Moston is a suburb of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, in
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
, England, approximately north-east of the
city centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
.
Historically
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, Moston is a predominantly residential area, with a population of 14,518 at the
2011 census and an area of approximately .
History
The name Moston may derive from the
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
words ''moss'' and ''ton'', where ''moss'' usually referred to a place that was mossy, marshy or
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 muske ...
, and ''ton'' signified a town or
settlement. The area of
White Moss still retains these characteristics.
Historical records of Moston date back as far as 1301. The earliest historical archives are of a charter from the Lord of the Manor of Manchester, Thomas Grelle.
Although in 1320 Moston was called a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
of Manchester, in some deeds it is spoken of as lying within the township and parish of
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 48,604 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, Greater Manchester, ...
. That the lords of Ashton had in early times rights in Moston also is shown by a fine of 1195, from which it appears that on a division Robert son of Bernard had Moston.
By the 14th century, Moston consisted of untamed countryside and agricultural settlements. In the 16th century the area saw the introduction of the linen treatment industry, with the washing and bleaching of the fabric boosting the economy throughout the area. Moston went on to become an integral part of the northern sector of '
Cottonopolis
Cottonopolis was a 19th-century nickname for Manchester, as it was a metropolis and the centre of the cotton industry.
Background
Early cotton mills powered by water were built in Lancashire and its neighbouring counties. In 1781 Richard Ar ...
' during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Moston Mill Print Works, which was on the junction of Williams Road and St Mary's Road, closed in 1848. Spring Valley Dye Works was sited in the area to the west to what is currently known as Lancaster Club. Extracting sand and clay from the local pits was another important industry alongside the brick works in
Newton Heath
Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883.
Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial ...
. The area around Belgrave Road is known to local residents as the "White Stuff" or the "White Hills", in reference to the brickworks' waste that formed steep and unstable hills alongside the brook. These hills were reprofiled during landscaping works carried out in the early 1980s.
Increased population levels in the area resulted in the need for an increased number of residential developments.
Governance
Moston was formerly a
township
A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
in the parish of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, in 1866 Moston became a separate
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
, on 26 March 1896 the parish was abolished to form
North Manchester
North Manchester was, from 1896 to 1916 a civil parish within the Poor Law Union of Manchester, in Lancashire, (now Greater Manchester) England. North Manchester was a local government sub-district used for the administration of Poor Law legisl ...
. In 1891 the parish had a population of 5179.
The town is incorporated into the
parliamentary constituency
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
of
Manchester Central. This seat is currently held by
Lucy Powell
Lucy Maria Powell (born 10 October 1974) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since July 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she has been the Member of Pa ...
MP of the
Labour Party and is considered a politically safe seat, having been continuously held by the party since it was created in 1974.
Following boundary changes in 2018 part of the Moston electoral ward is within the
Blackley and Broughton parliamentary constituency, represented by
Graham Stringer
Graham Eric Stringer (born 17 February 1950) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Blackley and Middleton South since the 2024 United Kingdom general e ...
MP of the Labour Party.
Councillors
Moston is represented on
Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...
by three Labour councillors; Yasmine Dar (Lab), Paula Appleby (Lab), and Julie Connolly (Lab).
indicates seat up for re-election.
indicates councillor resigned party whip or suspended.
indicates seat won in by-election.
Geography
Moston is located above the midpoint of the
Greater Manchester Urban Area, north-east of
Manchester city centre
Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England, within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way, which collectively form an inner ring road. The City Centre ward had a ...
. Moston is bordered by
Harpurhey
Harpurhey ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Manchester, England, 2.3 miles northeast of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census was 17,652.
Areas of Harpurh ...
, to the east by
Failsworth
Failsworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester and south-west of Oldham. The M60 motorway, M60 ring-road motorway skirts it to the east. The population at the United Kingdom C ...
and by
Newton Heath
Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883.
Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial ...
and Monsall to the south.
The town is built on a mixture of
Bunter sandstone
The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...
and
Manchester marl (clay) that is
Permo-Triassic in origin. The area is underlain with middle coal measures (mainly ''Carboniferous Westphalian B'').
During the search for mineral deposits, geologists discovered a geological
fault (known as the Moston Fault) running between Clayton Bridge and
Alkrington
Alkrington Garden Village is a suburban area of Middleton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England.
Alkrington lies on the northern edge of the city of Manchester with the suburb of Blackley directly to the south. ...
.
Moston Brook flows through the district, forming the border with Failsworth and Newton Heath.
