Castlefield is an inner-city
conservation area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the
River Irwell
The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary b ...
,
Quay Street,
Deansgate
Deansgate is a main road (part of the A56) through Manchester City Centre, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile ...
and
Chester Road. It was the site of the
Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
of
Mamucium
Mamucium, also known as Mancunium, is a former Roman fort in the Castlefield area of Manchester in North West England. The ''castrum'', which was founded c. AD 79 within the Roman province of Roman Britain, was garrisoned by a cohort ...
or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester. It was the terminus of the
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761 from Worsl ...
, the world's first industrial canal, built in 1764; the oldest canal warehouse opened in 1779. The world's first passenger railway terminated here in 1830, at
Liverpool Road railway station and the first railway warehouse opened here in 1831.
The
Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes.
The Rochdale is a broad canal be ...
met the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield in 1805 and in the 1830s they were linked with the
Mersey and Irwell Navigation
The Mersey and Irwell Navigation was a river navigation in North West England, which provided a navigable route from the Mersey estuary to Salford and Manchester, by improving the course of the River Irwell and the River Mersey. Eight locks were ...
by two short cuts. In 1848 the two viaducts of the
Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway crossed the area and joined each other, two further viaducts and one mainline station
Manchester Central railway station followed. It has a tram station,
Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop (formerly G-Mex) providing frequent
Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink) is a tram/ light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Ki ...
services to
Eccles,
Bury,
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...
,
Manchester Piccadilly,
East Didsbury and
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
.
Castlefield was designated a
conservation area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
in 1980 and the United Kingdom's first designated
urban heritage park in 1982.
Toponymy
The name Castlefield refers to the settlement's position below the
former Roman fort. It is a contracted version of the earlier name Castle-in-the-field. Another name for the area was Campfield, which derived from the same source. It is preserved in the name of St Matthew's Church, Campfield, and Campfield Market. (
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
also derived its name from the fort.)
An older name for the settlement was the
Old English Aldport, meaning old or long used port,
distinguishing it from the new port at medieval Manchester nearer the confluence of the
Rivers Irk and
Irwell. ''Port'' in Old English could refer to a harbour or a market so the names could be old and new market.
History
Roman period
A
Roman fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
('),
Mamucium
Mamucium, also known as Mancunium, is a former Roman fort in the Castlefield area of Manchester in North West England. The ''castrum'', which was founded c. AD 79 within the Roman province of Roman Britain, was garrisoned by a cohort ...
or Mancunium was established in what is now Castlefield around AD 79 near a crossing place on the
River Medlock.
The fort was sited on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the River Medlock and
Irwell in a naturally defensible position.
[ It was erected as a series of fortifications established by ]Gnaeus Julius Agricola
Gnaeus Julius Agricola (; 13 June 40 – 23 August 93) was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family of senatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as a military tribun ...
during his campaign against the Brigantes
The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geogr ...
, who were the Celtic tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...
in control of most of northern England. It guarded a central stage of the Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman R ...
(equivalent to Watling Street
Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...
), between Deva Victrix
Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester. The fortress was built by the Legio II ''Adiutrix'' in the 70s AD as the Roman army advanced north ag ...
(Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
) and Eboracum
Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimate ...
(York
York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...
). Another road branched off to the north to Bremetennacum (Ribchester
Ribchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston.
The village has a long history with evidence of Bronz ...
). The neighbouring forts were Castleshaw and Northwich
{{Infobox UK place
, static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg
, static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church
, official_name = Northwich
, country ...
. Built first from turf and timber, the fort was demolished around 140. When it was rebuilt around 160, it was again of turf and timber construction. Around the year 200, the fort underwent another rebuild enhancing its defences by replacing the gatehouse in stone and facing the walls with stone. The fort would have been garrisoned by an infantry cohort of around 500 auxiliary troops
The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of in ...
.[ Retrieved on 20 July 2008.]
Evidence of pagan and Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
worship has been discovered. Two altars have been found and there may be a temple of Mithras
The London Mithraeum, also known as the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook, is a Roman Mithraeum that was discovered in Walbrook, a street in the City of London, during a building's construction in 1954. The entire site was relocated to permit continu ...
at the site. A word square was discovered in the 1970s that may be one of the earliest evidences of Christianity in Britain. A civilian settlement
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, ...
