SALFORD HUNDRED 



ECCLES 



BARTON 



Barton, 1 195 ; there is no variation to record. 



Barton, usually called Barton-upon-lrwell to dis- 

 tinguish it from other places of the name, has a length 

 of 7 miles from the north-eastern end, at which the 

 parish church of Ecdes is situated, to the Glazebrook, 

 which forms the south-western boundary. The 

 greater part of it lies on the northern side of the 

 Irwell, but there is on the south bank a considerable 

 area, forming the modern township of Davyhulme. 

 The Manchester Ship Canal, opened in 1894, has re- 

 placed the Irwell for the existing boundaries. The 

 central and southern parts of the township lie upon 

 the pebble beds of the New Red Sandstone ; Trafford 

 Park, Barton, Patricroft, and Monton on the Upper 

 Mottled Beds and Winton on the Permian rocks and 

 Coal Measures. Round the parish church the town 

 of Eccles has grown up, and is now a borough ; the 

 limits include the village of Barton, a mile to the 

 south-west, with the hamlets of Peel Green and 

 Patricroft to the west, and Winton,' Monton, and 

 Charlton Fold on the northern boundary. EUesmere 

 Park is in the north-east corner. 



The greater part of the area to the south-west of 

 Barton village was formerly part of Chat Moss, but on 

 the bank of the Irwell, about a mile north of its 

 junction with the Mersey, the village of Irwellham, 

 now Irlam, managed to exist ; and in the south-west 

 comer, between the Mersey and Glazebrook, was 

 Cadishead, with Great and Little Woolden to the 

 north-west on the banks of the Glazebrook. Barton 

 Moss and Irlam are the names of the modern town- 

 ships which have resulted from the subdivision of the 

 ancient Barton. The village of Irlam includes 

 Higher and Lower Irlam and Jenny's Green. 



The Davyhulme portion was crossed from east to 

 west by a small brook, a tributary of the Irwell, the 

 confluence marking the boundary between Barton 

 and Flixton. Hulme or Davyhulme proper, and 

 Moorside are on the south side of this brook, with 

 Calderbank to the west, and Lostock in the eastern 

 corner. On the north bank of the brook Bent Lanes 

 occupied an area formed by a bend of the Irwell, 

 now almost obliterated by the canal ; Crofts Bank, 

 Wilderspool, Dumplington, and Bromyhurst, going 

 northwards, occupy the centre, and Trafford Park, 

 formerly Wickleswick or Whittleswick, lies in the 

 north-eastern portion, between Stretford and Eccles 

 Church. 



The area of the whole is 10,622 acres,' or nearly 

 half the parish. Numerous changes of boundaries 

 have been made within the last twenty years.' The 

 surface is generally level, varying in the main between 

 50 ft. and 90 ft. above the sea, but there is lower 

 ground in the south, along the Irwell, Mersey, and 

 Glazebrook. The population in 1901 numbered 

 40,169, including 34,369 in Eccles, 234 in Barton 

 Moss, 4,335 in Irlam, and 1,231 in Davyhulme. 



The principal road is the highway from Manchester 

 to Warrington, passing through Eccles, Irlam, aud 

 Cadishead. A road from Pendleton joins at Eccles, 

 and others branch off in various directions, the chief 

 being that through Worsley to Astley and Tyldesley. 

 The London and North Western Company's line 

 from Manchester to Liverpool (1830) crosses the 

 northern part of the township, with stations at Eccles, 

 Patricroft, and Barton Moss. From Eccles a branch 

 to Bolton and Wigan goes north-west, with a station 

 at Monton Green, and a single line branch goes north- 

 east to Clifton. The Cheshire Lines Committee's 

 Railway from Manchester to Liverpool passes through 

 the southern corner, with a station at Irlam ; near 

 this it is joined by the line from Stockport, on which 

 is the station of Cadishead. The pioneer Bridge- 

 water Canal between Worsley and Manchester, formed 

 in 1758, passes south through the village of Barton ; 

 the old-time wonder of the aqueduct carrying it over 

 the Irwell* has been succeeded by the swing bridge 

 by which it crosses the Manchester Ship Canal. The 

 latter great waterway, as above stated, has in this 

 parish practically replaced the Irwell ; it has two sets 

 of locks within the township, known as Barton and 

 Irlam Locks. At Barton the road it carried over it 

 by a swing bridge. At Irlam there is a ferry, and 

 another crosses from Davyhulme to Boysnope, where 

 formerly was a small bridge. There was formerly a 

 ford and later a ferry to Whittleswick from the Warth, 

 south of Eccles Church. 



