MANCHESTER
Mamucium, Mancunium, Anton. Itin.; Mameceaster, Manigeceaster, A. S. Chron. 923; Mamecestre, Dom. Bk.; this and Mamcestre were the
usual spellings till about 1450, when Manchester
appears. (fn. 1)
The township of Manchester, bounded on three
sides—north, west, and south—mainly by the Irk,
Irwell, and Medlock, has an area of 1,646 acres, including 27 acres of inland water. Formerly another
small brook ran westward to join the Irwell to the
south of the church; (fn. 2) and two others, the Tib (fn. 3) and
Shooter, (fn. 4) flowed south-west, the former through the
centre and the latter to the east, to join the Medlock; (fn. 5) but all have long been covered over. The
physical features have been greatly obscured by the
buildings which cover the surface, which is in general
level, though rising steeply from the Irwell. The
portion of the town between Shooter's Brook and
the Medlock is called Ancoats. The north-east
corner of the township, on the bank of the Irk, is
Collyhurst; half-way between this and the cathedral
lies Newtown. The population in 1901 numbered
132, 316.
In the north-west corner, at the junction of the
Irk and the Irwell, stands Chetham's Hospital and
Library, with Hunt's Bank to the west. The church,
now the cathedral, stands in its cemetery, immediately
to the south, the western tower overlooking the
Irwell. At its south-west corner lies Victoria Bridge,
representing the ancient bridge over the river to Salford. In the open space stands the Cromwell statue,
erected in 1875. From the same point start Deansgate, leading south to Alport and Campfield near the
Medlock, which river Deansgate crosses at Knott
Bridge; and Victoria Street, a new thoroughfare,
leading south-east to the Market Place. On the
south side of the Market Place another main street
of the city runs west to Blackfriars Bridge over the
Irwell—being there called St. Mary's Gate and
Blackfriars Street—and east and south-east towards
Stockport—being called in turn Market Street,
Piccadilly, and London Road. The Exchange Building stands in Market Street over against the old
Market Place. From its west end may be seen St.
Ann's Square, with the church to the south and a
statue of Cobden in the centre; its east end stands in
Cross Street, which leads past the old Nonconformist
chapel and the Free Library to Albert Square, dominated by the new Town Hall. In the square are
statues of Prince Albert, Bishop Fraser, W. E. Gladstone, John Bright, and Oliver Heywood. Piccadilly
has the site of the infirmary on its southern side; in
front are statues of Queen Victoria, Watt, Dalton,
Wellington, and Peel.
From the infirmary Mosley Street, in which is the
Art Gallery, runs south-west to St. Peter's Square, a
little south of the Town Hall, and continues as
Lower Mosley Street till it crosses the Medlock into
Hulme at Gaythorn. From St. Peter's Square, Peter
Street, in which is the Free Trade Hall, goes west to
Deansgate; and Oxford Street, another great
thoroughfare, goes south-east into Chorlton. Opposite
the infirmary Oldham Street and Oldham Road (fn. 6)
lead north-east towards Oldham.
In 1666 there were as many as 1,368 hearths liable
to the tax; the largest dwelling was that of Mrs.
Ruth Greene, which had eighteen hearths; the warden's house had fourteen. (fn. 7)
A great improvement in the appearance of the
town was made in 1833 by the opening out of
Hunt's Bank. (fn. 8) Some of the older streets remain
comparatively unchanged. Cateaton Street and Todd
Street lead from Victoria Bridge east and north to a
bridge across the Irk near Victoria Station, encompassing the plot of land on which stand the cathedral
and Chetham's Hospital. Between these buildings
Fennel Street goes eastward and is continued as
Withy Grove, Shude Hill, and Rochdale Road, which
leads north through Collyhurst. The wide straight
way called Corporation Street, formed about 1850,
goes north from Market Street in continuation of
Cross Street, to the former Ducie Bridge over the
Irk, and thence continues as Cheetham Hill Road.
There are a large number of bridges over the
rivers; (fn. 9) the Irk at Hunt's Bank has been covered over
by the railway station.
Two of the principal railway stations (fn. 10) —Exchange
and Victoria, first opened in 1844—are just outside
the township, in Salford and Cheetham. The London
and North Western Company has London Road
Station in Ancoats, opened in 1840, the terminus of
the line from Euston; (fn. 11) from this a branch line, made
in 1849, runs near the southern boundary, crossing
the windings of the Medlock and having stations at
Oxford Street (named Oxford Road) and Knott Mill;
it forms part of the separate Manchester and Altrincham Railway, but has a branch joining the line from
Manchester to Liverpool at Ordsall Lane in Salford.
