Castlefield is an
inner cityThe inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
area of
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, in
North West EnglandNorth West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the
River IrwellThe River Irwell is a long river which flows through the Irwell Valley in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. The river's source is at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup, in the parish of Cliviger, Lancashire...
,
Quay StreetThe A34 is a major road in England. It runs from the A6042 in Salford to Winchester in Hampshire. It forms a large part of the major trunk route from Southampton, via Oxford, to Birmingham, The Potteries and Manchester...
,
DeansgateDeansgate is a main road through the city centre of Manchester, 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 long....
and the
Chester RoadThe A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as the dense urban sprawl of inner city Manchester and the...
. It was the site of the
Roman eraThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
fortThe Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
of Mamucium or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester. It was the terminus of the
Bridgewater CanalThe Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...
, the world's first industrial canal built in 1764, with the oldest canal warehouse opening in 1779. The world's first passenger railway terminated here in 1830, at
Liverpool Road railway stationManchester Liverpool Road is a former railway station on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in Manchester, England which opened on 15 September 1830. The L&MR station was the terminus of the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all services were hauled by timetabled steam locomotives...
and the first railway warehouse opened here in 1831.
The
Rochdale CanalThe Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
met the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield in 1805 and in the 1830s they were linked with the Mersey and Irwell Navigation by two short cuts. In 1848 the two viaducts of the
Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham RailwayThe Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway was a suburban railway which operated a 13.7 km route between Altrincham in Cheshire and London Road Station in Manchester....
crossed the area and joined each other, two further viaducts and one mainline station
Manchester Central railway stationManchester Central railway station is a former railway station in Manchester City Centre, England. One of Manchester's main railway terminals between 1880 and 1969, it now houses an exhibition and conference centre named Manchester Central.-History:...
followed.
Castlefield was designated as a
conservation areaA conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
in 1980 and the United Kingdom's first designated
Urban Heritage ParkAn Urban Heritage Park , as used to describe Castlefield, in Manchester has no official status. Manchester declared Castlefield to be the world's first Urban Heritage Park in 1982, following a lead given by Lowell, Massachusetts in 1975...
in 1982.
Toponymy
The name Castlefield is a short form of 'field of the castle [i.e. fort]'. As well as lending its name to the Castlefield area of Manchester, Manchester derived its name from Mamucium which meant "breast-shaped hill" in
CelticThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
. The designation 'The Castle-in-the-field' was in use in the
Middle AgeMiddle age is the period of age beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age. Various attempts have been made to define this age, which is around the third quarter of the average life span of human beings....
s, but eventually came to be abbreviated to Castlefield, as it is in use now.
An alternative to Castlefield has also been in use, i.e. Campfield, with the meaning "field of the [Roman] fort". It is found in the name of St Matthew's Church, Campfield, and Campfield Market. A further name for the area is Aldport which is Anglo-Saxon and means "the old port" ("port" once had the meaning of "trading place", not necessarily on a waterway, and "the new port" was the main site of medieval Manchester near the confluence of the rivers Irk and Irwell).
History
Roman period
A
Roman fortThe Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
called Mamucium, or Mancunium, was established in what is now Castlefield c. AD 79 near a crossing point on the
River MedlockThe River Medlock is a river of Greater Manchester in North West England. It rises near Oldham and flows, south and west, for ten miles to join the River Irwell in the extreme southwest of Manchester city centre.-Source:...
. The fort was sited on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and
IrwellThe River Irwell is a long river which flows through the Irwell Valley in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. The river's source is at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup, in the parish of Cliviger, Lancashire...
in a naturally defensible position. It was erected as a series of fortifications established by
Gnaeus Julius AgricolaGnaeus Julius Agricola was a Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. His biography, the De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae, was the first published work of his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, and is the source for most of what is known about him.Born to a noted...
during his campaign against the
BrigantesThe Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...
who were the Celtic tribe in control of most of northern England. It guards the
Deva VictrixDeva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia. The settlement evolved into Chester, the county town of Cheshire, England...
(
ChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
) to
EboracumEboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. The settlement evolved into York, located in North Yorkshire, England.-Etymology:The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated circa 95-104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the settlement's name, "Eburaci", on a wooden...
(
YorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
)
Roman roadThe Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
running east to west, and a road heading north to
BremetennacumBremetennacum was a Roman fort which is now the village of Ribchester in Lancashire . The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The first Roman activity on the site was the establishment of a timber fort believed to have been constructed during the campaigns of Petillius Cerialis around AD 72/3...
