, goes west to 



Deansgate ; and Oxford Street, another great 

 thoroughfare, goes south-east into Chorlton. Opposite 

 the infirmary Oldham Street and Oldham Road' 

 lead north-east towards Oldham. 



In 1666 there were as many as 1,368 hearths liable 

 to the tax ; the largest dwelling was that of Mrs. 

 Ruth Greene, which had eighteen hearths ; the war- 

 den's house had fourteen. '" 



A great improvement in the appearance of the 

 town was made in 1833 by the opening out of 

 Hunt's Bank.*'' Some of the older streets remain 

 comparatively unchanged. Cateaton Street and Todd 

 Street lead from Victoria Bridge east and north to a 

 bridge across the Irk near Victoria Station, encom- 

 passing the plot of land on which stand the cathedral 

 and Chetham's Hospital. Between these buildings 

 Fennel Street goes eastward and is continued as 

 Withy Grove, Shude Hill, and Rochdale Road, which 

 leads north through Collyhurst. The wide straight 

 way called Corporation Street, formed about 1850, 

 goes north from Market Street in continuation of 

 Cross Street, to the former Ducie Bridge over the 

 Irk, and thence continues as Cheetham Hill Road. 



There are a large number of bridges over the 

 rivers ;' the Irk at Hunt's Bank has been covered over 

 by the railway station. 



Two of the principal railway stations '* — Exchange 

 and Victoria, first opened in 1844 — are just outside 

 the township, in Salford and Cheetham. The London 

 and North Western Company has London Road 

 Station in Ancoats, opened in 1 840, the terminus of 

 the line from Euston ; ' from this a branch line, made 

 in 1849, runs near the southern boundary, crossing 

 the windings of the Medlock and having stations at 

 Oxford Street (named Oxford Road) and Knott Mill ; 

 it forms part of the separate Manchester and Altrin- 

 cham Railway, but has a branch joining the line from 

 Manchester to Liverpool at Ordsall Lane in Salford. 

 The line just mentioned, the pioneer railway opened 

 in 1830, originally had its terminus at Campfield; 

 the station is used for goods traffic, and connected 

 with Ordsall Lane. The Lancashire and Yorkshire 

 Company has two lines — to Leeds and to Rochdale — 

 passing through the northern part of the township, 

 with what is now a branch line to Oldham Road 

 goods station ; this station, opened in 1839, ^*^ '^^ 

 original terminus of the Manchester and Leeds Rail- 

 way,*^ one of the principal constituents of the present 



' The bed of the Medlock U stated to 

 be 14 ft. higher than its old level ; Manch. 

 Guard. N. and Q. no. 527. 



' At the entrance of Oldham Road 

 (fonnerly Newton Lane) stood New 

 Cross, taken down in 1821. Suicides 

 used to be buried there ; ibid. no. 105 1. 



^ Subsidy R. 250/9. Among the larger 

 houses — some of them being inns — were 

 those of Jonas Ridge fifteen hearths, Philip 

 Stampe thirteen, Mrs. Mary Halliwell 

 and John Lightbowne twelve each, 

 Edward Mosley, Mrs. Isabel Mosley, 

 John Holbrook, George Venables, Samuel 

 Dickenson, and Nicholas Mosley, ten 

 each ; there were also five houses of nine 

 hearths, seven of eight, nine of seven, 

 twenty-four of six, thirty-four of five, 

 fifty-eight of four, and seventy-five of 

 three. 



6b Before the change the Irk 'was 

 crossed by a narrow bridge, leading to a 

 street sufficiently wide for only two carts 

 to pass, having tall grimy buildings at the 



left or College side, and a series of cottages 

 and workshops at the right, with here 

 and there an opening by means of which 

 a glimpse of the Irwell could be obtained. 

 The buildings along the river were con- 

 tinued, and piled step above step from 

 the stream to the churchyard above, and 

 reached quite to the then existing Old 

 Bridge. At the north-west corner of the 

 present churchyard, or a little north of it, 

 a flight of steps gave access to a flagged 

 pathway leading round the churchyard, a 

 portion of which still [1865] exists on 

 the east and south sides ; and foot 

 passengers from Broughton could reach 

 the Exchange by this path, either by way 

 of Hanging Ditch and the narrow con- 

 fined lane called Smithy Door, or by 

 Churchgates, Short Millgate, and the 

 Market Place, both these routes being 

 almost completely blocked up on market 

 days. Carts and coaches from Broughton 

 had then to turn abruptly to the left at 

 the upper end of Hunt's Bank, and to 



22^ 



proceed by way of Fennel Street and 

 Long Millgate to the market place, 

 following a narrow and tortuous course 

 throughout the whole distance* ; Reilly, 

 Manch. 346. 



In 1869 the corporation obtained aa 

 Act authorizing the alteration of Deans- 

 gate ; this has accordingly been widened 

 and made straight, and the old Smithy 

 Door destroyed, bringing Victoria Street 

 to its present condition. 



7 See p. 182 above. 



'^ An account of the Manch. RaUtvays by 

 W. Harrison, reprinted from the City 

 News, iS8z, has been made use of in the 

 text. 



^ It was known as Bank Top Station. 

 From 1837 Manchester passengers had 

 been able to go to London by way of 

 Warrington and Birmingham. 



^^ Opened as far as Littleborough in 

 1839, and to Leeds in 1841 ; the Old- 

 ham Road Station was superseded by 

 Victoria. 



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