The line just mentioned, the pioneer railway opened
in 1830, originally had its terminus at Campfield;
the station is used for goods traffic, and connected
with Ordsall Lane. The Lancashire and Yorkshire
Company has two lines—to Leeds and to Rochdale—
passing through the northern part of the township,
with what is now a branch line to Oldham Road
goods station; this station, opened in 1839, was the
original terminus of the Manchester and Leeds Railway, (fn. 12) one of the principal constituents of the present
company's system. The Great Central Company,
originally the Manchester and Sheffield Railway, has,
since its partial opening in 1841, had a share of
London Road Station; the Midland Company has a
goods station close by, named Ancoats, opened in
1870. The Great Northern has a goods station at
Alport, close by the Central Station, which was opened
in 1877 as the terminus of the railway of the
Cheshire Lines Committee of the three companies
last named; from it lines run to Liverpool and to
Stockport.
The Bridgewater Canal has a wharf at Castlefield
on the north bank of the Medlock. At the same
point begins the Rochdale Canal, which proceeds
east and north-east through the township. The Manchester, Ashton, and Stockport Canal begins near
London Road Station and goes through Ancoats.
The Corporation Electric Tramways run through
most of the principal streets, and on the west side
are supplemented by the Salford tramways.
The open spaces in Manchester proper are comparatively few and small, with the exception of
Queen's Park in Collyhurst. This was formerly
known as the Hendham Hall Estate, (fn. 13) and was
acquired by the Corporation in 1845. Adjoining is
a cemetery, opened in 1837. Near the Irwell is the
old St. Mary's Churchyard, called the Parsonage, and
there are recreation grounds at Newtown, Collyhurst,
Oldham Road, and Holt Town in Ancoats.
Chetham's Hospital, originally the college of
Thomas La Warre, stands north of the cathedral
on the site of the old hall of the lords of Manchester,
at the north-west corner of the inclosure within
which the ancient town was contained, and at the
junction of the rivers Irk and Irwell. The situation
was originally a strongly defensive one, the plateau
upon which the buildings stood being upwards of
40 ft. above the ordinary levels of the rivers. Of the
baron's hall, the predecessor of the present building,
nothing is known, and attempts to prove that parts
of the existing structure are earlier than the foundation of the college in 1422 have not been successful,
though it is quite possible that some of the old stone
and timber may have been used in the new 15thcentury building. The hospital as it now stands is,
roughly speaking, [L]-shaped in plan, the longer
arm facing north to the River Irk with a frontage of
about 250ft. (fn. 14) The shorter west wing consists of a
rectangular block of buildings erected round a small
cloistered quadrangle with a frontage to the Irwell on
the west side of about 105 ft. The living-rooms
were arranged on the north, west, and south sides of
the quadrangle, with dormitories over, and the great
hall and warden's rooms occupied the east side. The
long northern range of buildings contained the kitchen
and offices, together with the guest-house, and has a
short wing at the end running south-east, with a gatehouse to Long Millgate. The change in the surroundings of the hospital in recent years has been so
great that it is now difficult to realize its original
aspect, though the structure itself, apart from restoration, has undergone less change than might have been
expected. Formerly standing high above the river
bank, it presented a very picturesque appearance when
approached from the north-west, but the growth of
Manchester has surrounded it with tall buildings,
altered the configuration of the ground around it by
the making of new streets, and robbed it of all its
external picturesqueness by the covering over of one
river and the hiding of the other. The original
character of the site is now no longer discernible,
though some idea of the ancient appearance of the
north side of the building may yet be gained from
the narrow street on that side called Walkers Croft,
which preserves in some measure the line of the
path on the north side of the Irk. The buildings,
which are of two stories, with walls of dressed red
sandstone about 3 ft. thick, and roofs covered with
stone slates, when seen from the playground on the
south side have a low and rather undistinguished
appearance, the line of the roofs being unbroken, and
the walling having assumed the black hue so characteristic of Manchester. On this side the height of
the walls to the eaves is only about 20 ft., but on the
north the wall is 35 ft. high, the cellar being well
lighted by windows towards the river. Apart from
its greater height, however, the north front is architecturally more interesting from the fact of its being
well broken up by projecting chimneys (fn. 15) and garderobes, and by a raised platform at the north-west
corner with a flight of stairs descending to the river.