(
RibchesterRibchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston.The village has a long history with evidence of Bronze Age beginnings...
). The neighbouring forts were
CastleshawCastleshaw Roman fort was a fort in the Roman province of Britannia. Although there is no evidence to substantiate the claim, it has been suggested that Castleshaw Roman fort is the site of Rigodunum, a Brigantian settlement. The remains of the fort are located on Castle Hill on the eastern side of...
and
NorthwichNorthwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
. Built first from turf and timber, the fort was demolished around 140. When it was rebuilt around 160, it was again of turf and timber construction. In about 200 the fort underwent another rebuild, this time enhancing the defences by replacing the gatehouse with a stone version and facing the walls with stone. The fort would have been garrisoned by a
cohortA cohort was the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion following the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC.-Legionary cohort:...
, about 500 infantry, of
auxiliaryAuxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen legions...
troops.
Evidence of both pagan and Christian worship has been discovered. Two altars have been found and there may be a temple of Mithras associated with Mamucium. A word square was discovered in the 1970s that may be one of the earliest examples of Christianity in Britain. A civilian settlement, or
vicusIn ancient Rome, the vicus was a neighborhood. During the Republican era, the four regiones of the city of Rome were subdivided into vici. In the 1st century BC, Augustus reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 vici. Each vicus had its own board of...
, grew in association with the fort, made up of traders and families of the soldiers. An area which has a concentration of furnaces and industrial activity has been described as an industrial estate. The
vicus was probably abandoned by the mid 3rd century, although a small garrison may have remained at Mamucium into the late 3rd and early 4th centuries.
A reconstructed part of the fort stands on the site and is open to the public.
Medieval and early modern periods
The village of Manchester later became established a kilometre to the north and the area around the
vicus became known as "Aldport" or "The Old Town". A house and park here became the home of the Mosley family in 1601 but, in 1642, after being used by
Lord StrangeJames Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby KG was a supporter of the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.Born at Knowsley, he is sometimes styled the Great Earl of Derby, eldest son of William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby and Lady Elizabeth de Vere. During his father's life he was known as Lord Strange...
as a royalist headquarters during the Siege of Manchester, it was burned down by
parliamentarians"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
.
The River Irwell was made navigable in 1720s, leading to the construction of a quay in the area for loading and unloading of goods (vessels of up to 50 tons could dock here and ply between Manchester and Liverpool).
Industrialisation
It has been said that, the arrival of the
Bridgewater CanalThe Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...
in Castlefield in July 1761, marked the start of the
Industrial revolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
. It was significant that price of coal was halved, making steam power commercially viable. The
Rochdale CanalThe Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
, and a network of private branch canals joined the Bridgewater at Lock 92 in Castlefield. The Bridgewater Canal company hesitated in connecting their canal the adjacent Mersey and Irwell Navigation until the Rochdale Canal Company had almost constructed its
Manchester and Salford Junction CanalThe 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...
, and the railways had arrived in the 1830s. As the century progressed the canals gave way to the railways and the area became dissected by a network of railway lines carried on a series of multi-arch viaducts. Though Castlefield did have
cotton millA cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
s, it was the
engineering workA factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
s and warehousing that was more noticeable. The first
canal warehouseA canal warehouse is a commercial building principally associated with the expansions of canals from 1761 to 1896. This type of warehouse derived from coastal predecessors, had unique features: it had internal water filled canal arms that entered the building, it was multistorey with canal access...
, built in 1771 on Coal Wharf, was used to raise coal from the barges to street level, and store other goods. In the nineteenth century the warehouses assumed other functions such as trans-shipment which involved receiving trains or barges, and reassembling their loads to be shipped to other destinations. Other warehouses received raw materials such as yarn, which was collected by
out-workerThe putting-out system was a means of subcontracting work. It was also known as the workshop system. In putting-out, work was contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who completed the work in their own facilities, usually their own homes....
s who then returned woven cloth. The later warehouses acted as
showroomThe word showroom has two distinct meanings including:-Marketing location:A showroom is a large space used to display products for sale, such as automobiles, furniture, appliances, carpet or apparel. The World's most famous locations for a showroom are the Champs Elysees in Paris or the 5th Avenue...
s on the ground floors, with
officeAn office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
s and storage above and behind.