Landmarks
Broadhurst Park
Broadhurst Park is a football ground in Moston, Manchester, England. It is the home of F.C. United of Manchester and Moston Juniors F.C. The ground was known by its project name, Moston Community Stadium, before being changed at a members' meet ...
was opened in 1920 and provides a range of activity opportunities and community events, including football. The park provides green space within the
Irk Valley corridor. Broadhurst Park and Field stage summer funfairs and summer sports activities for children. The majority of the site is open grassland, and includes a landscaped area. The north of the park is home to recreation and community events, while the south contains woodland.
Recent drainage improvements to the football fields have greatly increased the biodiversity significance of the neighbouring Broadhurst Clough area, where the open water is home to a wide range of wildlife.
Nuthurst Park is a community park on Nuthurst Road, containing a children's playground, 5-a-side pitch, tennis court and basketball courts.
Hough Hall, on Hough Hall Road, is the oldest building in the Moston area. The Hall was listed as a
Grade II
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
listed building on 3 October 1974 and was erected in approximately the 16th–17th centuries.
Transport
Moston railway station is located off Hollinwood Avenue, in
New Moston, and is unstaffed. Since the closure of the
Oldham Loop Line
The Oldham Loop Line was a suburban-line in Greater Manchester, England, used by trains that ran from Manchester Victoria to Rochdale via Oldham Mumps. Services on the line at the time of its closure were operated by Northern Rail.
The line c ...
in 2009, all trains calling at the station are on the
Caldervale Caldervale may refer to:
* Caldervale, Queensland, a locality in the Blackall-Tambo Region, Queensland, Australia
* Calder Valley line, a railway line in Northern England, previously known as the Caldervale line
* Caldervale, also known as 'Fin Me ...
route managed by
Northern. The area is also served by
Newton Heath and Moston Metrolink station, part of the
Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...
light rail
Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
service.
Moston is served by several bus services, primarily along Moston Lane directly to and from
Manchester city centre
Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England, within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way, which collectively form an inner ring road. The City Centre ward had a ...
. Bus routes that go to Manchester city centre include 51, 81, 88, 112, 118, 77, 24, 182, 114, 81A 149 and 188. Bus routes from Moston also go to
Middleton,
Pendleton,
Failsworth
Failsworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester and south-west of Oldham. The M60 motorway, M60 ring-road motorway skirts it to the east. The population at the United Kingdom C ...
,
Oldham
Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...
,
Cheetham Hill
Cheetham is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, which in 2011 had a population of 22,562. It lies on the west bank of the River Irk, north of Manchester city centre,
close to the boundary with Salford, bounded by Cru ...
and
Chadderton
Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. The ...
. The bus routes are managed by
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the
Bluebird Bus and Coach company.
The road links in the area allow for easy transit to all of the surrounding districts and cities; the main thoroughfares are Broadway, which is technically part of
New Moston, Lightbowne Road and Victoria Avenue. The
M60 is an orbital motorway surrounding the majority of Greater Manchester; access can be gained onto it via junction 21 on Broadway.
Education
The Manchester College
The Manchester College is the largest further education college in the United Kingdom and the largest single provider of 16–19, adult and higher education in Greater Manchester, with more than 25% of Greater Manchester’s learning provision ...
(previously known as
MANCAT (Manchester College of Arts and Technology) has a campus in Moston, which used to be known as Moston Technical College, and at One Central Park. These campuses offer further education facility for school leavers and adults. The One Central Park Campus offers courses run by Manchester NTI (New Technology Institute) in partnership with Manchester College, specialising in
IT and Management and Enterprise skills.
Religious sites
The oldest church still in use is Streetfold Methodist Church, which was founded in 1825. In 1907 the United Methodist Free Church merged with the Methodist New Connexion and the
Bible Christians to form the
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
. In 1932, there was a further union in Britain (the 1932
Methodist Union), in which
Primitive Methodists,
Wesleyan Methodists and
United Methodists came together as
the Methodist Church.
Roman Catholic churches in Moston fall under the control of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford whilst the
Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
churches, the
Anglican Diocese of Manchester
The Diocese of Manchester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York, England. Based in the city of Manchester, the diocese covers much of the county of Greater Manchester and small areas of the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.
H ...
. Statistics state that Moston is not as religiously diverse as some other areas of Manchester.

St Joseph's Cemetery (commonly known as Moston Cemetery) which opened in 1875, stretches out over a wide sloping site and is one of Manchester's principal Roman Catholic cemeteries. It contains the war graves of 214 Commonwealth service personnel from
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and 144 from
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
; those whose graves have no headstones are listed on a Screen Wall memorial which also list 11 Belgian soldiers who were later exhumed and reburied in Belgium.