The plan of the building would possibly be determined in some measure by that of the formerlyexisting baron's hall, the line of which would most
likely be fixed by the course of the two rivers. The
northern range of buildings follows exactly the course
of the Irk, lying rather north-west and south-east and
not parallel with the church, which is set accurately
east and west. The position of the main building
round the quadrangle being once decided on, the
length of the north wing would seem to have been
determined by the gatehouse, which position was fixed
by the street to which it opened—Long Millgate,
then the principal thoroughfare from Manchester to
the north. In the many changes which have taken
place in recent years this street has lost its former
importance, and the gatehouse, now overshadowed on
both sides by the modern grammar-school buildings,
is almost forgotten, the approach to the hospital being
always from the south across the playground. Originally approached from the east, the chief entrance to
the building proper was by the porch in the angle at
the junction of the north and west wings; the door
by which visitors now enter the library, if then in
existence, being of minor importance.
The architectural evidence is not of itself sufficient
to determine precisely the dates of the erection of the
different parts of the building, but it is safe to say
there is nothing earlier than 1422. How much was
completed before the death of Thomas de la Warre in
1426, however (at which time he is recorded to have
spent £3,000 on the buildings), it is impossible to
say. It is likely that building operations were in
progress for many years after this date, probably
throughout the second quarter of the 15th century,
and that one part was finished before another was
begun, thus accounting for what are undoubtedly
additions to the original building, but additions
which appear to have been carried out within a
comparatively short time of the foundation. Unfortunately many of the documents relating to the
early history of the college perished in the Fire of
London, and the feoffees' minute-book does not
contain any records of alterations of importance
during the earlier occupancy of the college as a
hospital, though it is clear that considerable reconstruction must have then taken place.
After the dissolution of the collegiate body in 1547
the buildings were used by several members of the
family of the Earl of Derby, into whose hands they
passed, as a temporary residence, and that work was
done at that time is evidenced by the presence of the
Stanley badges in different parts; but after the sequestration of the Derby estates the buildings were allowed
to fall into a dilapidated state, and were probably in
a more or less ruinous condition when taken over
by Humphrey Chetham's executors in 1654. The
restoration at that time, however, besides putting the
place in repair, involved considerable alterations in
adapting the old college to its new use as a hospital
and library. The chief of these changes—the staircase in the north-east of the quadrangle and the conversion of the dormitories into a library—are clearly
evident. The gateway in Long Millgate was rebuilt
in 1816, and in recent years (1883–95) the buildings
have been thoroughly restored.
The work done between these latter dates included
the restoration of the dining-hall, reading-room, library,
kitchen, dormitories, cloister, stairs, house, governor's
room, the rebuilding of the ingle-nook in the hall.
The cost was borne by Oliver and Charles James
Heywood.
The chief feature of the building is the quadrangle
round which the fellows' rooms and the great hall
are grouped, which measures 40 ft. in length from
north to south. Its width is 20ft., but was probably
in the first instance more, a good many changes having
apparently taken place on the east side where the
hall is situated. The cloisters themselves have been
thought to be an addition, the supposition, however,
being chiefly based on a portion of what appears to
be an older plinth at the north-east corner, now
partly hidden by the 17th-century staircase, which is
of different height, and chamfered instead of being
moulded. This plinth, but hollow-chamfered, recurs
at the south-east corner at the end of the south wall,
and is returned as far as the present east wall of the
quadrangle, supporting the theory that the stone
stairs from the hall to the reading-room are part of
the first building. The difficulties of assigning dates
to the various parts of the building round the quadrangle, however, are great, and it is, perhaps, safest to
assume that the work was more or less continuous,
but that changes were made from time to time in
the originally-planned arrangement. It is unreasonable to suppose that the doors to the living-rooms
were meant to open straight on to the quadrangle,
and unless we assume some such proposition the cloister
on the north, west, and south sides must have been
part of the original intention. The rooms are 16 ft.
square, with windows facing outwards, and each with a
separate door to the cloister. Those on the north,
three in number, are now used as offices or servants'
rooms in connexion with the hospital, while the three
rooms on the west are in use for various purposes
connected with the library. The room in the south-west corner has been altered by the erection in part
of it of a new staircase to the library over, this staircase being that used by visitors to the reading-room.
The larger room on the south side is now divided
into two, one of which is called the teachers' and
the other the muniment room. The cloister walk is
6ft. 6 in. wide with stone-flagged floor and oak ceiling,
and has an upper walk giving access in a similar way to
that below to the separate dormitories. If the cloister
had been an afterthought, as is sometimes stated, this
would mean that the dormitories could have had no
separate entrances; and though this in itself is not
unlikely, it at the same time makes the upper doorways of the rooms to be of later date than the wall, of
which there is no evidence. It seems reasonable to
believe, therefore, that the upper cloister, like the one
below, was part of the original plan. On the west side
the cloister consists of six bays, each with a three-light
window under a plain four-centred arch without a
label, the lights having cinquefoiled heads. The windows are separated by buttresses of two stages running
up to within 3 ft. of the eaves, and in the upper story
there is a window of two trefoiled lights in each
alternate bay. The south side of the cloister consists
of three similar bays, but on the north the introduction of the staircase has reduced the number to two,
the destroyed bay being probably that in which the
entrance to the quadrangle was situated. The present
entrance is by a modern doorway cut through the
second window from the south on the west side.
The east side is occupied by the projecting inglenook and recess of the great hall with the staircase
adjoining, leading over the cloister walls to the
warden's rooms. There seem to have been a good
many alterations on this side of the court from time
to time, and the ingle-nook has been entirely rebuilt
in recent years; but it is not at all certain that the
west wall of the hall originally ran right through and
that the staircase is a later addition, although the
manner in which the buttress of the cloister finishes
against it suggests an alteration of some sort. The
staircase, however, and the room over it, belong to
the days of the college, though they may be considerably later than 1422. The quadrangle with its
cobble-stone pavement and old well-head, though
small, is a very charming feature of the building, its
walls not having been so thoroughly restored as those
of other parts, though some portions of the stonework
of the windows have been renewed. Some of the old
wooden lattices with which the windows were once
filled are yet in existence.
The great hall, which is paved with stone flags, is
43 ft. 6 in. long by 24 ft. wide, 22 ft. in height
from the floor to the wall-plate, and about 35 ft. to
the ridge. The roof is open-timbered and divided
into three bays by two principals, between which are
solid framed spars, and the walls are of dressed stone
their entire height. The screens are at the north
end, entered through the porch on the east, with the
usual two doorways and buttery and pantry on the
north, and at the south end is the dais with a fine
panelled and battlemented canopy over. The oak
screen is simple in detail, and only 7 ft. in height,
of contemporary date with the hall, but with a later
embattled cresting. It is a very good early example,
consisting of two speres set against the walls, and a
movable middle length. There are no remains of a
gallery over it, and in the first instance it probably
had none. The room is lit by three two-light mullioned and transomed windows on the east side, and
has a small dole-window at the end of the high table
on the same side. The opposite wall is almost wholly
occupied by the ingle-nook, about 11ft. wide and
12 ft. deep, forming an irregular octagon, curiously
twisted to the south, possibly to allow room for the
former doorway at the north-east of the quadrangle.
The fireplace was originally on the west side, but in
the recent rebuilding it has been changed to the
north, and the roof of the ingle vaulted in stone.
The ingle-nook recess has a deep stone lintel 5 ft. 10 in.
high, over which is a relieving arch, and is lit by two
small windows to the quadrangle. Above on either
side is a two-light pointed window with cinquefoiled
heads and wide splays placed high in the west wall,
and immediately adjoining it on the south close to
the dais is the bay window, 7 ft. wide and 6 ft. deep,
forming a kind of alcove between the ingle and the
adjoining stone staircase and the warden's room.
This staircase leads immediately from the west end of
the high table, and is carried on a stone vault over
the east end of the south cloister; it has already
been mentioned.
South of the great hall, and originally gained from
it by a door from the dais, is a room now called the
Audit or Feoffees' Room, originally, perhaps, a kind
of great chamber or minor hall, or more likely the
common room. It is 23 ft. by 24 ft. and 12 ft. high,
and has a square bay window on the east side 5 ft. 6 in.
wide by 6 ft. deep. The ceiling is crossed each way
by two well-moulded beams with carved bosses at
the intersections, forming nine panels, having diagonal
mouldings, and apparently of 15th-century date. The
walls are panelled in oak, 8 ft. high, above which is a
deep floriated 17th-century plaster frieze, and the
room contains a good deal of interesting furniture.