Twentieth century
During the 20th century both canal and railway transport declined and the area became somewhat derelict. The railway complex in Liverpool Road was sold to a conservation group for a nominal £1 and became the Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. In 1982 the area was designated as an Urban Heritage Park and a part of the fort was reconstructed on the excavated foundations.
Present day
As part of the renewal of the site, an extensive outdoor area was developed as an events
arenaAn arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
which is used for a wide variety of events, including the annual
DpercussionDpercussion was a music festival held yearly between 1997 and 2007 in Manchester. It was originally called Repercussion when it was set up as a response to the 1996 IRA bomb. For the first 8 years the festival was free, and a voluntary donation system was set up in the 9th year...
music festival.
Granada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
television studios are located in the area along with the now closed
Granada Studios TourGranada Studios Tour was an entertainment theme park at the Granada Studios complex in Castlefield, Manchester which England operated from 1988 to 1999...
. In 2008 it was reported that
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
were considering re-opening the tour as the company is searching for new forms of revenue to restore growth.
Castlefield has several bars and restaurants which are particularly popular during the summer months when people flock to the area to enjoy the large outdoor drinking areas and regular live music events. The popular Barça Bar closed in late December 2008, leaving Dukes 92, Choice Bar & Restaurant and Lava Bar as the only bars within the Castlefield basin. Castle Quay is the home of radio stations
Key 103Key 103 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the city of Manchester and the north west of England. Its output is principally contemporary pop and dance music. Formerly owned by Trans World Communications, EMAP and now by Bauer Radio, Key 103 is part of Bauer's Place Network of...
and
Piccadilly Magic 1152NB Piccadilly Radio re-directs here. See also Key 103Piccadilly Magic 1152 , began broadcasting as Piccadilly Radio, which was Manchester's first commercial radio station.-Early years:...
.
Planning permission to turn the empty Jacksons Wharf building into an apartment block has been rejected for a second time.
Geography
Castlefield is in the
City CentreManchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...
ward of Manchester, along with
PiccadillyPiccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, situated at one end of Market Street and on the edge of the Northern Quarter...
,
The VillageCanal Street, the centre of the Manchester Gay Village, is a street in Manchester city centre in North West England. The pedestrianised street, which runs along the west side of the Rochdale Canal, is lined with gay bars and restaurants...
, half of the Northern Quarter and
Whitworth StreetWhitworth Street is a street in Manchester, England. It runs between London Road and Oxford Street . West of Oxford Street it becomes Whitworth Street West which then goes as far as Deansgate . It was opened in 1899 and is lined with many large and grand warehouses. It is named after the engineer...
. To the west is the River Irwell and the City of Salford, to the south lie the Bridgewater Canal, the River Medlock, and the Rochdale Canal. The city centre, as defined by
Manchester City CouncilManchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party and is led by...
, lies within the
Manchester Inner Ring RoadManchester and Salford Inner Relief Route is a Ring Road in Greater Manchester, England. It is the product of the amalgamation of several major roads around the city centres of Manchester and Salford to form a ring...
, straddling the
River IrwellThe River Irwell is a long river which flows through the Irwell Valley in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. The river's source is at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup, in the parish of Cliviger, Lancashire...
, and thereby encompassing a small part of neighbouring Salford. The
electoral wardA ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
of Manchester Central has an area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²) and a population of 11,689.
The land between the two rivers consists primarily of a plateau of
Collyhurst sandstoneCollyhurst is a locality in Manchester. It is 1½ miles northeast of Manchester city centre, on Rochdale Road and Oldham Road. The River Irk passes through the area...
, which is deep red in colour. This can be seen in the exposed river cliffs around the Castlefield basin, and provides a solid foundation for multistorey buildings and also an easily workable rock for cutting culverts and tunnels.
Area description
The River Medlock makes an end-on connection with the Bridgewater Canal at Knott Mill Bridge. Originally surplus water was diverted, via a tippler weir, into an overflow tunnel passing under the basin and emerging just to the north of the overspill from the Giant's Basin. The tippler weir has been replaced with a conventional weir within the basin. The 1848 OS large scale map shows the original course as following the line of the canal as far as the coal wharf (site of the Giant's Basin). The
River IrwellThe River Irwell is a long river which flows through the Irwell Valley in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. The river's source is at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup, in the parish of Cliviger, Lancashire...
forms two gigantic meanders around Manchester and Salford; these too have had to be heavily controlled, for the Irwell was straightened and deepened from 1724, forming the Mersey and Irwell Navigation with quays built along Water Street in 1740. Most of the navigation was abandoned in the 1890s, with the construction of the
Manchester Ship CanalThe Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...
but a deep water channel was maintained up to the Woden Street footbridge. Two canals define Castlefield: the
BridgewaterThe Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...
built in 1761 and the
RochdaleThe Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
opened in 1804. There are however two more short canals within Castlefield that form links with the Irwell, these are the
Manchester and Salford Junction CanalThe 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...
and the
Hulme Locks Branch CanalThe Hulme Locks Branch Canal was a canal in the city of Manchester. It was 200m in length and was built to provide a direct waterway between the Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the Bridgewater Canal...