(') grew in association with the fort, made up of traders and the soldiers' families. An area which has a concentration of furnaces and industrial activity has been described as an industrial estate
An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...
. The civilian settlement was probably abandoned by the mid-3rd century, although a small garrison may have remained at Mamucium into the late third and early fourth centuries.
A reconstructed part of the fort stands on the site and is open to the public.
Medieval and early modern periods
The village of Manchester later became established a kilometre to the north and the area around the ''vicus'' became known as "Aldport" or "The Old Town". A house and park here became the home of the Mosley family in 1601 but, in 1642, after being used by Lord Strange
Baron Strange is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. Two creations, one in 1295 and another in 1326, had only one holder each, upon whose deaths they became extinct. Two of the creations, that of 1299 and that ...
as a royalist headquarters during the Siege of Manchester, it was burned down by parliamentarians.
The River Irwell was made navigable in 1720s, leading to the construction of a quay in the area for loading and unloading of goods (vessels of up to 50 tons could dock here and ply between Manchester and Liverpool).
Industrialisation
The Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761 from Worsl ...
arrived in Castlefield in July 1761, around the time the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
is considered to have started. The Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes.
The Rochdale is a broad canal be ...
, and a network of private branch canals joined the Bridgewater at Lock 92 in Castlefield. The Bridgewater Canal company hesitated in connecting their canal the adjacent Mersey and Irwell Navigation
The Mersey and Irwell Navigation was a river navigation in North West England, which provided a navigable route from the Mersey estuary to Salford and Manchester, by improving the course of the River Irwell and the River Mersey. Eight locks were ...
until the Rochdale Canal Company had almost constructed its Manchester and Salford Junction Canal, and the railways had arrived in the 1830s. As the century progressed the canals gave way to the railways and the area became dissected by a network of railway lines carried on a series of multi-arch viaducts. Though Castlefield did have cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Althou ...
s, it was the engineering works and warehousing
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...
that was more noticeable. The first canal warehouse
A canal warehouse is a commercial building principally associated with the expansions of canals from 1761 to 1896. This type of warehouse derived from coastal predecessors, had unique features: it had internal water filled canal arms that ent ...
, built in 1771 on Coal Wharf, was used to raise coal from the barges to street level, and store other goods. In the nineteenth century the warehouses assumed other functions such as trans-shipment
Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination.
One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e. ...
which involved receiving trains or barges, and reassembling their loads to be shipped to other destinations. Other warehouses received raw materials such as yarn, which was collected by outworkers who then returned woven cloth. The later warehouses acted as showrooms on the ground floors, with offices and storage above and behind.
20th century
During the 20th century both canal and railway transport declined and the area became somewhat derelict. The railway complex in Liverpool Road was sold to a conservation group for a nominal £1 and became the Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. In 1982 the area was designated as an urban heritage park and a part of the fort was reconstructed on the excavated foundations.
Present day
As part of the renewal of the site, an extensive outdoor area was developed as an events arena which is used for a wide variety of events, including the annual 'Dpercussion' music festival. Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
studios are located in the area along with the now closed Granada Studios Tour
Granada Studios Tour was an entertainment theme park at the Granada Studios complex in Castlefield, Manchester, England which operated from 1988 to 1999. The park was in the heart of Manchester city centre adjacent to the Granada House building ...
. In 2008 it was reported that ITV were considering re-opening the tour as the company is searching for new forms of revenue to restore growth.
Castlefield has several bars and restaurants which are particularly popular during the summer months when people flock to the area to enjoy the large outdoor drinking areas and regular live music events. The popular Barça Bar closed in late December 2008, leaving Dukes 92, Choice Bar & Restaurant and Lava Bar as the only bars within the Castlefield basin. Castle Quay is the home of radio stations Hits Radio
Hits Radio is a network of 25 contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK.
As of October 2022, the network has a combined reach of 6.6 million weekly listeners according to RAJAR.
Overvi ...