While agriculture is the chief industry of the 

 Davyhulme and reclaimed Chat Moss district, Eccles 

 and Barton have long been centres of the cotton 

 manufacture. Fustian cutting is carried on at Cadis- 

 head. At Patricroft an extensive ironworks was 

 founded in 1836 by the celebrated engineer, James 

 Nasmyth, whose hammer is represented on the arms 

 of the borough of Eccles. 



The Eccles Wakes, abolished in 1877, were very 

 popular ; bear-baiting, cock-fighting, and other sports 

 were held.' ' Eccles cakes ' have long been famous. 



school; Monton recreation ground ; Trinity 

 Wesleyan Chapel at Peel Green, Patri- 

 croft ; Sarah Anne Tetlow's benefaction 

 to St. Catherine's, Barton, church and 

 school J endowment of St. Mary's, Davy- 

 hulme ; the school at Davyhulme, founded 

 1792; Greaves' School, Irlam, founded 

 1834.; Irlam Church charity; Taylor's 

 charity for Cadishead Wesleyan school ; 

 Allotment land, Cadishead. For Pendle- 

 bury, the Greaves* Free School and St. 

 Augustine's National School ; endowment 

 of St. John's Church ; parish club room 

 and mission room at St. Augustine's. 



^ In Winton are Kitepool (formerly 

 Kidpool) and Cleaveley. 



' Made up as follows : — Barton, j,io8 

 acres ; Ecdes, 400J ; Monton, 4344 i 

 Winton, 319} ; Newhall, 85J ; Foxhill, 

 729J ; Boysnope, 416J ; Higher Irlam, 

 i,z88 ; Lower Irlam, 1,1 zgj ; Cadishead, 

 2,111 ; Davyhulme, 706J ; Croft, 285J ; 



Lostock, 423^; Bromyhurst, iisji 

 Dumplington, 359J ; Whittleswick, 708J. 



The census report of 1901 gives the 

 details of the new townships thus ; Eccles, 

 2,057 ) Barton Moss, including 21 acres 

 of an unnamed area, 1,489 ; Irlam, 4,620 ; 

 and Davyhulme, 2,6;8, the total being 

 10,824. These areas include 40, 40, 81, 

 and 8 1 acres of inland water respectively. 



' The Manchester Ship Canal has been 

 adopted as the boundary in Irlam, as more 

 convenient than the old course of the 

 Irwell ; Local Govt. Bd. Order, 34989 

 (30 Sept. 1896). By the Salford Cor- 

 poration Act, 1892, modifications were 

 made of the Barton and Pendleton areas. 



* It was used for passenger boats down 

 to i860. The Manet. Dir. of 1800 thus 

 describes the route : * The aqueduct which 

 passes the navigable river Irwell at Barton 

 Bridge is astonishingly grand. It begins 

 upwards of 200 yds. from the river, which 



runs in a valley ; over the river itself it is 

 conveyed by a stone bridge of great 

 strength and thickness, consisting of three 

 arches, the centre one of which is 63 ft. 

 wide and 38 ft. above the surface of the 

 water, admitting the largest barges navi- 

 gating the Irwell with masts standing. 

 The spectator is here gratified with the 

 extraordinary sight, never before beheld 

 in this country, of one vessel of burden 

 sailing over another,* The fares from 

 Manchester to Worsley were is. and 6J, 

 and u, 6d. and ^d. return. There is a 

 view of the bridge in Aikin's Country 

 round Mancb. 113. 



^ Manck. Guardian N. and Q. no. 361, 

 1292, where it is stated that buU-baitIng 

 ceased in 1S34, and bear-baiting soon 

 afterwards ; no. 974, iioi, refer to a pic- 

 ture of the Wakes. See also E. Axon, 

 Bygone Lanes. 175. The Wakes continued 

 to be held, but on private ground. ■ 



Digitized by IVIicrosoft® 



