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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 in length.


History

Deansgate is one of the city's oldest thoroughfares. In Roman times, its route passed close to the Roman fort of Mamucium and led from the River Medlock where there was a ford and the road to
Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...
(Chester). Along its length were several civilian buildings and a ''
mansio In the Roman Empire, a ''mansio'' (from the Latin word ''mansus,'' the perfect passive participle of ''manere'' "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or ''via'', maintained by the central government for the use ...
'' in the vicinity of the Hilton Hotel. Part of it was called Aldport Lane from Saxon times. (Aldport was the Saxon name for Castlefield.) Until the 1730s, the area was rural but became built up after the development of a quay on the river. The road is named after the lost River Dene, which may have flowed along the Hanging Ditch connecting the River Irk to 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 be ...
, at the street's northern end. ("Gate" derives from the Norse ''gata'', meaning way). By the late 19th century, Deansgate was an area of varied uses: its northern end had shopping and substantial office buildings while further south were slums and a working class area around St John's Church (St John Street remaining upper middle class). The
Wood Street Mission Wood Street Mission is a registered children's charity located in the centre of Manchester. Its office is in Wood Street, off Deansgate, near the John Rylands Library. It was founded by Alfred Alsop, a Methodist minister in 1869, and its aim is ...
began to address the social problems in 1869 and its work continues in a very different form. From Peter Street southwards, the eastern side was dominated by the viaducts of the
Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...
and Manchester South Junction Railways, while 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 beca ...
crossed below Deansgate to connect with the other waterways beyond. In the late 20th century, Deansgate was home to the head office of the '' Manchester Evening News'' newspaper, now replaced by part of the Spinningfields development.


Geography

Deansgate begins at Victoria Street, a 19th-century creation. Its east side was occupied by the Victoria Buildings built on a triangular site by Manchester Corporation in 1876, but destroyed during a bomb raid in the Manchester Blitz in December 1940. A statue of Oliver Cromwell at the northern corner commemorated Manchester's support for Parliament in the English Civil War. The statue was a gift to the city by Mrs Abel Heywood in memory of her first husband, Thomas Goadsby and was the first large statue of Cromwell to be raised in the open anywhere in England. At the northern end of Deansgate is Victoria Street, on which lies
Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother ...
, and at the southern end is Deansgate railway station. At this point, Deansgate connects with Bridgewater Viaduct and Chester Road ( Whitworth Street West meets it at this point). The section to the south of Peter Street was known as Aldport Street until the end of the 18th century. The street contains many shops including a
House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...
department store (known as
Kendals Kendals is the previous name of a department store in Manchester, England. Since 2005, the store now operates as House of Fraser. The store had previously been known during its operation as Kendal Milne, Kendal, Milne & Co, Kendal, Milne & Faul ...
from the 1830s until 2005), and Waterstones along with many public houses and bars including the Moon Under Water, formerly the Deansgate Cinema (or ABC Deansgate). At , able to accommodate 1,700 customers, and employing 60 staff, it has been listed in '' The Guinness Book of Records'' as the largest public house in Britain. Elliot House was the Manchester Registry Office and before that the offices of the corporation's Education Department. The northern end of the street adjoined the Shambles and was badly damaged in the
1996 Manchester bombing The 1996 Manchester bombing was an attack carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on Saturday, 15 June 1996. The IRA detonated a lorry bomb on Corporation Street in the centre of Manchester, England. It was the biggest ...
. The area was redeveloped and houses several new buildings, including
No. 1 Deansgate No. 1 Deansgate is the name and location of a medium-rise apartment building in central Manchester, England. It is the tallest all-steel residential building in the United Kingdom, and one of the most expensive addresses in Manchester. The buildi ...
and the Manchester branch of Harvey Nichols. Other buildings in the Deansgate area include the
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...
, the Beetham Tower, and the redeveloped
Great Northern Warehouse The Great Northern Warehouse is the former railway goods warehouse of the Great Northern Railway in Manchester city centre, England, which was refurbished into a leisure complex in 1999. The building is at the junction of Deansgate and Peter St ...
. Historic buildings include the John Rylands Library and the
Barton Arcade Barton Arcade is a Victorian shopping arcade in Manchester, England, located between Deansgate and St Ann's Square. The arcade was listed as a Grade II* listed building on the 25 January 1972. The listing includes the "block of shops (Barton ...
shopping mall. The disused
Manchester and Salford Junction canal The Manchester and Salford Junction Canal was a canal in the city of Manchester. It was originally built to provide a direct waterway between the Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the Rochdale Canal. The canal opened in 1839 and was abandoned i ...
runs directly underneath Deansgate below the Great Northern Warehouse.


