New Islington is an

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

area 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

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and part of

Ancoats Ancoats is an area of Manchester, England, next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre. Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has been called "the world's first ind ...

, it has taken a separate identity to reflect its changed status as a regeneration area.

History

The name "New Islington" is recorded at least as early as 1817 and appeared on the 1840

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

map. There is also a street bearing the name. The name was still current in the 1960s and 70s, there being at the time, a New Islington swimming baths, New Islington Primitive Methodist church, and New Islington Conservative club. However, the name for the area fell out of usage. From its attempted regeneration in the 1970s to its current redevelopment it was known as the Cardroom Estate. By the turn of the millennium, the Cardroom Estate had a reputation as being "a crime-ridden place stuck between the

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

and Ashton canals". It was one of several millennium village projects around seeking to regenerate inner-city areas. The name New Islington was also the local residents' choice of name for the area when the prospect of regeneration was raised. New Islington is one of the seven

Millennium Communities Programme The Millennium Communities Programme (or Millennium Villages initiative), is an English Partnerships initiative to construct 7 new 'villages' that are intended to 'set the standard for 21st Century living, and to serve as a model for the creation ...

areas. Funding for the area was secured in 2002 and property developers

Urban Splash Urban Splash is a UK-based Real estate development, property development business. It was founded in 1993 by chairman Tom Bloxham and creative director Jonathan Falkingham. Headquartered in Castlefield, Manchester, it also has regional bases in ...

have been at the forefront of developments including the Chips building. In 2007, coinciding with the regeneration of the area, the Ancoats Primary Care Centre was opened on Old Mill Street. The New Islington Medical Practice operates in the centre. The

Grade II listed 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, H ...

Ancoats Dispensary is also situated on Old Mill Street. The building became the centre of a dispute between re-developers Urban Splash, who wanted to demolish it, and campaigners fighting to save it. The Dispensary was spared demolition in 2013. In July 2014, the Ancoats Dispensary Trust, which intend to redevelop the building, received a £770,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to help stabilise and repair the building. However, as of October 2018 works on the site have stalled and the future of the building's regeneration is now uncertain. As of 2023 the Dispensary is being redeveloped into luxury apartments thus retaining the facade of this historic grade 2 listed building.

Governance

New Islington falls within the city and borough of

, itself in the metropolitan county of

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. ...

. New Islington falls within the Ancoats and Beswick electoral ward. The ward has three councillors which represent their area 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 ...

. The New Islington area is represented by the Manchester Central parliamentary constituency. The current MP is

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 ...

(

Labour Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated to Labour Co-op; ) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidates contest elections under an el ...

) who represents the constituency within the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. Powell was elected following a by-election in 2012.

Transport

New Islington is bounded by

Great Ancoats Street Great Ancoats Street is a street in the inner suburb of Ancoats, Manchester, England. It forms one of the stretches of the city's inner ring road. A number of cotton mills built in the early and mid-Victorian period are nearby, some of which ...

to the west, 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 be ...

to the north-west, New Union Street and New Islington to the north-east, Weybridge Road on the east and Pollard Street to the south. The area is served by

New Islington tram stop New Islington is a tram stop on the East Manchester Line (EML) and Zone 1 of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. The station opened on 11 February 2013, after a three-day free trial for local residents. The station was constructed ...

on the Metrolink's

East Manchester Line The East Manchester Line (EML) is a tram line of the Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester, England, running from Manchester to Ashton-under-Lyne via Droylsden and Audenshaw. The line opened in 2013 as part of phase three of the system's exp ...

. The stop, adjacent to Pollard Street, opened in February 2013. In December 2013 the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee announced after their annual fares review that the station would now fall in the City Zone category.

Education

The Co-op Academy New Islington primary school is located on Hugh Oldham Way, New Islington Marina and is bordered by the Rochdale Canal. The school is operated by

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

and supported by Manchester City Council.

Image gallery

File:Chips1.jpg, Chips (2009) File:Islingtonwharf2.jpg, Islington Wharf Phase 1 (2010) File:A rainy July afternoon amongst the canal system and marina of New Islington, Manchester, UK 07.jpg, Modern developments overlooking the New Islington canal branch, 2023 File:A rainy July afternoon amongst the canal system and marina of New Islington, Manchester, UK 09.jpg,

Old Mill Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

(left), and Cotton Field Wharf (right) File:The environs of Cotton Field Park, New Islington, Manchester, UK 02.jpg, New Islington marina in May

References

External links

New Islington home page

New Islington location and map page

Oxygen Tower

Manchester City Council's Regeneration Team
{{Manchester Areas of Manchester