, both being disused but both are still visible. The
Bridgewater HallThe Bridgewater Hall is an international concert venue in Manchester city centre, England. It cost around £42 million to build and currently hosts over 250 performances a year....
basin on the former has been restored. Over the Irwell from Water Street is the entrance to the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal.
Landmarks
Canals
Before 1750, roads were an impractical way of transporting heavy goods and water transport on the rivers was the accepted method. The number of suitable rivers was limited. Power to drive machinery was also derived from water but this needed fast-flowing streams where a head could be built up to turn the waterwheels. Finding the two types of water at the same locality was rare. Castlefield could use the
River MedlockThe River Medlock is a river of Greater Manchester in North West England. It rises near Oldham and flows, south and west, for ten miles to join the River Irwell in the extreme southwest of Manchester city centre.-Source:...
, as it fell to join the
River IrwellThe River Irwell is a long river which flows through the Irwell Valley in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. The river's source is at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup, in the parish of Cliviger, Lancashire...
to turn the wheels, but the Irwell needed to be improved to make it a safe river to navigate.
Eight locks were constructed between 1724 and 1734, along the Rivers Irwell and Mersey; this was known as the Mersey and Irwell Navigation. Short cuts were dug to eliminate the difficult bends. Wharfs were built at Manchester Wharf, Water Street in 1740, and if the wind was not in the east small boats could travel from there to the sea. The navigation was subject to continuous improvement and was eventually superseded by the
Manchester Ship CanalThe Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...
.
The
Bridgewater CanalThe Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...
was commissioned by
Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of BridgewaterFrancis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater , known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman, the younger son of the 1st Duke...
, to transport
coalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
from his mines in
WorsleyWorsley is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies along the course of Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. The M60 motorway bisects the area....
to Manchester. It was built by
James BrindleyJames Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
and is the world's first true industrial canal, and Britain's first arterial canal. It opened to Castlefield in 1761 and fully by 1765. Castlefield was the Manchester basin, and it was watered by the River Medlock. The actual river was culverted under the basin and emerged by Potato Wharf, then flowed into the Irwell at Hulme Locks. The basin also was watered by ground water runoff, and in times of heavy rain, a weir was needed to maintain the water level. Brindley built a clover leaf-shaped weir which was replaced by the Giant's Basin. Today this appears as a 7-metre-deep, 7-metre-wide circular sump, crossed by an iron footbridge. The basin allowed other goods to be transported into the city such as cotton (from 1784) and building materials, and food.
In 1802 the
Rochdale CanalThe Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
joined here at Duke's Lock, lock 92; this was the first canal to cross the Pennines; it brought with it clean water from its feeder reservoir at
Hollingworth LakeHollingworth Lake is a reservoir in the Hollingworth area of Littleborough — part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. Also known as the Weaver's Seaport, Hollingworth Lake was originally built as the main water source for the Rochdale Canal, but forms part of...
. It connected with the
Ashton CanalThe Ashton Canal is a canal built in Greater Manchester in North West England.-Route:The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18 locks, passing through Ancoats, Holt Town, Bradford-with-Beswick, Clayton, Openshaw, Droylsden,...
and the
Peak Forest CanalThe Peak Forest Canal, is a narrow locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network.-General description:...
bringing building limestone from Bugsworth in Derbyshire. At that time, major warehouses and mills would cut private canal arms to their buildings, the Rochdale had many.
In 1837, the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal was connected to the Irwell, and there was commercial pressure to connect the Bridgewater/Rochdale to them. The
Manchester and Salford Junction CanalThe 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...
, 1837, was cut from the Rochdale under the city to provide the link with the Irwell at Quay street. To preempt this, the Bridgewater Canal Company built the
Hulme Locks Branch CanalThe Hulme Locks Branch Canal was a canal in the city of Manchester. It was 200m in length and was built to provide a direct waterway between the Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the Bridgewater Canal...