Transport

Today, the main transport links on Deansgate are the National Rail and Manchester Metrolink stations and a number of bus routes, including the Metroshuttle services. Deansgate Station was opened at Knott Mill on 20 July 1849 by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway. It is linked to
Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink station Deansgate-Castlefield is a tram stop on Greater Manchester's Metrolink light rail system, on Deansgate in the Castlefield area of Manchester city centre. It opened on 27 April 1992 as G-Mex tram stop, taking its name from the adjacent G-Mex Cen ...
on the Metrolink system. In the first half of the 20th century, Deansgate was a route for trams operated by Manchester Corporation Tramways, and subsequently carried numerous bus services. During the 1970s, many bus routes were diverted or separated into two services terminating in the city centre and adjoining streets such as King Street were pedestrianised. In 2009, there were calls for traffic to be banned on Deansgate and for it to be pedestrianised. The calls were triggered in response to road works that closed parts of Deansgate. Some argued that the disablement of a major traffic route in the city centre could have a damaging economic effect, while others argued that a vehicle-free Deansgate would attract more shoppers. Victoria Street, the short section at the North end of the road by
Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother ...
has been pedestrianised. In 2019, Extinction Rebellion occupied a section of the road from St Mary’s Gate to John Dalton Street for four days, with tents and organised talks on climate change, sustainable living and resistance. This reignited calls for it to be pedestrianised. in 2022 widened bike lanes were put in place, and a bus lane opened at the junction of Blackfriars Street and Deansgate for southbound buses, taxis and bicycles. From Bridge Street to Quay Street it will be permanently one-way only. The 'free bus' services 1, 2 and 3 operate around the city centre and all three routes have stops on Deansgate.


Events

Deansgate is a long straight street which has provided a venue for sporting events in the city centre. In 2006, A1 Racing cars visited the city to launch A1 Grand Prix, and used Deansgate as part of the route. In August 2011, thousands packed the street as Jenson Button drove a
McLaren MP4-23 The McLaren MP4-23 was a Formula One racing car that was constructed by the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team to compete in the 2008 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Paddy Lowe, Neil Oatley, Tim Goss, Andrew Bailey and ...
along Deansgate as part of the Vodafone Vip Live Manchester festival. In 2001, the inaugural
Great City Games The Great Manchester Run (styled as the ''Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run'' for sponsorship purposes from 2017) is an annual run through Greater Manchester (namely Manchester, Trafford and City of Salford, Salford). It has consisted of a 10k ru ...
took place on Deansgate, which featured a 150-metre
sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...
track. The event has become an annual fixture on the
Great Manchester Run The Great Manchester Run (styled as the ''Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run'' for sponsorship purposes from 2017) is an annual run through Greater Manchester (namely Manchester, Trafford and Salford). It has consisted of a 10k run since it was es ...
weekend during mid-May. Usain Bolt set a world record for the 150 m straight in 2009 and Tyson Gay ran the 200 m straight in record time in 2010.


References

Notes Bibliography * * *


Further reading

* * {{Manchester A&S Streets in Manchester Shopping streets in Manchester Tourist attractions in Manchester