Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Encyclopedia
Chorlton-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.
The area was essentially a trackless swamp for most of its history. In the late Middle Ages
improved drainage methods led to population growth. In the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, its perceived rural character made it a popular upper-class suburb. Inter-war development cemented its nature as a middle-class suburb. The loss of its railway station, the conversion of larger houses into flats or bedsitters, and significant social housing development to the south of the area changed its character again in the 1970s.
Historically, Chorlton was a village on Lancashire
's southern border with Cheshire
, and a township within the ancient parish of Manchester. It was incorporated into the city of Manchester in 1904. Chorlton borders Stretford
, Sale
, Didsbury
, Withington
, Whalley Range and Firswood. The River Mersey runs past Chorlton along its southern boundary.
The historical boundary to the north and west has been revised to remove anomalies. The area's eastern boundary has changed since the 19th century because of the creation of new parishes, incorporation into the City of Manchester, division into wards.
" and "Hardy" from the Old English Ard-Ea, meaning "trees near the water" However according to E. Ekwall (1936) and A. D. Mills (1991) the more probable derivation is from 'Ceolfrith's tun'. (All the other "Chorlton" settlement names are understood to be derived from Ceorlatun.) Ekwall says of Hardy, "Second element ĒG 'island'. The first is doubtful." The long-form name was invented by Victorian property developers, who arrived in the wake of the coming of the railway in 1880, to distinguish it from Chorlton-upon-Medlock. A village green and olde-worlde pub (the Horse and Jockey) were made out of existing buildings and garden so that the area had bucolic attractiveness, and stress was laid on distinguishing the area from the urban Chorlton-upon-Medlock.
The name has been a source of amusement. It has a disproportionate number of mentions in Hansard
. Harold Wilson
, in particular, expressed an affinity for "the good people of Chorlton-cum-Hardy". It was mentioned on The Goon Show
, and other BBC Radio 4 comedies.
from the 7th century but settlement in the Mersey valley may well have been later. The ancient forest of Arden grew on both sides of the River Mersey
which had large variations in its water level and was liable to meander. The silt of the flood plain made good land for farming.
In medieval times the district formed part of the Manor of Withington
an area stretching from Longford Park to Debdale Park, and south to the Mersey. Hough End (the southeastern fourth part which originally belonged to Chorlton) was removed from it in 1641. Hough End Hall
replaced the old manor house of Withington; it is now a Grade II listed building. The early history of the area was linked to Stretford
which had a river crossing, a market, and was on the main route to Manchester. The chapel of ease in Chorlton was linked to Stretford Parish Church, before it was linked to Didsbury. The estimated population in 1640 was 85; in 1714 it was 325. The 1801 census recorded 513 inhabitants, and the 1811 census 619: by 1851 it had increased to 761. The Tithe Commissioners' survey carried out in 1841 provides details of the size and tenure of every piece of land. The character of the district was agricultural and Chorlton benefited from the growth of Manchester by supplying its demand for food. According to John Lloyd apple orchards were productive here.
(named after Chorlton-on-Medlock), then Withington Urban District, and was incorporated into the City of Manchester, while Stretford voted for autonomy. The building of Wilbraham Road to connect Lord Egerton's holdings across the north of the Manor of Withington, from Fallowfield to Edge Lane in Chorlton in 1869 established the nucleus of a residential area at the Barlow Moor Road crossing. A railway line from Manchester Central
through Chorlton was built by the Midland Railway
, and Chorlton station
opened on 1 January 1880. This led to considerable residential and commercial development with the establishment of a village centred on the Barlow Moor Road / Wilbraham Road crossroads, northeast of the original village with a centre at Chorlton Green and Beech Road.
There was significant immigration in this period from Ireland and other areas of the British Isles. The Irish came to domestic service
and others came in pursuit of work in the expanding industries of Manchester, moving to improve their prospects. A significant number were employed in the area's small-scale horticulture and farming. In the 1880s a member of the Fenians, a precursor of the IRA, was arrested while working in 'The Isles' between Manchester Road and Longford Park. His weapon was not recovered from its hiding-place until the foundations were being dug for Oswald Road School. The Irish community remains and the growth of Roman Catholicism originated with them. By the first decade of the 20th century the church and convent school were established on High Lane and later came the adjoining Irish Association Social Club.
Because the county boundary was determined by the course of the Mersey, it traditionally did not exactly follow the river when it changed course: this happened occasionally in the period before improved flood control measures were introduced in the 1840s. Thus the Bridge Inn (commonly known as Jackson's Boat) was once in Chorlton. The myth attached to this is that it was incorporated into Lancashire to prevent illegal race-goers on Chorlton Ees
escaping into Cheshire at the approach of the Lancashire Constabulary. The Manchester–Trafford boundary now follows the course of the river. The crossing here was originally by ferry boat fastened to a chain: in 1816 this was replaced by a wooden footbridge. By 1881 a steel bridge was built as the old bridge was damaged, it was washed away in October 1881. For the area between Chorlton and the river, see Chorlton Ees
.
In 1903 Slater's Street Directory of Manchester shows that old Chorlton had hardly changed for 25 years. Around Beech Road were three farms, two inns, the parish church and the church school. In Beech Road more shops were trading and a police station had been established and a recreation ground (now Beech Road Park) had been provided and at the eastern end Bowling Green Farm remained.