, completing it in 1831. This canal remained open until 1991, when it was replaced by a lock at Pomona No. 3 basin.
These canals did not have the capacity to take boats larger than 1.4 m wide, so trans-shipment to oceangoing vessels was needed at a point outside the city. The
Manchester Ship CanalThe Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...
, the 36 miles (57.9 km) long river navigation was designed to give the city of Manchester direct access to the sea, and was built between 1887 and 1894 at a cost of about £15 million (£1.27 billion as of 2010), and in its day was the largest navigation canal in the world. Though the main docks were at
Salford QuaysSalford Quays is an area of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in...
and
Pomona DocksManchester Docks were a series of nine docks in Salford, Stretford and Manchester at the east end of the Manchester Ship Canal in North West England...
the ship canal started at the Woden Street footbridge at Hulme Locks.
Warehouses of Castlefield
The
Dukes Warehouse was built at the end Bridgewater Canal over the River Medlock. It has long since gone. It was first built in 1771, destroyed by fire in 1789 and rebuilt and extended including a fulling mill on the southern bank and cottages on the northern bank. It was destroyed again by fire in 1919. Built at the same time was the
Grocers warehouse 19.4 x 9.7m . This was a five storey warehouse with one then two shipping holes. It was cut back into the Collyhurst sandstone river cliff face to the north of the Medlock. It was designed by
James BrindleyJames Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
and incorporated a waterwheel driven hoist system. The canal arm was continued into a tunnel in the cliff. It was modified and extended in the first decade of the 19th century when the Rochdale canal was cut behind it. The tunnel was severed and became an arm of the Rochdale Canal. Part of the facade has been restored and the canal arms are bridged by two
Dutch style lifting bridgesA bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic....
.
The Merchants' Warehouse (46.2 m x 15.4m) was built on the north bank at the entrance to the Giant's Basin around 1827. This was a four-storey warehouse with two shipping holes. On the street side it had six side loading bays topped by wooden catsheads (hoods). It has been badly damaged by fire but has since been rebuilt by
Jim RamsbottomJim Ramsbottom is an entrepreneur and bookmaker from Salford, England, known for his involvement in the regeneration of Castlefield, Manchester.-References:...
and converted into offices. The other surviving warehouse is the
Middle Warehouse built in 1831 by the Manchester Ship Canal company on the south bank, off the Middle Basin canal arm. It was in use to store maize until the 1970s. It has been converted into a restaurant, offices and flats. It is five storeys plus an attic. The two shipping holes are enclosed in an elliptical blind arch.
The
Kenworthy Warehouse, was 19m x 47m was built in 1840 and looked like others. It was six storeys high, had twin shipping hole and was built on an arm running east of the Giant's Basin. It was designed for heavy goods: the ground floor was used for oil, the first for shipping goods, then the other floors for cotton, flour and grain. In 1897, the Great Northern Viaduct was built over it and the piers modified the canal arms.
The
Staffordshire Warehouse sat abridge the Staffordshire arms of the basin and was used to warehouse cotton.
The
New Warehouse was built on Slate Wharf before 1848 and was the largest. It was six storeys high, with 20 14 ft bays thus 280 ft (85.3 m) in length. There were
The
Victoria and Albert Warehouses are not at the basin, but at the junction of the River Irwell and the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal. This L-shaped building was built flush with the canal for direct loading, on the street side there were three loading entrances.
Also significant is the
1830 railway warehouse of the
Liverpool and Manchester RailwayThe Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...
. This was built with
There was no available water to drive the hoists, so for the first year they were manual, but in 1832 they were powered by a small steam engine.
Possibly the last of Castlefield's great warehouses was the Great Northern Warehouse of 1896 to 1898. This was a trans-shipment warehouse that had rail access on two of its floors, road access and canal arms from the
Manchester and Salford Junction canalThe 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...
in the basement. This was one of Britain's first large steel-framed building (81 m x 66m). There were hydraulic lifts capable of raising fully laden railway waggons between the floors. To service the building the Great Northern Viaduct was built parallel to the Cornbrook Viaduct over the basin, and over the Kenworthy Warehouse. The country's longest Victorian commercial terrace was built to mask it from Deansgate.