The Alexian Brothers Care Centre is a dual registered care home providing long-term care for older people requiring residential support and nursing care. The current building was completed in 1992 to replace the original hospital of the Alexian Brothers. The home is set within mature gardens in a secure, gated development.
The
Alexian Brothers is a
religious institute
In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...
, originating in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
in the 14th century and has been closely involved with care of the elderly in the local community since first settling in Manchester in 1875. This work has continued on the same site in Moston since 1884. The Hospital Management Trust assumed responsibility for the operational management of the Care Centre in January 2006 in response to the Brothers need to step back from front line management.
Sport
Broadhurst Park
Broadhurst Park is a football ground in Moston, Manchester, England. It is the home of F.C. United of Manchester and Moston Juniors F.C. The ground was known by its project name, Moston Community Stadium, before being changed at a members' meet ...
football stadium, built in 2015, is the home of
F.C. United of Manchester
Football Club United of Manchester, more commonly known as FC United, is a semi-professional association football, football club based in Moston, Manchester, Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English ...
; it is the area's
non-League football
Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
club, which plays in the
Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...
Premier Division.
Broadway Leisure Centre has a 25m swimming pool, a fitness suite, workout studio, sun beds and sauna and steam rooms.
North Manchester Rugby Union Club are based at Tudor Lodge, Victoria Avenue East; the first team participate in the North Lancashire Division 1 league.
Moston Brook AFC is an amateur football club, which was formed in 1969 as an 'Old Boys' team to be made up of former pupils from Moston Brook High School, although the school was closed August 2000.
Moston Valley FC was established in 2002 and became an
FA Charter Standard Club in 2005. The teams range from under 8s up to under 16s; all play in a variety of leagues around Manchester.
Broadhurst Bowling Club is located in Broadhurst Park and stages a summer charity competition annually of four or five bowling handicaps; this is in aid of Francis House Children's Cancer Charity and the Catholic Rescue Society.
The
Fitness First chain have a gym located on Victoria Avenue East with a cardio theatre,
spinning room and other exercise facilities.
Public services
Policing in Moston is provided by
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
. A part-time station is located in
Harpurhey
Harpurhey ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Manchester, England, 2.3 miles northeast of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census was 17,652.
Areas of Harpurh ...
on Moston Lane, under the command of North Manchester (A) Division.
New Moston Library is located on Nuthurst Road in New Moston, and aside from stocking books there are a vast number of other services and activities organised there. A
tai chi
is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...
club, the Moston
Midwifery
Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...
Group children's groups, Parent and Carer Information point, Health Information point and tai chi club use the site as a base.
Waste management is co-ordinated by the local authority via the North Manchester Household Waste and Recycling Centre.
Notable people
Local Moston celebrities include
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
Michael Wood, social reformer and political reformer
Samuel Bamford, actress
Marsha Thomason
Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is an English actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's ''The Haunted Mansion'', Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series ''Las Vegas'', Naomi Dorrit on the ABC ...
who has found fame in such US shows as
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
and
Lost, the noted educationist Francis Smyth and
Pete Mitchell from
XFM
Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...
,
Kavana who is a singer and actor,
rapper
Aitch,
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
and former
England Under 21 footballer,
Ishmael Miller, is another notable Moston citizen. The former
Manchester City
Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
attacking midfielder was known on the terraces as ''The Moston Menace'' due to his formidable physique. Another footballer,
Charles Broadhurst, was also born in Moston.
Major Henry Kelly VC, MC & Bar was a Moston born officer in
the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment who saw action in the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Kelly received his
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
for his action on the 4 October 1916 at
Le Sars,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. He was awarded his
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...
& Bar for subsequent acts of heroism in the war. After the war, Kelly moved to Ireland and went on to become the chief of staff for overseas operations in the
Free State Army
The National Army, sometimes unofficially referred to as the Free State Army or the Regulars, was the army of the Irish Free State from January 1922 until October 1924. Its role in this period was defined by its service in the Irish Civil War, ...
.
William Chaderton was born in the district around 1540 and was an English academic and Anglican bishop. He was the
Bishop of Chester
The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York.
The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...
from 1579 to 1595 and then
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.
The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of Nort ...
from 1595 to 1608 from where he went on to become ''Warden of Manchester College''.
Liam McNally, opera singer known for his appearance on ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2010.
Fr Brian Seale of St John Vianney's Church wrote a history of the suburb entitled ''The Moston Story''.
Alternative/indie rock band
Northside is from Moston.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Manchester-M40
1808 – The Grand Orange Order of England was formed in Manchester with Colonel Samual Taylor of Moston as first Grand Master.
*
Murder of Suzanne Capper
*
Broadhurst Park (public park)
References
{{Authority control
Areas of Manchester
Manchester City Council Wards
Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester