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Greengate is an inner-city suburb of
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 ...
in
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is bounded by the River Irwell, Victoria Bridge Street and Chapel Street, Blackfriars Road and Trinity Way. Greengate is the original historic core of Salford and sits within the easternmost part of the City of Salford. Greengate is currently experiencing a period of intensive development activity and growth, benefiting from its location just across the River Irwell from the
City of 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 Salford to the west. The two ...
.


History

Greengate was the oldest part and the heart of the medieval town of Salford. It was where the Hundred of Salford was based, making it the administrative centre for judicial and military purposes for an area roughly equivalent to present day Greater Manchester. It was the location of the town market and annual fairs which were held at the Salford Cross on Greengate itself. The site of the market place in Greengate still survives where Greengate meets Gravel Lane. This area also contained a courthouse, stocks and a conduit (pump). Salford Bridge was built over the Irwell in the 14th century, connecting Salford to Manchester. The bridge was the scene of a battle in 1642 in which Royalist supporting forces from Salford were repulsed by Parliamentarian forces who held Manchester. Greengate was noted for textiles and dyeing long before 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 ...
, but from the early 19th century it developed a reputation for poverty and slum housing alongside sections of manufacturing. By the mid-19th century, almost two thirds of the population of Salford were crowded into the small area of Greengate. The area housed Salford's
workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...
from 1793 until 1853. In 1800 the clergyman
William Cowherd William Cowherd (1763 – 24 March 1816) was a Christian minister serving a congregation in the City of Salford, England, immediately west of Manchester, and one of the philosophical forerunners of the Vegetarian Society founded in 1847.; Gregor ...
established a new congregation in Greengate on King Street, building the chapel (Christ Church) at his own expense. The chapel saw the development of a denomination (the
Bible Christian Church The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O’Bryan, a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall. The first society, consisting of just 22 members, met at Lake Farm in Shebbea ...
) which became influential in the modern establishment of the vegetarianism movement - Cowherd promulgated the doctrine that people should "eat no more meat till the world endeth" and abstain from alcoholic drinks. The message was preached in the U.S. when 41 members of the congregation in Greengate crossed the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
in 1817. Cowherd was buried in the churchyard. Collier Street Public Baths (named after the Methodist Minister, Samuel Francis Collier) were opened by Manchester and Salford Baths and Laundry Company Inc in 1855. It was usual for public baths to offer facilities for both bathing and the washing and drying of clothes and bedding, since many workers cottages had either grossly inadequate facilities or none at all. This remained common practice until after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The Baths closed in 1880 when Salford Corporation opened their own baths on nearby Blackfriars Street. The men's pool was larger and more ornate than the ladies' pool. An unusual feature of the Baths were the laminated wooden roof arches. The Baths closed in the early 20th century and later became a matchbox factory. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
an air raid shelter was built in the deep end of the ladies' pool. The Roman Catholic church of St Peter was built in 1863 to the design of
E. W. Pugin Edward Welby Pugin (11 March 1834 – 5 June 1875) was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton and part of the Pugin & Pugin family of church architects. His father was an architect an ...
. It was in a modest Gothic revival style and had an eastern apse. It was demolished in 1983. In 1926, the second birth control clinic outside London opened to women seeking free family planning advice here. The clinic provided birth control information to working class women who were unable to pay for private advice. The controversial clinic faced opposition from the Catholic Church and the medical profession but continued to offer its services to women until birth control advice was widely and freely available in the 1970s. In the 21st century, the area has undergone a process of regeneration. The redevelopment of the former Victoria Bus Station, just across the Irwell from Manchester Cathedral, includes Greengate Square which has an amphitheatre for events, concerts and markets, as well as office, hotel and retail space.


References

{{Areas of Salford Areas of Salford