The arrangement of the kitchen and offices at the
north end of the hall follows no accepted type of
plan, though the pantry and buttery, opening immediately from the screens, are in their usual place.
The exigencies of the site, however, and the determining factors already alluded to, are presumably
responsible for the disposition of the kitchen and
other offices, which lie almost detached in the north
range of buildings with no other way of communication to the hall than through the porch. The position of the kitchen, if it is the original one, and there
seems to be no other part of the building where it
could have been situated, is certainly unusual, but
there is scarcely sufficient warrant to allow of the
suggestion sometimes put forward, that it formed an
older great hall, or that it was ever put to any other
use than at present. It is 29 ft. long by 17 ft.
wide, with walls of stone, and is open to the roof, with
a wide open fireplace on the north side (now fitted
with modern appliances) and lighted by two tiers of
windows on the south. High up in the west wall is
a hole, apparently for inspection, opening into a room
on the upper floor, now the house-governor's bedroom,
while at the opposite end in the south-east corner is a
series of arches forming the covering to a narrow
staircase now blocked up, but which formed the only
access to a cellar, and to a small room on the same
level as the kitchen beyond it eastward. On the
floor of the cellar east of the kitchen is a stone with
the outline of a snake cut on it, in memory of an
encounter with a formidable serpent, related in the
novel, The Manchester Man, the scene of which is
laid here. Between the pantry and the kitchen a
door leads from the porch by a broad flight of stone
steps to the cellars, which, as before stated, owing to
the fall of the ground are amply lighted along the
north side, and whose ceilings are supported by
massive oak beams. Beyond the kitchen eastward
is a passage through the building, the width of
which is here only 23 ft., to a raised platform on
the north side, which now forms an approach to a
modern addition originally a schoolroom, but now a
workshop and gymnasium. The platform, however,
which is about 15 ft. above the ground on the north
side, appears to belong to the ancient building, and
had a flight of steps leading from it down to the river.
Beyond this to the east were apparently the hospitium, bakehouse, and wayfarers' and servants' dormitories, rooms now used on the ground floor for
various school purposes, and above as the boys'
dormitories. The roofs of these latter rooms, which
extend the whole length of the eastern range,
from the kitchen and the gatehouse, are fine and
massive, the arrangement at the skew angle on
the north-east being very well contrived by means
of an angle principal. Adjoining the gatehouse on
the ground floor on the north side is a small porter'sroom with a narrow slit window facing the street.
The room over the gatehouse, now approached by
a later flight of outside steps as well as from the
dormitory, may have served as a hospital, but it has
been suggested that it may have been a chapel, and
the angle at which the room is built being about east
and west, lends some likelihood to the supposition.
Before the erection of the staircase in the northeast corner of the quadrangle, the way to the dormitories in the upper floor seems to have been by stairs
at the opposite or north-west corner, in the space now
forming the west end of the long corridor which runs
along the whole length of the main building through
the hall screens and the north cloister. The framing
of the ceiling beams at this point indicates such an
arrangement, and beyond the staircase at the end of
the passage a door led on to a garden or small court
where the fish-pond was formerly situated. The
17th-century staircase, erected after the building had
been acquired by Humphrey Chetham's executors, is
a handsome piece of Jacobean work with flat pierced
balusters against the walls, lit by windows to the
quadrangle, and with one of the upper windows of
the great hall on its east side. The upper rooms on
the north side of the cloister and hall are now occupied by the house-governor and librarian, the
house-governor's room being a charming apartment
with two windows facing north and an open timbered
roof lately laid bare. From the bedroom beyond a
door gives access to a small room over a porch, and on
the north side is an old garderobe projection. There
is another in front of the librarian's rooms, and at the
extreme north-west angle of the building opening
from the corner room (now part of the library) is an
external door with pointed head leading on to a
platform raised some 25 ft. above the river bank,
forming the roof of a small north-west wing from
which on the ground floor a flight of steps led down
to the lake. The dormitories, which originally were
separate rooms with divisions stopping short of the
roof, which was continuous and open, are now thrown
into two long rooms facing respectively west and
south, forming the library proper. This consists of a
series of reading recesses or compartments formed by
the bookcases standing at right angles to the external
walls, and entered from a corridor on the inside by
latticed doors. The bookcases originally stood only
about 7 ft. high, or the height of the doors, but were
raised in the 18th century. The series of wide
square-headed three-light windows which light the
library recesses are of late date, but the original open
timber roof, similar to that of the hall, remains. At
the north end of the west library corridor there
is a piece of late 14th-century glass representing
St. Martin of Tours and the beggar, in a frame in
front of the window, together with a 17th-century
fragment, the subject of which is Eutychus falling
from the window. The south wing of the library is
sometimes styled the chapel of St. Mary, but
there seems to be no reason to suppose that it
was ever so used in college times, and if a
chapel was ever situated there it must have
been during the Derby occupancy, or afterwards, when the buildings were put to various
uses, including those of a Presbyterian and Independent meeting-house. The east end of
the room, however, shows a portion of a 17th-century altar-rail and a bracket in the wall
above, which, if they belong to the building
at all, would seem to indicate the latter part of
the Derby residence. The upper cloister is
now used on the west and south side for storing
books, and the north side forms a corridor. At
the east end of the south cloister is a doorway
opening on to the landing at the top of the
stone steps from the great hall to the warden's
room (now the reading-room of the library),
which is situated immediately over the audit-room. There is also a later door to this room
from the end of the library corridor adjoining, by which it is now usually entered. The
room is the same shape as that below, with
a similar square bay window on the east side,
but has an open timbered roof of framed spars
divided into two bays by a single central principal. During the Derby occupancy the spars
were plastered over and a plain elliptical-shaped
ceiling inserted, closely following the line of
the spandrel over the fireplace at the north
end of the room, which is of slightly later date,
having been erected in honour of Humphrey
Chetham by his executors, probably in the early
years of the reign of Charles II. The wall
plate, which is about 10 ft. high, is moulded
and of oak, and apparently of the time of la
Warre's foundation, but it is ornamented with
the Derby badge of an eagle's claw and with portcullises, and the panelling which goes all round
the room to the wall-plate is of 17th-century date.
Over the mantelpiece is a portrait of Humphrey
Chetham, and in the plaster spandrel above are
displayed his arms with helm and mantling. The
bay window has an elaborately vaulted plaster ceiling,
with bosses ornamented with the Derby badges, but
apparently of comparatively modern date, and the
room contains a good deal of 17th-century furniture,
and makes, perhaps, the most charming apartment in
the whole building. In the bay is a table at which
Harrison Ainsworth is said to have written several of
his novels; (fn. 16) the connexion with Sir Walter Raleigh
which is claimed for it must unfortunately be ruled
out. A tall clock case with a barometer dated 1695,
and given by an old scholar of the hospital, Nicholas
Clegg, is a more genuine relic. In the north-west
corner a door in the wainscot leads by a second outer
door of two thicknesses (2¼ in.), under a four-centred
stone arch, through a passage in the thickness of the
wall to a small room, about 12 ft. long by 5 ft. wide,
built over the stair and bay window of the hall with
a range of windows on the west side to the quadrangle. The opposite or east side seems to have been
originally open to the hall, a heavy oak beam, with
wall posts and curved brackets, being still in position,
the posts cut away about 4 ft. from the floor, probably giving the height of a rail or balustrade. At a
later time the opening has been filled in with a narrow
stone wall pierced by two quatrefoil openings, but
what purpose the gallery or room originally served is
not at all clear, and the date of the stone filling is
equally a matter of conjecture, but it seems most
likely that it was in the first instance a gallery open to
the hall and was later turned into a private room, at
which time, perhaps, the range of windows to the
quadrangle assumed their present aspect. These
windows, so noticeable a feature from the outside,
preclude the idea that the room was intended as a
hiding-place.
Poets' Corner
In 1878 a new school building was erected on the
west side of the open space (playground), south of the
hospital buildings, from the design of Mr. Alfred
Waterhouse.
The original foundation was for forty boys, but as
the endowment became more productive the number
was gradually increased till 100 was reached. Lately,
however, in consequence of the decline in the value
of land and the increased cost of education the foundation boys have numbered only seventy-five.