Textile warehouses in the Italianate palazzo style were built in other parts of Manchester City centre, notably
King StreetKing Street is one of the most important thoroughfares of the city of Manchester, England. Once the centre of the north-west banking industry it is now predominantly an affluent shopping area.-History:...
in the 1840s spreading to Portland Street, Charlotte Street and by the start of the twentieth century,
Whitworth StreetWhitworth Street is a street in Manchester, England. It runs between London Road and Oxford Street . West of Oxford Street it becomes Whitworth Street West which then goes as far as Deansgate . It was opened in 1899 and is lined with many large and grand warehouses. It is named after the engineer...
. In all covering over a square mile of the city centre, Manchester was called 'Warehouse City' and arguably was the finest example of Victorian commercialism.
Bridges of Castlefield
The canal basin at Castlefield is crossed by four large railway viaducts dating from 1848, 1877 and 1898.
The southern viaduct in the group of three is the
1849 red brick viaduct of the
Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham RailwayThe Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway was a suburban railway which operated a 13.7 km route between Altrincham in Cheshire and London Road Station in Manchester....
with its
cast ironCast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
arch bridge over the
Rochdale CanalThe Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
. It carried the double tracks between Manchester Piccadilly via Oxford Road railway station and
Knott Mill railway stationDeansgate is a railway station in Manchester city centre, England. It is situated approximately west of Manchester Piccadilly in the Castlefield area, at the junction of Deansgate and Whitworth Street West....
, then turns south west, crosses the canal basin and heads for
AltrinchamAltrincham is a market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on flat ground south of the River Mersey about southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Sale and east of Warrington...
.
Designated as No.100A, It forms part of the long brick viaduct taking the Altrincham branch of the
Manchester South Junction & Altrincham RailwayThe Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway was a suburban railway which operated a 13.7 km route between Altrincham in Cheshire and London Road Station in Manchester....
through
Knott Mill StationDeansgate is a railway station in Manchester city centre, England. It is situated approximately west of Manchester Piccadilly in the Castlefield area, at the junction of Deansgate and Whitworth Street West....
. The bridge designed by
William BakerWilliam Baker was a railway engineer.Between 1834 and 1839 Baker was articled to George W. Buck and then worked on the London and Birmingham Railway between London and Tring. From 1837 he worked with Buck on the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
spans 31.9m. It has six cast iron ribs each made in five pieces and bolted together. The ribs are braced with cruciform cast iron sections. The twin railway tracks were carried on cast iron deck plates. The resident engineer was Henry Hemberow, and the sections were cast by Garforths of Dukinfield. The MSJ&A Railway was Manchester's first suburban railway line.
A second cast iron rib arch bridge by Baker passed over Egerton Street but this was reconstructed in steel in 1976.
The central one in the group of three southwest of Deansgate Station is the high-level iron truss girder viaduct of 1877 built for the
Cheshire Lines CommitteeThe Cheshire Lines Committee was the second largest joint railway in Great Britain, with 143 route miles. Despite its name, approximately 55% of its system was in Lancashire. In its publicity material it was often styled as the Cheshire Lines Railway...
by the
Midland RailwayThe Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
. It's known as
Cornbrook Viaduct. The viaduct is a red brick and
wrought ironthumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
truss girder construction. When it opened in 1877, it carried trains coming from a temporary station to
IrlamIrlam is a suburban town and unparished area within the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 18,504. The town lies on flat ground on the south side of the M62 motorway and the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, and is west-southwest of...
and
WarringtonWarrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, and
ChorltonChorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of the city of Manchester, England. It is known locally as Chorlton. It is situated about four miles southwest of Manchester city centre. Pronunciation varies: and are both common....
via a branch line. The temporary station was replaced by Sir John Fowler's Manchester
Central Station-Railway stations:A central station is generally the principal passenger railway station of major towns and cities which have multiple stations, or a station owned by a railway with "Central" in its name, such as the English Great Central Railway....
in 1880, which operated until 1969 and is now used as an exhibition centre (G-MEX).
To the north is the
1894 Great Northern viaduct that served the
Great Northern RailwayThe Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
's warehouse in Deansgate. The high-level tubular steel viaduct is decorated with turrets. It was built for the Great Northern Railway Company and carried GNR trains to the company's Deansgate warehouse until 1963. Richard Johnson who was a Chief Engineer of the GNR was responsible for the design.
The Cornbrook and Great Northern viaducts stood disused for many years. When a route for the
MetrolinkMetrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...
trams was investigated, the Cornbrook Viaduct was found to be in much better condition than the 1894 one. It was chosen for refurbishment (1990–1991) and is currently used by Metrolink trams going to Altrincham.