(formerly Key 103) and Greatest Hits Radio
Greatest Hits Radio is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer.
Overview
The network launched on 5 January 2015 as the "Bauer City 2 Network", and rebranded on 7 January 2019 due to the success of Radi ...
.
Planning permission to turn the empty Jackson's Wharf building into a modern five-storey block of flats by the Peel Group was rejected for a second time in 2008. In 2011, planning permission was rejected again by Manchester City Council with opposition from locals
Locals Technology Inc., also referred to as locals.com, is a creator crowdfunding site cofounded by Dave Rubin and Assaf Lev. It started in 2019 and is based in Miami.
The site was founded after Rubin and Jordan Peterson left Patreon in respo ...
. Peel subsequently decided to sell the building and it is now a gastropub
A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s.
Etymology
The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when Dav ...
.
In 1996 an architectural design competition
An architectural design competition is a type of design competition in which an organization that intends on constructing a new building invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel ...
was launched to create Timber Wharf by developers Urban Splash and RIBA Competitions RIBA Competitions is the Royal Institute of British Architects' unit dedicated to organising architectural and other design-related competitions.
Architectural design competitions are used by an organisation that plans to build a new building or re ...
to design a new housing type capable of being mass-produced, using modern building techniques on a realistic budget to challenge the preconceived notions of volume house building. 162 entries were submitted for the project and Glenn Howells Architects provided the winning entry, the building was completed in 2002 and has since gone on to win a number of awards.
Geography
Castlefield is in the Deansgate ward, in Manchester City Centre
Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...
. To the west is the River Irwell
The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary b ...
and Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
, to the south lie the Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761 from Worsl ...
, the River Medlock and the Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes.
The Rochdale is a broad canal be ...
.
The land between the two rivers consists primarily of a plateau of Collyhurst sandstone, which is deep red in colour. This can be seen in the exposed river cliffs around the Castlefield basin, and provides a solid foundation for multistorey buildings and also an easily workable rock for cutting culverts and tunnels.
;Area description
The River Medlock makes an end-on connection with the Bridgewater Canal at Knott Mill Bridge. Originally surplus water was diverted, via a tippler weir, into an overflow tunnel passing under the basin and emerging just to the north of the overspill from the Giant's Basin. The tippler weir has been replaced with a conventional weir within the basin. The 1848 OS large scale map shows the original course as following the line of the canal as far as the coal wharf (site of the Giant's Basin). The River Irwell
The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary b ...
forms two gigantic meanders around Manchester and Salford; these too have had to be heavily controlled, for the Irwell was straightened and deepened from 1724, forming the Mersey and Irwell Navigation
The Mersey and Irwell Navigation was a river navigation in North West England, which provided a navigable route from the Mersey estuary to Salford and Manchester, by improving the course of the River Irwell and the River Mersey. Eight locks were ...
with quays built along Water Street in 1740. Most of the navigation was abandoned in the 1890s, with the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follow ...
but a deep water channel was maintained up to the Woden Street footbridge. Two canals define Castlefield: the Bridgewater built in 1761 and the Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
opened in 1804. There are however two more short canals within Castlefield that form links with the Irwell, these are the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal and the Hulme Locks Branch Canal, both being disused but both are still visible. The Bridgewater Hall basin on the former has been restored. Over the Irwell from Water Street is the entrance to the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal.
Landmarks
Canals
Before 1750, roads were an impractical way of transporting heavy goods and water transport on the rivers was the accepted method. The number of suitable rivers was limited. Power to drive machinery was also derived from water but this needed fast-flowing streams where a head could be built up to turn the waterwheels. Finding the two types of water at the same locality was rare. Castlefield could use the River Medlock, as it fell to join the River Irwell
The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary b ...
to turn the wheels, but the Irwell needed to be improved to make it a safe river to navigate.
Eight locks were constructed between 1724 and 1734, along the Rivers Irwell and Mersey; this was known as the Mersey and Irwell Navigation
The Mersey and Irwell Navigation was a river navigation in North West England, which provided a navigable route from the Mersey estuary to Salford and Manchester, by improving the course of the River Irwell and the River Mersey. Eight locks were ...
