SALFORD HUNDRED 



MANCHESTER 



Ashtons of Ashton" under Lyne had lands, and the 

 Barlows of Clayton are named also." 



Mueh of Droylsden appears to have been by the 

 Byrons sold in small lots to the occupiers." The 

 Halls of Clockhouse were among the principal of 

 these." A few other names can be obtained from the 

 inquisitions and other documents.™ 



The land tax returns of 1783 show that then 

 Mordecai Greene paid nearly a third of the tax ; the 

 other considerable landowner was Edward Greaves, 

 about a sixth." 



Droylsden was recognized as a township by 1620.'' 



For the Established Church, St. Mary's, Droylsden, 

 was built in 1 848 ; "^ the Crown and the Bishop of 

 Manchester present alternately ; while St. Cross's, 

 Clayton, built in 1874, is in the gift of Mr. C. A. R. 

 Hoare.« 



Methodism made its appearance about 1779, ^"^ 

 the first society was not formed till 1806, a cottage 

 being used. A chapel was built in 1825. The 

 Wesleyans have now three churches in the township ; 

 and the Primitive Methodists two, the first of them 

 being erected in 1845.** 



The Congregationalists began with a Sunday school 

 in 1837; a special building was raised ten years 

 afterwards, and a church in 1859.'" 



The earliest and most celebrated religious establish- 

 ment is that of the Moravians at Fairfield. It was 

 intended to be an industrial village exclusively of their 

 own community, where their special discipline could 

 be freely exercised. The land was acquired in 1783, 

 and the chapel opened two years afterwards." 



OPENSHAW 



Openshawe, 1276. 



This township stretches for over 2 miles along the 

 Ashton Old Road, a long straight road leading east 

 from Manchester to Ashton ; it has an area of 

 579I acres. The hearth tax return of 1666 shows 

 that the dwellings then were few and small, the total 



number of hearths being only twenty.' The district 

 is now urban, though a little open land remains on 

 the northern border. The population was in 190 1 

 numbered with Ardwick. The hamlet called Little 

 Droylsden in the extreme eastern end was added to 

 Openshaw in 1889.' 



The Great Central Railway Company's line from 

 Manchester to Ashton runs along the southern border, 

 and has a station near the centre named Gorton. 

 A branch line to Stockport separates near the western 

 end of the township. A branch of the Manchester 

 and Ashton Canal crosses the centre, going south to 

 the Mersey at Stockport. 



The great engineering works of Armstrong, Whit- 

 worth, and Company, and others, are in this town- 

 ship. Seventy years ago the people were 'chiefly 

 hatters.' ' 



A local board was established in 1 863,* but in 

 1890 the township became part of the city of Man- 

 chester, and in 1896 was absorbed into the new 

 township of South Manchester. Handsome buildings, 

 including a public hall, free library, and baths, were 

 opened in 1894.' 



According to an old proverb, 'The constable of 

 Openshaw sets beggars in the stocks at Manchester,' 

 a gibe at the waste of time and trouble involved in 

 the administration of past ages.* 



In 1276 Robert Grelley, lord of Man- 

 MJNOR Chester, had a park at OPENSHJW,^ 

 and after his death in 1282 it was found 

 that 2 oxgangs of land in Openshaw paid a rent of 

 8/., while a plat of land by the cross was worth 

 6s. %d. a year.' Some further particulars are supplied 

 by the extents of 1320-2, at which time there were 

 4 oxgangs of land in Openshaw, worth 53^. 3</.,° also 

 100 acres of moor and turbary in which the tenants 

 of Gorton, Openshaw, and Ardwick had common 

 rights, and the lord of Ancoats also." John La 

 Warre in 1 3 3 1 granted a messuage and an oxgang of 

 land to William the Couper, his wife, and children, 

 for eleven years at a rent of 13/. 4</. ; the various 



?• Ashton Custom R. (Chet. Soc), loi. 



