Chorlton-on-Medlock or Chorlton-upon-Medlock is an
inner city area of
Manchester, England.
Historically
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
in
Lancashire, Chorlton-on-Medlock is bordered to the north by the
River Medlock, which runs immediately south of
Manchester city centre. Its other borders roughly correspond to Stockport Road, Hathersage Road, Moss Lane East and Boundary Lane. Neighbouring districts are
Hulme to the west,
Ardwick
Ardwick is a district of Manchester in North West England, one mile south east of the city centre. The population of the Ardwick Ward at the 2011 census was 19,250.
Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown from ...
to the east and
Victoria Park,
Rusholme and
Moss Side to the south. A large portion of the district along
Oxford Road is occupied by the campuses of the
University of Manchester,
Manchester Metropolitan University, and the
Royal Northern College of Music
The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...
. To the south of the university's Oxford Road campus a considerable area is occupied by a group of contiguous hospitals including
Manchester Royal Infirmary, to the west of which is
Whitworth Park.
History
In
medieval times, the district was known as Chorlton Row and was a
township of the
ancient parish of Manchester in the
Salford Hundred
The Salford Hundred (also known as Salfordshire) was one of the subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England (see:Hundred (county division). Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (th ...
of Lancashire. Towards the end of the 18th century, it developed as a residential suburb of Manchester and in the extreme north of the township a number of
cotton mills were established. In 1820 the parish church of
All Saints was built. Development began in 1793–94 and most of the important streets were given impressive names, Oxford Street, Cambridge Street and Grosvenor Street.
Over the following 30 years residential development spread southwards as far as Tuer Street: and by the mid-1840s to High Street. Few dwellings of that period remain today apart from Waterloo Place, 323, 325, 327 & 333 Oxford Road, and
Grove House (316–324).
On the creation of the
municipal borough of Manchester
in 1838 the township was absorbed into the borough. At this time the southern area was still partly rural with some larger dwellings of wealthy people (e.g.,
John Owens in Nelson Street). After the Poor Law Reform of 1834 the district became part of the Chorlton
Poor Law Union and the offices of the Board of Guardians were built in Cavendish Street (these are now the Ormond Building of the Metropolitan University). The arrival of Owens College in 1873 was the beginning of a different kind of development leading to the academic campus of today.
Though most of the township was originally middle class in character by the early 20th century it was very much a working class district. The housing conditions were described in 1931 by the Manchester and District Social Survey Society.
Between the arrival of Owens College in 1873 and the 1940s the college and the university it became slowly expanded into the adjacent residential areas which had by then a mostly working class population including many of Irish descent. However, during the early years of the 21st century the University of Manchester undertook an extensive Capital Development Project which was followed by a partnership with the city council and other bodies called Corridor Manchester. Together these have changed the face of Oxford Road to a remarkable extent.
Geography
The
M13 postcode district includes both
Ardwick
Ardwick is a district of Manchester in North West England, one mile south east of the city centre. The population of the Ardwick Ward at the 2011 census was 19,250.
Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown from ...
and Chorlton on Medlock, although the area east of Boundary Lane and west of the
Dental Hospital has a
Hulme (M15) postcode, and
Greenheys is now in
Moss Side ward rather than Chorlton on Medlock. The River Medlock is the boundary with
Manchester city centre, which includes the Sackville Street campus of the
University of Manchester (or "North Campus" rather than "South Campus"). A large area of Chorlton on Medlock south-west of this is occupied by the
Manchester Metropolitan University.
Transport
Chorlton on Medlock is crossed by the
Mancunian Way (opened 1967), running west to east through its northern part. The main routes through the suburb to south Manchester are (west to east) Cambridge Street (leading to Higher Cambridge Street, Lloyd Street North and Upper Lloyd Street), Oxford Road (leading to
Wilmslow Road; the busiest route, both for private and public transport), and Upper Brook Street (dual carriageway continuing from
Princess Street and leading to Anson Road).