. Short cuts were dug to eliminate the difficult bends. Wharfs were built at Manchester Wharf, Water Street in 1740, and if the wind was not in the east small boats could travel from there to the sea. The navigation was subject to continuous improvement and was eventually superseded by the Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follow ...
.
The Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761 from Worsl ...
was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley
Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester.
Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there is e ...
to Manchester. It was built by James Brindley
James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.
Early life
Born ...
and is the world's first true industrial canal, and Britain's first arterial canal. It opened to Castlefield in 1761 and fully to Liverpool in 1766. Castlefield was the Manchester basin, and it was watered by the River Medlock. The actual river was culverted under the basin and emerged by Potato Wharf, then flowed into the Irwell at Hulme Locks. The basin also was watered by ground water runoff, and in times of heavy rain, a weir was needed to maintain the water level. Brindley built a clover leaf-shaped weir which was replaced by the Giant's Basin. Today this appears as a 7-metre-deep, 7-metre-wide circular sump, crossed by an iron footbridge. The basin allowed other goods to be transported into the city such as cotton (from 1784) and building materials, and food.
In 1802 the Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes.
The Rochdale is a broad canal be ...
joined here at Duke's Lock, lock 92; this was the first canal to cross the Pennines; it brought with it clean water from its feeder reservoir at Hollingworth Lake
Hollingworth Lake is a reservoir at Smithy Bridge in Littleborough, Greater Manchester, England. It was originally built as the main water source for the Rochdale Canal, but developed as a tourist resort from the 1860s. Hotels were built aroun ...
. It connected with the Ashton Canal
The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne.
Route
The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18 locks, passing thro ...
and the Peak Forest Canal bringing building limestone from Bugsworth in Derbyshire. At that time, major warehouses and mills would cut private canal arms to their buildings, the Rochdale had many.
In 1837, the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal
The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal is a disused canal in Greater Manchester, England, built to link Bolton and Bury with Manchester. The canal, when fully opened, was long. It was accessed via a junction with the River Irwell in Salford. ...
was connected to the Irwell, and there was commercial pressure to connect the Bridgewater/Rochdale to them. The Manchester and Salford Junction Canal, 1837, was cut from the Rochdale under the city to provide the link with the Irwell at Quay street. To preempt this, the Bridgewater Canal Company built the Hulme Locks Branch Canal, completing it in 1831. This canal remained open until 1991, when it was replaced by a lock at Pomona No. 3 basin.
These canals did not have the capacity to take boats larger than 1.4 m wide, so trans-shipment to oceangoing vessels was needed at a point outside the city. The Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follow ...
, the long river navigation was designed to give the city of Manchester direct access to the sea, and was built between 1887 and 1894 at a cost of about £15 million (£1.27 billion as of 2010), and in its day was the largest navigation canal in the world. Though the main docks were at Salford Quays
Salford Quays is an area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom f ...
and Pomona Docks the ship canal started at the Woden Street footbridge at Hulme Locks.
Warehouses of Castlefield
The Duke's Warehouse was built at the end Bridgewater Canal over the River Medlock. It has long since gone. It was first built in 1771, destroyed by fire in 1789 and rebuilt and extended including a fulling mill on the southern bank and cottages on the northern bank. It was destroyed again by fire in 1919. Built at the same time was the Grocers Warehouse 19.4 x 9.7m. This was a five-storey warehouse with one then two shipping holes. It was cut back into the Collyhurst sandstone river cliff face to the north of the Medlock. It was designed by James Brindley
James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.
Early life
Born ...
and incorporated a waterwheel driven hoist system. The canal arm was continued into a tunnel in the cliff. It was modified and extended in the first decade of the 19th century when the Rochdale canal was cut behind it. The tunnel was severed and became an arm of the Rochdale Canal. Part of the facade has been restored and the canal arms are bridged by two Dutch style lifting bridges.