The growth of the town has caused the destruction
of nearly all the old gabled timber-and-plaster houses
which were characteristic of Manchester streets at
the beginning of the 19th century. Up to 1822,
when the first widening took place, Market Street was
chiefly composed of houses of this description, erected
mostly in the 17th century, with here and there a
later 18th-century brick building. One or two of
such timber houses still remain, however, notably that
in Long Millgate, formerly the Sun Inn, but now
known as 'Poets' Corner,' which bears outside the
date 1647 and the initials WAF; and the Seven Stars
Inn, Withy Grove, which preserves its old timber gable
to the street. Further up, in Shudehill, the Rover's
Return Inn (fn. 17) also retains an old gable, but the front
has been modernized by the insertion of a large bay
window on both floors. In the Market Place, at the
corner of the Shambles, is a picturesque old timber
house with a gable on each elevation, now completely
overshadowed by adjoining buildings.
The Seven Stars Inn
A fair number of good 18th-century brick houses
yet remain, more especially in the district between
Deansgate and the River Irwell, (fn. 18) many of them in
the vicinity of St. John's Church being little altered
and still used as residences, but in other parts less
removed from the business centre of the town they
have been turned into offices or even common
lodging-houses. These houses, plain in detail but
of good proportion, generally have well-designed
doorways, and often contain fittings belonging to
better days.
Of the many handsome buildings which Manchester possesses the majority are either civic or
commercial, but as a rule they are seen to less
advantage than in most towns of similar size owing
in a large measure to a certain lack of plan in the
city itself, which is very wanting in wide and open
spaces. (fn. 19) The atmosphere of the city, also, which
turns all stone black in the course of a few years, is
antagonistic to architectural work of the best kind.
The older public buildings of modern Manchester
belong to the classic style, and are exemplified in the
old Town Hall in King Street, now the Free
Reference Library (F. Goodwin, architect, 1825), a
characteristic specimen of the Greek Ionic of the
period; the Royal Institution, now the City Art
Gallery, in Mosley Street (Sir Charles Barry, architect, 1823), a fine design in which the same order is
used, but with more refinement; the Athenaeum (Sir
Charles Barry, architect, 1838) in Princess Street, a
broad, simple and refined building now grievously
damaged by the addition of a high attic with slate
roof; and the Bank of England in King Street
(C. R. Cockerell, architect, 1846), a heavy specimen
of mixed Greek and Roman Doric.
To this period also belonged the old Royal Infirmary in Piccadilly (R. Lane, architect), in which
the Ionic order was used in the portico. (fn. 20) The building occupied the finest site in Manchester, and despite
its lack of architectural distinction, had a certain
monumental quality that gave scale and dignity to
the open space in which it stood. It was pulled
down in 1910.
A new infirmary is now completed in Oxford
Road (Chorlton township).
The Free Trade Hall in Peter Street (E. Walters,
architect, 1856) is a good example of Renaissance
design, now much spoiled by the addition of a glass
veranda in front of the open arcade on the ground
floor. The front consists of two well-marked stories
about 70 ft. high with a heavy cornice, and the
interior contains a great hall which has seats for
3,236 persons.
In later years a Gothic tradition was set up by the
erection in Strangeways (in Cheetham township) of
the new Assize Courts (A. Waterhouse, architect,
1864), a fine building of its kind, standing back from
the road on an uncontracted site of which full advantage was taken. The elevation is rather florid,
with little of the restraint of the architect's later
work, but much of the best work is in the interior,
not only in the matter of planning, which is admirable, but of general design and ornamental detail.
The City Court House, in Minshull Street (T.
Worthington, architect, 1871), is a brick building
of a pronouncedly Italian Gothic style, set in a region
of tall warehouses at the junction of two narrow
streets, but saved from insignificance by the fine tower
which rises from the pavement at the outer angle.