The
Salford branch viaduct,the fourth viaduct, was separate from the others. It was also built by the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway in 1848-9. It uses a brick arch to cross the Staffordshire arm of the basin, before passing under the later Cornbrook and Great Northern viaduct and intersected with the then main line to Altrincham at a point about 300m west of Knott Mill Station.
The whole viaduct from
PiccadillyManchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. It serves intercity routes to London Euston, Birmingham New Street, South Wales, the south coast of England, Edinburgh and Glasgow Central, and routes throughout northern England...
to Ordsall Junction is 1.75 miles (2.8 km) long and consists of 224 brick arches. There were six cast iron bridges that span Water Street, the Rochdale Canal, Castle Street and Chester Road, Deansgate Station, Oxford Road (encased in concrete in 1959) and over Albion Street (renewed in reinforced concrete in 1980). They were all designed by
William BakerWilliam Baker was a railway engineer.Between 1834 and 1839 Baker was articled to George W. Buck and then worked on the London and Birmingham Railway between London and Tring. From 1837 he worked with Buck on the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
and have a similar construction, with six cast iron arches each made in three or five sections.
During the regeneration of the Castlefield basin, a spectacular footbridge was built from Slate Wharf to Catalan Square. This is the
Merchant's Bridge, where the 3m wide deck is hung by 13 hangers from the steel arches. The span is 40m. The designers, Whitby and Bird acknowledge the influence of
Santiago CalatravaSantiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City....
.
A couple of modern but traditional looking
cast iron clad steel footbridges built by Marsh Bros Engineers, Bakewell 1990 have been thrown over some arms. In addition
Dutch style lifting bridgesA bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic....
have been built at Slate Wharf and Grocers Warehouse. An interesting stoneclad footbridge has been built over the Rochdale Canal. This is called the Architect's bridge.
George Stephenson's line crossed the River Irwell by a skew-arched masonry bridge built in 1830, to the north of the canal basin. and then Water Street; this bridge is the first recorded use of the
Hodgkinson beamEaton A. Hodgkinson was an English engineer, a pioneer of the application of mathematics to problems of structural design.-Early life:...
, (or
I-beam-beams, also known as H-beams, W-beams , rolled steel joist , or double-T are beams with an - or H-shaped cross-section. The horizontal elements of the "" are flanges, while the vertical element is the web...
).
Other prominent buildings
The
Liverpool Road railway stationManchester Liverpool Road is a former railway station on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in Manchester, England which opened on 15 September 1830. The L&MR station was the terminus of the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all services were hauled by timetabled steam locomotives...
complex is significant as it was here that the passenger terminus was invented, and concepts such as separate facilities for the rich and the poor first appear here. The station is the oldest mainline station in the world.
The booking hall for first and second class passengers was on Liverpool road, there were separate stairs up to the separate first floor waiting rooms and the platform. There was a
sundialA sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...
over the first class entrance, since up to 1847, Manchester Corporation used 'local time' and that was set by the sun. In 1847, the Corporation adopted '
railway timeRailway time was the name given to the standardised time arrangement first applied by the Great Western Railway in England in November 1840. This was the first recorded occasion when a number of different local times were synchronised and a single standard time applied...
'. Adjoining the station are the 1830 warehouse (300 ft X 70 ft) with 6 spur tracks, and the three storey 200 ft (61 m) long, No. 1 Cotton Store built in 1831, and the similar No. 2 Cotton Store. However this was period of rapid expansion. The 1830 warehouse had been built within 4 months by
David BellhouseDavid Bellhouse was an English builder who did much to shape Victorian era Manchester, both physically and socially.Born in Leeds, Bellhouse received no formal education. An autodidact, he taught himself to read and write and the elements of arithmetic and technical drawing...
Jnr. In 1837, the station buildings were extended by the
Grand Junction RailwayThe Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...
and a new goods shed built. Warehouses now covered 5 acres (20,234.3 m²),and had a floor area of 4000000 sq ft (371,612.2 m²). The passenger station closed on 4 May 1844 when the line was extended to join the
Manchester and Leeds RailwayThe Manchester and Leeds Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting Manchester with Leeds via the North Midland Railway which it joined at Normanton....
at a new station situated in Hunt's Bank and it all became a freight terminal. The Cotton stores and the goods sheds were demolished in the 1860s when the
London and North Western RailwayThe London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
expanded the goods station.