The Merchants' Warehouse (46.2 m x 15.4m) was built on the north bank at the entrance to the Giant's Basin around 1827. This was a four-storey warehouse with two shipping holes. On the street side it had six side loading bays topped by wooden catsheads (hoods). It has been badly damaged by fire but has since been rebuilt by Jim Ramsbottom and converted into offices. The other surviving warehouse is the Middle Warehouse built in 1831 by the Bridgewater Trustees on the south bank, off the Middle Basin canal arm. It was in use to store maize until the 1970s. It has been converted into a restaurant, offices and flats. It is five storeys plus an attic. The two shipping holes are enclosed in an elliptical blind arch.
The Kenworthy Warehouse, was 19m x 47m was built in 1840 and looked like others. It was six storeys high, had twin shipping hole and was built on an arm running east of the Giant's Basin. It was designed for heavy goods: the ground floor was used for oil, the first for shipping goods, then the other floors for cotton, flour and grain. In 1897, the Great Northern Viaduct was built over it and the piers modified the canal arms.
The Staffordshire Warehouse sat abridge the Staffordshire arms of the basin and was used to warehouse cotton.
The New Warehouse was built on Slate Wharf before 1848, and was the largest. It was six storeys high, with 20 14 ft bays thus in length.
The Victoria and Albert Warehouses are not at the basin, but at the junction of the River Irwell and the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal. This L-shaped building was built flush with the canal for direct loading, on the street side there were three loading entrances.
Also significant is the 1830 Railway Warehouse of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...
. This was built with
There was no available water to drive the hoists, so for the first year they were manual, but in 1832 they were powered by a small steam engine.
Possibly the last of Castlefield's great warehouses was the Great Northern Warehouse of 1896 to 1898. This was a trans-shipment warehouse that had railway access on two of its floors, road access and canal arms from the Manchester and Salford Junction canal in the basement. This was one of Britain's first large steel-framed buildings (81m x 66m). There were hydraulic lifts capable of raising fully laden railway waggons between the floors. To service the building the Great Northern Viaduct was built parallel to the Cornbrook Viaduct over the basin, and over the Kenworthy Warehouse. The country's longest Victorian commercial terrace was built to mask it from Deansgate.
Textile warehouses in the Italianate palazzo style were built in other parts of Manchester city centre, notably King Street in the 1840s spreading to Portland Street, Charlotte Street and by the start of the 20th century, Whitworth Street
Whitworth Street is a street in Manchester, England. It runs between London Road ( A6) and Oxford Street ( A34). West of Oxford Street it becomes Whitworth Street West, which then goes as far as Deansgate ( A56). It was opened in 1899 and is l ...
. In all covering over a square mile of the city centre, Manchester was called Warehouse City and arguably was the finest example of Victorian commercialism.
Bridges of Castlefield
The canal basin at Castlefield is crossed by four large railway viaducts dating from 1848, 1877 and 1898.[
The southern viaduct in the group of three is the 1849 red brick viaduct of the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway with its ]cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impu ...
arch bridge over the Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes.
The Rochdale is a broad canal be ...
. It carried the double tracks between Manchester Piccadilly via Oxford Road station and Knott Mill railway station, then turns south-west, crosses the canal basin and heads for Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...
.
Designated as No.100A, it forms part of the long brick viaduct taking the Altrincham branch of the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway through Knott Mill Station. The bridge, designed by William Baker, spans 31.9m. It has six cast iron ribs each made in five pieces and bolted together. The ribs are braced with cruciform cast iron sections. The twin railway tracks were carried on cast iron deck plates. The resident engineer was Henry Hemberow, and the sections were cast by Garforths of Dukinfield. The MSJ&A Railway was Manchester's first suburban railway line.
A second cast iron rib arch bridge by Baker passed over Egerton Street but this was reconstructed in steel in 1976.[
The central one in the group of three southwest of Deansgate Station is the high-level iron truss girder viaduct of 1877 built for the ]Cheshire Lines Committee
The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire an ...
by the Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...
. It's known as Cornbrook Viaduct. The viaduct is a red brick and wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
truss girder construction. When it opened in 1877, it carried trains coming from a temporary station to Irlam and Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The populati ...
, and Chorlton via a branch line. The temporary station was replaced by Sir John Fowler's Manchester Central Station in 1880, which operated until 1969 and is now used as an exhibition centre ( Manchester Central).