Landmarks
The façade of the former
Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall can be seen at its original location on Cavendish Street. The building, with its
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
, dates from 1830–31 and was designed by
Richard Lane. In Nelson Street the former home of the
Pankhurst Pankhurst is a surname, and may refer to:
Members of a prominent family of suffragettes:
* Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928), one of the founders of the British suffragette movement
* Richard Pankhurst (1834–1898), husband of Emmeline and noted m ...
family is now the
Pankhurst Centre
The Pankhurst Centre, 60–62 Nelson Street, Manchester, is a pair of Victorian villas, of which No. 62 was the home of Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Sylvia, Christabel and AdelaHartwell 2001, p 320 and the birthplace of the s ...
. The Ormond Building of the Manchester Metropolitan University was originally the home of the
Chorlton Union Board of Guardians (responsible under the 1834
Poor Law
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
for most of what is now south Manchester). Next to the town hall building is the original building of the Manchester College of Art (1880–81: architect
George Tunstal Redmayne
George Tunstal Redmayne, more usually G T Redmayne (1840 - 1912), was the youngest of four sons of Giles Redmayne and his wife, Margareta Robey. He was born in London and attended Tonbridge School for two years before being educated by private tu ...
) in a
Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style.
Further down Oxford Road are the University of Manchester (frontage built 1888–1902), the former
Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (1886),
Manchester Royal Infirmary (1908) and the
Whitworth Art Gallery (1898–1908).
Religion
The parish church of All Saints (1820) and the earlier Church of St Luke (founded before 1804 but a new church was built by John Lowe in 1865; part of Old Chorlton Hall was used as the rectory)
[Fleetwood-Hesketh, Peter (1955) ''Murray's Lancashire Architectural Guide''. London: John Murray; p. 160] (to the east) have been demolished as have several other
Anglican churches in this area. Anglican churches which are disused include St Stephen's (
E. H. Shellard
Edwin Hugh Shellard (usually known as E. H. Shellard) was an English architect who practised in Manchester, being active between 1844 and 1864. Most of his works are located in Northwest England, in what is now Greater Manchester, Lancashire, C ...
, 1853), St Paul's (Clegg & Knowles, 1862), and St Ambrose (H. C. Charlewood, 1884):
these have all been demolished apart from St Ambrose which was used by the University of Manchester as an Islamic prayer room but the prayer room is now elsewhere. In Greenheys there was formerly an Anglican church of St Clement on Denmark Road (architect Henry R. Price, 1881, decorated by John Lowe, 1886
).
The oldest
Roman Catholic church in Chorlton-on-Medlock was the
Church of the Holy Name on Oxford Road (built between 1869 and 1871), a fine example of the work of the architect
Joseph Aloysius Hansom
Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal, '' The Builder'', in 1843.
Career
...
. St Augustine's,
Granby Row Granby may refer to:
Places Canada
*Port Granby, Ontario
* Granby, Quebec
**Granby (electoral district), a Quebec electoral district whose territory is identical to that of the city
**Challenger de Granby, a tennis tournament
United States
*Granby ...
(demolished in 1908 to allow expansion at the
Municipal College of Technology) was replaced by a second St Augustine's in York Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock (ruined by German bombing in 1940 during World War II): its successor is at Lower Ormond Street on the
Manchester Metropolitan University campus in a building which serves also as a chaplaincy to the University. This church was built in dark brick to the designs of Desmond Williams & Associates in 1967–68. It replaced an earlier church of the Holy Family which was at first a chapel-of-ease to St Augustine's, then an independent parish, but a chapel-of-ease again from 1908 to 1940 when it became the parish church of St Augustine's parish.
The Armenian church in Upper Brook Street was the first purpose-built
Armenian church in Western Europe. It is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and opened at Easter 1870. The architects were Royle & Bennett, 1869–70, and they chose an eclectic neo-Gothic style. At the east end is a rounded apse and the interior is simple though the altar is elaborate.
There were also many