Irlam is a suburb in the
City of Salford,
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. In 2011, it had a population of 19,933. It lies on flat ground on the south side of the
M62 motorway
The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of th ...
and the north bank of the
Manchester Ship Canal, southwest 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 ...
, southwest 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 t ...
and northeast of
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the 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 population in 2019 was estimat ...
. Irlam forms a continuous urban area with
Cadishead
Cadishead is a village in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 10,739 in 2014. Within the historic county of Lancashire.
History
The earliest record of Cadishead date to 1212, and show that the whole of Cad ...
to the southwest, and is divided from
Flixton and the
Metropolitan Borough of Trafford
Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of 235,493 in 2017. It covers Retrieved on 13 December 2007. and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urm ...
to the southeast by the Manchester Ship Canal. The main road through Irlam, linking it to
Cadishead
Cadishead is a village in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 10,739 in 2014. Within the historic county of Lancashire.
History
The earliest record of Cadishead date to 1212, and show that the whole of Cad ...
and
Eccles, is the
A57.
Irlam railway station also serves the district.
Irlam was anciently known as Irwellham, an outlying area of
Chat Moss
Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up part of the City of Salford, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It also makes up part of Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside and Warringto ...
, a large
peat bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
which straddled the
River Irwell. Work was carried out in the 19th century to reclaim large areas to enable the completion 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 ...
in 1829. In 1894, the Irwell was adjusted so that its waters were united with the Manchester Ship Canal, stimulating the growth of Irlam as an inland port. Irlam Urban District was established in the same year and was governed thereafter by its own district council until its abolition in 1974.
Irlam's geography is varied: the northern half is still moss land, with a large farming community; the southern half is predominantly residential.
History
Irlam is on the north bank of the
River Irwell, from which it almost certainly takes its name, being known in the 13th century as ''Irwellham''. Until the arrival of 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 a ...
railway and the opening of
Irlam railway station in 1873, Irlam remained a largely undeveloped village, on the southern edge of the peat bog known as
Chat Moss
Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up part of the City of Salford, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It also makes up part of Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside and Warringto ...
.
From at least the beginning of the 13th century, Irlam was held by the Irlam family, whose seat was Irlam Hall. By 1688 Irlam Hall had become the home of Thomas Latham, who played an important part in bringing
William of Orange to the throne of England in 1689.
Irlam Urban District was created in 1894, the same year that the Manchester Ship Canal opened. A pair of locks and a ship coaling berth were constructed here. The subsequent industrial development of Irlam owed much to the construction of the canal, which effectively rendered the River Irwell navigable to large ocean-going ships up to
Manchester Docks. The Latham family's importance to the local area was acknowledged when their features were incorporated into the arms of Irlam's former urban district council.
Council-owned housing passed to the
City West Housing Trust. It was while renovating some of these properties that there was a large gas explosion at 7:00 am on 2 November 2010. Four houses were destroyed, 15 people were injured and 80 families were subsequently evacuated. There were no fatalities.
Governance
The ward elect three councillors to
Salford City Council
Salford City Council is the local authority of the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council, one of ten in Greater Manchester and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the maj ...
via its
Irlam ward.
The current councillors are: Roger Jones (
Labour Co-op), Peter Taylor (
Labour), and Tracy Kelly (
Labour). It is represented in
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
by
Barbara Keeley MP for
Worsley and Eccles South.
Economy
Steel manufacture was a major source of employment in Irlam for a large part of the 20th century. The Partington Steel and Iron Company opened the first steelworks in Irlam in 1910. It subsequently became a part of the
Lancashire Steel Corporation, and later
British Steel Corporation
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
. Rationalisation and the concentration of steel manufacture into fewer, larger sites, meant that by 1979, all steel production in Irlam had ceased. The former steelworks are now the site of Northbank Industrial Estate.
Kingsland Wine & Spirits, the UK's largest independent wine bottler, operates from a site in Irlam, formerly a soapworks established in 1895. The company employs 300 people.
Sport
Irlam F.C. is a semi-professional football club that plays in the
North West Counties League
The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern ...
and has its ground at the Ambitek Stadium on Silver Street. There are two junior football teams in the area, one of them being Irlam JFC.
Irlam Cricket Club plays in the Greater Manchester Cricket League, and Irlam Leisure Centre is a facility with a swimming pool, sports hall, squash court and fitness gym.
Notable people
*
Neil McArthur
*
Matty Blythe
*
Bob Dale
*
Ian Goodwin
*
Michelle Keegan
Michelle Elizabeth Keegan (born 3 June 1987) is an English actress, known for her roles as Tina McIntyre in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and Sergeant Georgie Lane in the BBC drama series '' Our Girl''. Keegan also starred as Tra ...
*
Percy Le Clerc
*
Emma Lowndes
*
Adam Neal
*
Jason Talbot
*
Ernest Warburton
*
Russell Watson
*
Scott Hogan
*
Liam Hogan
Liam Anthony Hogan (born 8 February 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Oldham Athletic.
Career Woodley Sports
Hogan started his career at Greater Manchester club Woodley Sports (afterwards known as ...
*Matthew Hughes (Famous Software Engineer)
See also
*
Listed buildings in Irlam
*
Irlam and Cadishead Academy
Irlam and Cadishead Academy is a co-educational secondary school located in Irlam at the extreme western end of the City of Salford borough.
History
The school is an amalgamation of several earlier schools.
In 2011, Irlam and Cadishead Communi ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Historical photos and discussion of Irlam
{{authority control
Unparished areas in Greater Manchester
Geography of Salford