To the north is the 1894 Great Northern viaduct that served the Great Northern Railway's warehouse in Deansgate. The high-level tubular steel
Cold-formed steel (CFS) is the common term for steel products shaped by cold-working processes carried out near room temperature, such as rolling, pressing, stamping, bending, etc. Stock bars and sheets of cold-rolled steel (CRS) are comm ...
viaduct is decorated with turrets. It was built for the Great Northern Railway Company and carried GNR trains to the company's Deansgate warehouse until 1963. Richard Johnson who was a Chief Engineer of the GNR was responsible for the design.
The Cornbrook and Great Northern viaducts stood disused for many years. When a route for the Metrolink trams was investigated, the Cornbrook Viaduct was found to be in much better condition than the 1894 one. It was chosen for refurbishment (1990–1991) and is currently used by Metrolink trams going to Altrincham.[
The Salford branch viaduct, the fourth viaduct, was separate from the others. It was also built by the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway in 1848–1849. It uses a brick arch to cross the Staffordshire arm of the basin, before passing under the later Cornbrook and Great Northern viaduct and intersected with the then main line to Altrincham at a point about 300m west of Knott Mill Station.
The whole viaduct from ]Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Cou ...
to Ordsall Junction is long and consists of 224 brick arches. There were six cast iron bridges that span Water Street, the Rochdale Canal, Castle Street and Chester Road, Deansgate Station, Oxford Road (encased in concrete in 1959) and over Albion Street (renewed in reinforced concrete in 1980). They were all designed by William Baker and have a similar construction, with six cast iron arches each made in three or five sections.
During the regeneration of the Castlefield basin, a spectacular footbridge was built from Slate Wharf to Catalan Square. This is the Merchant's Bridge, where the 3m wide deck is hung by 13 hangers from the steel arches. The span is 40m. The designers, Whitby and Bird acknowledge the influence of Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose scul ...
.
A couple of modern but traditional looking cast iron clad steel footbridges built by Marsh Bros Engineers, Bakewell 1990 have been thrown over some arms. In addition Dutch style lifting bridges have been built at Slate Wharf and Grocers Warehouse. An interesting stoneclad footbridge has been built over the Rochdale Canal. This is called the Architect's bridge.
George Stephenson's line crossed the River Irwell by a skew-arched masonry bridge built in 1830, to the north of the canal basin and then Water Street; this bridge is the first recorded use of the Hodgkinson beam, (or I-beam
An I-beam, also known as H-beam (for universal column, UC), w-beam (for "wide flange"), universal beam (UB), rolled steel joist (RSJ), or double-T (especially in Polish, Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian and German), is a beam with an or -shaped cr ...
).
Other prominent buildings
The Liverpool Road railway station complex is significant as it was here that the passenger terminus was invented, and concepts such as separate facilities for the rich and the poor first appear here. The station is the oldest mainline station in the world.
The booking hall for first and second class passengers was on Liverpool Road, and there were separate stairs up to the separate first floor waiting rooms and the platform. There was a sundial
A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a fl ...
over the first class entrance, since up to 1847, Manchester Corporation used 'local time' and that was set by the sun. In 1847, the Corporation adopted ' railway time'. Adjoining the station are the 1830 warehouse (300 ft X 70 ft) with 6 spur tracks, and the three-storey long, No. 1 Cotton Store built in 1831, and the similar No. 2 Cotton Store. However this was period of rapid expansion. The 1830 warehouse had been built within 4 months by David Bellhouse Jnr. In 1837, the station buildings were extended by the Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Western Railway. The line built by the company w ...
and a new goods shed built. Warehouses now covered ,and had a floor area of . The passenger station closed on 4 May 1844 when the line was extended to join the Manchester and Leeds Railway
The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a British railway company that built a line from Manchester to Normanton, West Yorkshire, Normanton where it made a junction with the North Midland Railway, over which it relied on running powers to access Le ...
at a new station situated in Hunt's Bank
Hunt's is the name of a brand of preserved tomato products owned by Conagra Brands. The company was founded in 1888, in Sebastopol, California, as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co., by Joseph and William Hunt. The brothers relocated to nearby San ...
and it all became a freight terminal. The cotton stores and the goods sheds were demolished in the 1860s when the London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the ...
expanded the goods station.[
In 1844 there were six railway lines connecting the world to Manchester, and Léon Faucher commented that there were 15 or 16 seats of industry that formed this great constellation.]
