SALFORD HUNDRED 



MANCHESTER 



Canons of Manchester present the incumbents, who 

 are styled rectors. The following is a list : — 



1671 Robert Dewhurst'' 



Joshua Wakefield," M.A. (Queens' College, 

 Cambridge) 



1704 John Harpur, B.A. (Brasenose College, Ox- 

 ford ; Jesus College, Cambridge) 



171 5 William Burkitt '° 



1764 John Whittingham, B.A." (St. Edmund 

 Hall, Oxford) 



1 801 John Darby, M.A."" (Corpus Christi College, 

 Oxford) 



1 808 James Gatcliff " 



1 831 Richard Basnett, M.A. (Trinity College, 

 Oxford) 



1864 George Philpot, M.A. (Caius College, Cam- 

 bridge) 



1902 John Worsley Cundey, M.A. (Magdalen 

 College, Oxford) 



More recently other churches have been added : 

 St. Mark's, 1865 ;*' and All Saints', West Gorton, 

 1879;" the rectors are collated by the Bishop of 

 Manchester. St. George's, Abbey Hey, was conse- 

 crated in 1903 ; and the district of St. Philip's has 

 been formed, but no church has yet been built ; the 

 Crown and the Bishop of Manchester present alter- 

 nately. At Longsight St. Clement's was consecrated 

 in 1876 ;°* the patronage is vested in trustees. 



A school existed in 1 7 1 6.°' 



Methodism appeared in the township about the 

 end of the 1 8th century ; a school chapel at Brooke's 

 Green was built in 1809.*° The Wesleyans now have 

 churches at Gorton, Hyde Road, and Longsight ; the 

 Primitive Methodists two, at Gorton Brook and Belle 

 Vue ; and the United Free Church one. 



The Baptists have three churches. The Particular 

 Baptists had a school in Gorton as early as 1828." 

 The Congregationalists have churches at Gorton ^ 

 and Longsight. The latter began as a Sunday school 

 in 1834 ; the present chapel was opened in 1842 on 

 land purchased from Lord Ducie.*' The Salvation 

 Army has meeting-places at Gorton and Longsight. 

 At Longsight there is also a Presbyterian Church of 

 England, founded in 1871. 



The Unitarians have two places of worship at 

 Brookfield, Gorton, and at Longsight. The former 

 represents the old Protestant Dissenters' chapel, built 

 in 1703 and now taken down ;^'^ the congregation 

 became Unitarian about a century later. The pre- 

 sent church was built in 1871.'° 



The Roman Catholic mission of St. Francis of Assisi, 

 West Gorton, was opened in 1872. It is in charge 

 of the Franciscans,, whose monastery adjoins it. The 

 church of the Sacred Heart was opened in 1 901." 



ARDWICK 



Atheriswyke, (copy of) Inq. of 1282 ; Ardewyke, 



I3S7- 



The bounds of Ardwick extend from the Medlock 

 on the north to somewhat beyond the Cornbrook 

 on the south. The south-west boundary is for the 

 most part the Stockport road, but at one point in- 

 cludes land to the west of the road. From this road 

 Hyde Road runs eastward ; and to the north of it 

 Ashton Old Road also crosses the township in an 

 easterly direction. There are numerous cross streets, 

 the greater part of the area being urban ; the centre 

 and east are occupied by railway land and various 

 works. The township contains 509 acres. The 

 population of Ardwick, West Gorton, and Rnsholme 

 together was 113,843 in 1901. 



Proceeding from Manchester by the London road, 

 Ardwick Green is soon reached ; the open space on 

 the north side, transferred to the corporation in 1867, 

 is called Ardwick Green Park ; the area is about 5 

 acres. The town hall stands at the north-east 

 corner. Beyond Ardwick Green the road is called 

 Stockport Road. On the north side of Hyde Road 

 is Nicholls' Hospital, behind which is the cemetery, 

 opened in 1838. On the south side a public reading- 

 room was opened in 1888 in a building formerly a 

 Primitive Methodist chapel. Further to the east is the 

 Manchester City Football Ground. To the south of 

 Ashton Old Road is a cricket ground, while some 

 little distance to the north is a public recreation 

 ground. The Mayfield Baths are by the Medlock, 

 and there are other baths on Hyde Road. There are 

 two drill halls in the township. 



The London and North Western Company's line 

 from London Road Station to Stockport crosses the 

 township in a south-east direction. From it the 

 Lancashire and Yorkshire Company has a branch going 

 north to Miles Platting. The Great Central Com- 

 pany has a line running parallel with the first-named 

 till Ardwick Station is reached, when its line runs east 

 and has a second station called Ashbury's, just on the 

 township boundary. The Midland Company has 

 lines connecting with the former and with the An- 

 coats Goods Station. 



There are many factories, including india-rubber 

 works and dye works, by the Medlock, and saw mills, 

 boiler works, iron foundry, chemical works, and pot- 

 tery in the south-east. The corporation has its 

 tramcar sheds and works here. 



To the hearth tax of 1 666 thirty-four hearths were 

 liable. The largest house was that of Samuel Birch, 

 with seven hearths.' A dispensary was founded in 

 1829. Ardwick Green was in 1830 described as 'a 

 pleasant approach to Manchester, being well planted 



06 Visitation list of 1 67 1. From Hig- 

 son's work the names of the incumbents 

 have in general been taken. In Strat- 

 ford's visitation list, 1691, the date of 

 Dewhurst's licence is given as 1686 ; he 

 had been ordained in 1663. He died in 

 1697. 



s? Also curate of Didsbury ; Mr. Ear- 

 walcer's note. 



»' He was called perpetual curate. 



'" He was blind for the last twenty- 

 three years of his life ; Higson, op. cit. 

 127. 



"> He was what was then called a High 

 Churchman ; ibid. 24. 



^^ The benefice was sequestered and 

 the incumbent absent for some years j 

 ibid. 143-50, 160. See Raines, Fellows 

 of Matich. ii, 305. 



^^ Lond. Gam. 27 July 1866, for dis- 

 trict. The patronage was vested in the 

 Rev. G. Philpot, St. James's, for his life. 



68 Ibid. 4 July 1879. 



e* Ibid. 25 July 1876. 



'* Gastrell, op. cit. ii, 89. 



** Higson, op. cit. 23-8. 



67 Ibid. 38-41. 



6S There was an older Congregational 

 interest in Gorton, but it expired ; Night- 

 ingale, Lanes. Noticonf. v, 199. 



279 



^9 Ibid. V, 1 5 8-62 jHigson (op. cit. 34-6) 

 states that it effected much good in a vil- 

 lage which about 1 830 was 'disgraced by ag- 

 gravated scenes of intemperance and fight- 

 ing both with men and dogs* on Sundays. 



^^^ The inscriptions are in the Owen 

 MSS. 



70 Nightingale, op. cit. v, 56-62. The 

 Grimshaw family were members of this 

 congregation. 



"^ Higson states that a Sunday School 

 was opened at Little Droylsden (in Open- 

 shaw) in 1843, and a chapel near Seven 

 Thorns Well in 1849 ; Gorton^ 189, 206, 



^ Subs. R. bdle, 250, no. 9, 



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