In 1844 there were six railway lines connecting the world to Manchester, and Léon Faucher commented that there were 15 or 16 seats of industry that formed this great constellation.
Two more railway ware houses can be seen, the 1869 London and North Western Railway Bonded Warehouse on Grape Street with its separate viaduct over Water Street and the four storey 1880
Great Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
Lower Byrom Street Warehouse. The Lower Byrom Street Warehouse is now part of the Museum of Science and Industry, while the Grape Street warehouse is used by Granada Studios as studios, rehearsal space and offices.
Regeneration
Castlefield regeneration dates from 1972, when the Greater Manchester Council carried out archeological investigations in the area. The Liverpool Road goods depot closed 8 September 1975, and the GMC made a survey of the site and it became the North Western Museum of Science and industry in 1978.
Through the joint efforts of the
Civic TrustThe Civic Trust of England was a charitable organisation founded in 1957. It ceased operations in 2009 and went into administration due to lack of funds/...
, the
Georgian GroupThe Georgian Group is an English and Welsh conservation organisation created to campaign for the preservation of historic buildings and planned landscapes of the 18th and early 19th centuries...
, the Victorian Society and Manchester Region Industrial Archaeology Society (MRIAS) a report called Historic Castlefield was published in 1979, which set upon a development framework.
Also in 1979 Castlefield was designated a conservation area even though most of its historic canals and buildings were derelict. The major landowner was the Manchester Ship Canal Company. The area's potential had been recognised and the 1982 City Centre Local Plan actively supported the Museum of Science and Industry at Liverpool Road, and the Castlefield Conservation Area Steering Committee, (CCASC) was formed.
Castlefield designated itself Britain's first
Urban Heritage ParkAn Urban Heritage Park , as used to describe Castlefield, in Manchester has no official status. Manchester declared Castlefield to be the world's first Urban Heritage Park in 1982, following a lead given by Lowell, Massachusetts in 1975...
in 1983. This led to £40m of public sector funding being invested for regeneration.
In 1988 the
Central Manchester Development CorporationThe Central Manchester Development Corporation was established in 1988 to develop parts of eastern Manchester. Its flagship developments included the Bridgewater Hall concert auditorium. During its lifetime 1.5 m sq.ft. of non-housing development and 2,583 housing units were built. Around 4,944...
was created to formulate a regeneration policy for nearly 187 ha of central Manchester (approximately 40% of the city centre) and to pump-prime private sector development using Government grants. This embraced Castlefield.
The Corporation determined that Castlefield should be revitalised by strengthening the tourism base, consolidating and supporting business activity and establishing a vibrant residential community. The imaginative and sensitive conservation and enhancement of the listed buildings, canals, viaducts and spaces, was to be achieved with high standards of urban design.
A large number of grants now became available for public/private development partnerships.
One organisation to benefit was
Jim RamsbottomJim Ramsbottom is an entrepreneur and bookmaker from Salford, England, known for his involvement in the regeneration of Castlefield, Manchester.-References:...
's, Castlefield Estates company, who initiated several significant development projects, including Eastgate, Merchants Warehouse and Dukes 92.
The similarly named
Castlefield Management Company was created in 1992 as a non-profit company to provide services, events and to maintain the environmental quality of the area. An Urban Ranger service was set up to assist visitors, guide tours and oversee the Urban Heritage Park.
Most of the buildings have now either been renovated or restored and many have been converted in modern
apartmentAn apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
s (
warehouseA warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
flats). Numerous archaeological digs have taken place and revealed a great deal about the early history of the city. Manchester City Council have recently encouraged high quality new developments to accompany the converted warehouses and enhance the conservation area. However, key sites remain to be completed, and Ian Simpson's proposals for a massive eight storey block of apartments at Jackson's Wharf, has twice been rejected by the City Council reflecting vociferous local objections. for instance, the entertainer
Mike HardingMike Harding is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet and broadcaster. He is known as 'The Rochdale Cowboy' after one of his hit records...
said:
"I oppose the Jackson's Wharf development most vehemently. The original concept of Castlefield as an urban heritage park and the early work of Jim Ramsbottom in particular was truly exciting. Then the big money moved in and the dream was hijacked. Brutal Euroboxes, with neither imagination nor taste to ameliorate them, were thrown up piecemeal in one of the worst cases of planning blight I can think of, so that now Manchester looks like a city designed by a schizophrenic drunk with attention deficiency disorder."
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