Two more railway warehouses can be seen, the 1869 London and North Western Railway Bonded Warehouse on Grape Street with its separate viaduct over Water Street and the four-storey 1880 Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...
Lower Byrom Street Warehouse.[ The Lower Byrom Street Warehouse is now part of the Museum of Science and Industry, while the Grape Street warehouse is used by Granada Studios as studios, rehearsal space and offices.]
Regeneration
Castlefield regeneration dates from 1972, when the Greater Manchester Council carried out archaeological investigations in the area. The Liverpool Road goods depot closed 8 September 1975, and the GMC made a survey of the site and it became the North Western Museum of Science and Industry in 1978.
Through the joint efforts of the Civic Trust, the Georgian Group, the Victorian Society
The Victorian Society is a UK amenity society and membership organisation that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. It is a registered ...
and Manchester Region Industrial Archaeology Society (MRIAS) a report called Historic Castlefield was published in 1979, which set upon a development framework.
Also in 1979 Castlefield was designated a conservation area even though most of its historic canals and buildings were derelict. The major landowner was the Manchester Ship Canal Company. The area's potential had been recognised and the 1982 City Centre Local Plan actively supported the Museum of Science and Industry at Liverpool Road, and the Castlefield Conservation Area Steering Committee, (CCASC) was formed.
Castlefield designated itself Britain's first Urban Heritage Park in 1983. This led to £40m of public sector funding being invested for regeneration.
In 1988 the Central Manchester Development Corporation was created to formulate a regeneration policy for nearly 187 ha of central Manchester (approximately 40% of the city centre) and to pump-prime private sector development using Government grants. This embraced Castlefield.
The Corporation determined that Castlefield should be revitalised by strengthening the tourism base, consolidating and supporting business activity and establishing a vibrant residential community. The imaginative and sensitive conservation and enhancement of the listed buildings, canals, viaducts and spaces, was to be achieved with high standards of urban design.
A large number of grants now became available for public/private development partnerships.
One organisation to benefit was Jim Ramsbottom
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring
* ''Jim' ...
's, Castlefield Estates company, who initiated several significant development projects, including Eastgate, Merchants Warehouse and Dukes 92.
The similarly named Castlefield Management Company was created in 1992 as a non-profit company to provide services, events and to maintain the environmental quality of the area. An Urban Ranger service was set up to assist visitors, guide tours and oversee the Urban Heritage Park.
Most of the buildings have now either been renovated or restored and many have been converted into modern apartments (warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...
flats). Numerous archaeological dig
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
s have taken place and revealed a great deal about the early history of the city. Manchester City Council have recently encouraged high quality new developments to accompany the converted warehouses and enhance the conservation area. However, key sites remain to be completed, and Ian Simpson's proposals for a massive eight-storey block of apartments at Jackson's Wharf, has twice been rejected by the City Council reflecting vociferous local objections. For instance, the entertainer Mike Harding said:
See also
* List of lattice girder bridges in the United Kingdom
* Castlefield Forum
The Castlefield Forum is a non-profit charitable incorporated organisation supported by the volunteer, voluntary work of residents of Castlefield, Manchester, England. The Forum was formed as a side effect of resident opposition to the proposed ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*Heaton, Frank (1995) ''The Manchester Village: Deansgate remembered''; compiled by Frank Heaton. Radcliffe: Neil Richardson (contains the recollections of Heaton's contemporaries, born early in the 20th century)
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Further reading
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External links
Castlefield Canal Basins – photo tour
Manchester City Council: Castlefield conservation area
* ttp://www.dpercussion.com/ Website of the annual D-Percussion festivalbr>"A Manchester View" – A History of the City from Roman times to the Present Day
Manchester City Council's Regeneration Team
{{Manchester
Areas of Manchester
Tourist attractions in Manchester