A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



services and customs were those usual in the manor 

 of Manchester." In 1357 Openshaw was included 

 in Roger La Warre's grant of Bradford to Thomas de 

 Booth of Barton, and descended in the same way as 

 Bradford until the division of the Booth estates." It 

 became the portion of Anne, one of the daughters and 

 co-heirs of John Booth," and in 1798 J. G. Legh was 

 the chief landowner." It does not at any time appear 

 to have been considered a manor. 



William Hulton of Farnworth had land in Open- 

 shaw in 1556," and Thurstan Tyldesley in 1561.'' 



Ambrose Birch of Openshaw was a juror in 1 608 ; " 

 he was ancestor of the Birches of Ardwick. A Dyson 

 family occurs in 1656." 



John EUor of Openshaw, a life tenant under Sir 

 John Booth, complained in 1506 of wrongs done 

 him by Ralph Holland of Clayton and John Gilliam 

 of Failsworth." 



The constables of Openshaw are mentioned in 

 i6i6.'» 



For the Established Church St. Barnabas's was con- 

 secrated in 1839," and St. Clement's, Higher Open- 

 shaw, in 1 8 8 1 ; " in the former there is a monument 

 to Serjeant Brett, killed in Hyde Road at the rescue 

 of the Fenian leaders in 1867. The incumbents, 

 styled rectors, are presented by trustees. 



The Wesleyan Methodists and United Free Church 

 have each two places of worship, the New Connexion 

 and Primitive Methodists each one. The Baptists 

 have a church at Higher Openshaw. The Congrega- 

 tionalists have three churches. Preaching began 

 about 1820, but no regular services were held till 

 1864, when an old chapel was purchased from the 

 Wesleyans." There are two meeting-places for the 

 Salvation Army. 



St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church, Higher 

 Openshaw, was opened in 1883; the mission was 

 begun in 1849. St. Vincent's followed in 1896. 



WITHINGTON 



Wythinton, 1 2 1 2 and usually ; Wythington (copy 

 of) 1282 extent, and common in 14th century; 

 Whytinton, 1302. 



This township has an area of 2,501 acres.' The 

 general slope of the surface is downward from east to 

 west, the extremes being 144 ft. and 85 ft. above the 

 Ordnance datum. The population in 1901 was 

 19,112. A brook which is called Gore Brook in 

 Gorton and Chorlton Brook in Chorlton crosses the 

 middle of Withington from north-east to south-west. 



and is joined by the Ley or Cringle Brook coming 

 from the east. 



The principal road is that near the eastern border, 

 from Manchester to Northenden in Cheshire, which 

 goes southward through Fallowfield. It is lined with 

 houses all the way, this side of the township being 

 suburban in character, and has a branch towards Dids- 

 bury and Cheadle. The north-western portion, ad- 

 joining Moss Side, is also suburban and contains Alex- 

 andra Park, of 60 acres extent, opened in 1 870, and 

 the residential area called Manley Park. The district 

 anciently known as Yeeldhouses, and later as the Heald- 

 houses, lay near the northern border, stretching into 

 Rusholme and Moss Side. 



In Withington and its members there were 447 

 hearths liable to the tax in 1666 ; the largest houses 

 were Barlow Hall in Chorlton and Birch Hall in 

 Rusholme.' 



A public hall and library were built in 1 861. 



The Midland Company's railway from Manchester 

 to Stockport crosses the southern end of the township, 

 and from it branches the Great Central Company's 

 line to Guide Bridge, having a station near the centre 

 called Alexandra Park, and another at the eastern 

 border called Fallowfield. 



The Manchester Southern Cemetery and Chorlton 

 Union Workhouse are near the southern boundary. 



A local board was formed in 1876 ; the area in- 

 cluded part of Withington, Chorlton, Burnage, and 

 Didsbury.' This was changed into an urban district 

 council in 1894, but in 1904 the whole was incor- 

 porated with the city of Manchester. A number of 

 small variations in the township boundaries of With- 

 ington, Didsbury, Burnage, and Chorlton with Hardy 

 were made in 1882. 



At its first appearance in the records 

 MANOR the manor or fee of JTITHINGTON was 

 held of the lord of Manchester by the 

 service of one knight's fee. It included not only 

 Withington proper, but the adjacent hamlets or 

 townships of Didsbury, Chorlton with Hardy, Burn- 

 age, Levenshulme, Rusholme, and Moss Side ; also 

 the detached portions, Denton and Haughton to 

 the east, and Longworth * far to the north, in the 

 parish of Bolton. The manor-house seems to hav« 

 been built at Hough in Withington, which was fre- 

 quently reckoned as a separate manor ; thus, after , 

 various subordinate manors such as Denton had been 

 separated, the manors of Hough, Withington, and 

 Didsbury were said to be held by the lord of With- 

 ington. 



" Manchester Corporation D. 



'^ See the accounts of Bradford and 

 Barton. 



18 From an old abstract of the Legh title 

 (in the possession of W. Farrer) it appears 

 that the partition was made in or before 

 1587, in which year a settlement was 

 made by George Legh and Anne (Booth) 

 his wife of the old hall of Barton and 

 lands, &c., in Openshaw, Grindlow, Black- 

 stake, and Manchester. See also Manch. 

 Ct. Lett Rec. ii, 322. For the pedigree 

 see Ormerod, Cbn. (ed. Helsby), i, 462. 



" His contribution to the land tax was 

 ^15 out of £z\ raised. Other owners 

 were Thomas Nadin, Thomas Tipping, 

 Lord Kenyon, &c 



" Manch. Ct, Lett Rec. i, 33. 



l« Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 22, 

 ''^ .^9 I ^3» *"' 5^ i ^^ ^^ ^ messuage. 



&c., in Openshaw and Gorton to Thomas 

 Ashton of Shepley. See also Manch. Ct. 

 Leet Rec. i, xoo. 



" Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 11;. 



" Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. iv, 158. 



" Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 25-7. The defence was that 

 John EUor had encroached on the moor. 



^ Manch. Setthns (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), 3. 



^ A district was assigned to it in 184.4 i 

 Land. Gaz, 4 Mar. 1864. There is a 

 mission church. 



^ For the district see Land. Gax. z Sept. 

 1881. 



^ Nightingale, Lanes. Noncmf. v, 62-;. 

 The chapel mentioned in the text was in 

 Lower Openshaw; it was sold in 1890, 

 and a new school chapel built in 1892. 



Work at Higher Openshaw was begun in 

 1865, where a school chapel was built in 

 1 87 1. The Central Church was founded 

 in 1889, a building previously used bythe 

 Methodist Free Church being purchased. 



' 2,443 acres, including three of inland 

 water; Census Rep. 1901. 



' Subsidy R. bdle. 2 50, no. 9. Mr. Barlow 

 had 16 hearths, Thomas Birch 13, Mrs. 

 Holland io,Robert Hyde 9, Mr. Worsley 8, 

 Hugh Yannis, John Shelmerdine, and — 

 Angier 7 each. This last would be the 

 celebrated John Angier of Denton Chapel. 



» 39 & 40 Vict. cap. lOi. Small parts 

 of the township of Withington were in- 

 cluded in the local board districts of Moss 

 Side and Rusholme. 



* In a subsidy roll of 1543 (bdle. 130, 

 no. 127) Anglezarke as well as Longworth 

 is described as a hamlet of Withington. 



Digitized by IVIicrosoft® 