The Town Hall (A. Waterhouse, architect, 1868–
77), in Albert Square, described as 'one of the very
few really satisfactory buildings of modern times,' (fn. 21)
is purely Gothic in style, but less elaborate and far
more dignified than the Assize Courts, being based
rather upon early English and French precedents
than upon those of Italy. The ashlar facing is of
brown sandstone, now black, but in remarkably good
condition after thirty-five years' exposure, disposed in
blocks varying in size but regularly laid in courses of
deep and very narrow stones alternately. The chief
external feature of the building is the clock tower,
which is carried up over the principal entrance facing
Albert Square, and is 280 ft. in height. The plan is
an irregular triangle, all three sides facing important
thoroughfares, with a truncated angle or short front
opposite to the state entrance. The building is
widely known and generally admired as a masterly
feat of planning, the offices and rooms being arranged
round three internal courts, and corridors running in
unbroken lines round the building on every floor
following the inner sides of the main triangle. The
great hall, which occupies the centre of the block on
the first floor level, is 100 ft. long by 50 ft. wide,
with a hammer-beam roof 58 ft. high, and the lower
part of the walls is enriched by a series of twelve
paintings by Ford Madox Brown, illustrating events
in local history, each painting occupying the width of
one bay beneath the windows. (fn. 22)
Albert Square, which is somewhat narrow for its
length, shows the Gothic influence in buildings on
its south side and in the canopy for the Albert Statue,
but it is otherwise architecturally uninteresting. The
Royal Exchange (Mills and Murgatroyd, architects,
1871) indicates a return to the classic tradition, the
Corinthian order being used, but it is a building
without particular distinction, and is set too near to
the pavement on every side to be effectively seen, and
has no direct line of approach to its main entrance.
The dome, its chief constructional and architectural
feature when seen at a distance, is effectually and
deliberately concealed by a high blank upper story.
The John Rylands Library, built in memory of her
husband by Mrs. Rylands (Basil Champneys, architect, 1890–99), is a fine structure in the Gothic style,
built in red sandstone with a boldly original exterior
to Deansgate, set back at a peculiar angle to the
building line of the street. The library proper is
placed on the upper floor, and on the ground floor
the whole of the front part of the building is taken
up with a spacious vaulted vestibule, and a wide
staircase. The library consists of a centre corridor,
125 ft. long and 20 ft. wide, terminating in an apse,
and has a groined stone roof 44 ft. high. It is
divided into eight bays used as reading recesses, and
each with a bay window, and a gallery runs completely round the central space, giving access to other
book recesses above. The fittings throughout are
of the most lavish character, and the interior is
decorated with a series of portrait statues ranged
in niches along the gallery front, as well as with
carving and stained glass. The library contains
over 80,000 volumes, including the famous Althorp
Library purchased from Earl Spencer in 1892, and
additions are being constantly made. It is particularly rich in early printed books and in Bibles.
The older warehouses were plain structures built
in brick, but about the middle of last century a
number of such buildings, which, in addition to
being ordinary warehouses, were also the head offices
of the firm, were erected in the centre of the town,
possessing no little architectural merit. Many streets
are composed almost entirely of these buildings,
which, being constructed of stone, are now black,
but their large scale and long frontages give them
great dignity, Portland Street in this respect offering
a very fine vista of unbroken line. The later warehouse buildings are chiefly constructed in brick and
terra cotta, and steel construction has now largely
superseded the older methods.
In addition to these and a number of churches
and schools, there are many important and useful
structures. The Corporation provides libraries, technical schools, markets, and other public buildings.
There is a Central Post Office off Market Street; the
Inland Revenue Office is in Deansgate. Besides
the infirmary there are numerous hospitals and charitable institutions. (fn. 23) The Nonconformists' Memorial Hall in Albert Square, intended to commemorate the steadfastness of various ministers ejected
from benefices in 1662, and the Young Men's Christian Association building in Peter Street—about to be
rebuilt—may also be mentioned. There are many
theatres and music halls.
The woollen and cloth trades and the manufacture
of smallwares appear to have been the original staple
business of the town. There were also collieries at
Ancoats and Collyhurst. (fn. 24) An iron foundry was
established in the 18th century. (fn. 25) The first calico
printer occurs in 1763. (fn. 26) A sugar refinery existed in
1758. (fn. 27) There was a silk weaver in the town in
1637. (fn. 28) A tobacco-pipe maker in Todd Lane was
in 1785 ordered to remove his works, as being a
nuisance. (fn. 29) Manchester is the centre of the cotton
manufacture, with its immense number of factories,
bleach and dye works, and calico-printing works;
smallwares continue to be an important part of the
trade of the district, while iron foundries, engine and
machine and tool-making works are numerous and
important. Some of these factories and works are
within the township of Manchester itself along the
rivers and canals and in Ancoats, but the distinguishing feature is the large number of great warehouses
for the exhibition and storing of the manifold products of the district.
BARONY
The history of the barony of Manchester from its foundation in the early
part of the 12th century until its
gradual dissolution in the 17th has been related in
detail in an earlier portion of the present work. (fn. 30)