" In 1357 Thomas de Barlow of Clay- 

 ton was a debtor ; Duchy of Lane. Assize 

 R. 6, m. 3d. In 1360 Alice widow of 

 John de Whitewood gave to Thomas de 

 Barlow i J acre in Clayton in Manchester ; 

 Byron Chartul. no. 29/14. In 1371 Sir 

 John de Byron demised to her all the 

 lands in Clayton and Droylsden which he 

 had had from her, being the inheritance 

 of her father Henry de Barlow ; she was 

 to pay a rent of 45., and make two appear- 

 ances at Sir John's court ; ibid. no. 37/25. 



James de Barlow in 1400 gave to John 

 del Booth I J acre in Clayton, lying be- 

 tween the high street and the Medlock ; 

 also another ij acre between the Med- 

 lock and Cronshaw Brook ; and these 

 lands were in 141 7 transferred to John 

 ie Byron ; ibid. no. 1/15 ; no. 7/16. 



'* Higson, Droylsden, 45. 



?' Ibid. 47-48 ; one John Hall of the 

 Clockhouse in 1712 sold his estate to 

 Miles Nield of Manchester, with whose 

 daughter it descended to the Clowes and 

 Birch families. Another Hall family also 

 ended in an heiress, Anne wife of Wil- 

 liam Hulton of Hulton Park ; she died 

 in 180Z. 



The list of ratepayers in 1655 is given 

 ibid. 49. 



«" George Blomeley held a messuage, 

 Ac, in ' Droylesdale ' of Edward Mosley 



as of his manor of Manchester ; he died 

 in 1640, having bequeathed it to his niece 

 Mary Hulme. He had had four sisters — 

 Jane widow of Robert Hulme, Elizabeth 

 wife of James Swindells, both living, Anne 

 wife of Richard Wood, Ellen wife of John 

 Moore, both deceased, leaving sons Robert 

 Wood and John Moore, under age ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxx, 26. 



James Wallwork of Droylsden was in 

 1665 summoned by the heralds to appear 

 at the visitation ; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. 

 Soc), iv. 



81 Returns at Preston. 



83 E. Axon, AfuM*. Stw. i, 118. Also in 

 1622 i Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 1 50 ; no landowner is named. The 

 constables are mentioned in 1 627 ; Mancb. 

 Ct. Lest Rec. iii, 139. 



88 Service was first held in 1840 in a 

 room in the institute ; Higson, op. cit. 

 118, 119. The district was assigned in 

 1844 ; Lond. Gax. 22 Oct. 



8< A Sunday school was begun in 1854, 

 and a building was erected in 1857 in 

 which services were held ; Higson, op. 

 cit. 124. A district was assigned in 1874 ; 

 Lond. Gan. 11 Aug. 



8' Higson, op. cit. 129-32. 



88 Ibid. 133 ; Nightingale, Lanes. Non- 

 conf. v, 316-18. 



87 Higson, op. cit. 125-8 ; the settle- 

 ment was founded under the direction of 



287 



Benjamin La Trobe, one of the most 

 eminent ministers of the Moravian body ; 

 ibid. 148. It was favourably noticed by 

 Dr. Aikin in 1795 ; Country round Manch. 

 232 (with view). As a settlement it has 

 long since passed away, but the chapel is still 

 used for service, and religious work goes 

 on ; see Short Sketches of the Moravians in 

 Lanes. (Leeds, 1888), 22-6. 



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



' Local Govt. Bd. Order 22623. 



8 E. Butterworth. 



■• Lond. Gaz. 8 Dec 1863. 



' Provided jointly by the corporation 

 and the legatees of Sir Joseph Whitworth. 

 The baths had been opened in 1890. 



« N. and Q. (Ser. 4), xii, 388, 524. 



7 John de Byron, Henry his brother, and 

 others in that year broke the park and 

 rescued the animals of Reynold the 

 Flecher ; De Banco R. 15, m. 62 d. 



8 Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 245, 244. 



8 Mameeestre (Chet. Soc), ii, 364. 

 There were also four messuages ; ibid. 

 365. The tenants were bound to grind 

 at Manchester mill ; ibid. 281. 



18 Ibid, ii, 293 ; the value was an- 

 nually decreasing, and it was expected 

 that the peat would soon be exhausted. 

 Sir John de Byron had taken 40 acres 

 from the moor, without leave, to the 

 lord's disseisin. 



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