Further growth was aided by the arrival of Manchester Corporation's tramway before the First World War: a terminus was built on Barlow Moor Road a short distance south of the junction with High Lane. Chorltonville
was developed as a garden suburb south of Chorlton Brook
: the houses are mostly large and semi-detached and individual in design, standing on tree-lined roads. Alexandra Park Aerodrome (1917–1924), was Manchester's first major airfield located east of the Midland railway overbridge on Mauldeth Road West. (See below, Transport).
After the World War came a period of residential development to the east of the new village either side of Wilbraham Road and a council housing estate at Merseybank
. From the 1960s onwards a council estate at Nell Lane near Southern Cemetery; "Chorlton Precinct", a small shopping precinct with an office block, Graeme House (1969/70) (in 2009 rebranded as "The Square") at Wilbraham Road and patchy redevelopment in other areas. There has been immigration particularly from the Indian subcontinent
and from Poland
. The Polish community arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, and is the origin of the existence of the 'Barbakan' delicatessen and bakery established in 1964.) Chorlton Green has been designated a conservation area
by the city council since 1970 and a second area was designated at Chorltonville in 1991. Chorlton Park Apartments
have been recognised for the quality of their design. Beech Road has become a cultural centre, with several shops, restaurants and café bars. In 2010 Manchester City Council's South Manchester Regeneration Team issued an action plan for improvements to the "Chorlton District Centre" for the period 2010 to 2020. It proposes investment in the district aimed at creating "a strong, vibrant and successful centre that supports the local community and has the ability to exploit the economic potential of Metrolink".
The 1980s onwards saw a new kind of resident arrive; these were people who had studied in Manchester, and had fond memories of the city's southern suburbs. The high salaries available in the upper reaches of a growing public sector were available to them and they brought with them a particular sensibility. This has rejuvenated the area's cultural life, and transformed some of its shopping areas, as mentioned above. Later arrivals consist of a large number of musicians, artists in all media, and others, and has given the area a significant 'vibe'. The part of Chorlton's population that has not benefited in the last few decades of renewal has been the residents of the large areas of social housing to the south of the district. There have been clashes of interests between groups with different lifestyles, most recently over the provision of playing fields at Chorltonville. The social housing areas score highly on indicators of social deprivation, a fact at odds with Chorlton's reputation as 'trendy' and 'green'.
In the 19th century, public transport was limited to the railway
through the southern suburbs of Manchester and to horse buses from Chorlton Green towards Manchester city centre. In the early 20th century the electric tramway reached Chorlton and remained in service until January 1949. Motorbuses replaced horse buses and, from 1949 onwards, the trams. Passenger railway services ended at the beginning of 1967 with the closure of Chorlton-cum-Hardy station, which had provided a commuter service into . Bus services have been expanded and reorganized many times since then. The most frequent services run on Manchester Road and Barlow Moor Road, and Edge Lane and Wilbraham Road. In the 21st century, traffic has become a serious problem , not helped by delays in establishing a Metrolink
(tram) link to the area. From 1992 the Metrolink ran through Stretford, and conversion of the former railway line through Chorlton to a Metrolink line was planned, but failed to secure the funding needed. Work on the conversion began in 2010, and it opened on 7 July 2011, providing residents with a rail journey into the city centre for the first time in 44 years. The Chorlton tram stop is on the site of the old railway station. Services terminate one stop further south at St Werburgh's Road, on the site of the old Chorlton Junction signal-box.
Planned ring road
Mauldeth Road West was built as a dual-carriageway in anticipation of the expansion of motor traffic and had a central strip intended for use as a double track for electric trams. When numbering of roads
was introduced in the 1930s, Wilbraham Road was named as a part of the southern intermediate ring-road, the A6010, along with less suitable roads such as High Lane and Platt Lane. Mauldeth Road West was numbered the A6144, and was meant to extend along Hardy Lane, hence the latter's unusual width. It was then to cross the Mersey
near Jackson's Boat, and join the rest of the A6144 at Old Hall Road, Sale, on its journey to Partington
and Lymm
. Its purpose was to relieve central Chorlton of the heavy traffic to Trafford Park
, and from the clay pits operational in the Mersey Valley. A-Z maps showed the legend "completion in 1974" through many editions.
Hough End
Alexandra Park aerodrome at Hough End, and its secondary landing site at Turn Moss, had a life-span, from 1917 until 1924; only the Air Training Corps
centre remains. First Barton
, then Ringway
were chosen as the municipal aerodrome instead. Local residents benefited from Alexandra Park (later Wilbraham Road) railway station, and the cutting of a dual carriageway Mauldeth Road West. Most of Hough End, the site of the original manor house, was used for building the Old Moat council estate, and the dual carriageway Princess Road
and its median tram-track in 1924-25, ensured Hough End was saved as green space. The Aerodrome company reverted its lease to Lord Egerton, who donated it as an open space in perpetuity to the City of Manchester. During the Second World War, anti-aircraft batteries were located there, and German prisoners, used as workers, lived in temporary housing beside Princess Road.
of the ancient parish of Manchester
in the Salford Hundred
of Lancashire, then Stretford as that grew in importance. From 1876 to 1894 it was part of the district administered by the Withington Local Board and from 1894 to 1904 part of Withington Urban District. Chorlton was absorbed into the City of Manchester
in August 1904, together with the rest of the urban district. A separate Withington Committee of the City Council existed between 1904 and 1914.
In 2010 Chorlton ward was represented by one Labour
councillor
and two Liberal Democrats
. Chorlton Park ward
which incorporates the Mersey Bank and Nell Lane estates of south and south-east Chorlton is represented by three Liberal Democrat councillor
s.
Whalley Range ward includes parts of Chorlton and is represented by a Labour and two Independent councillors.
(GMP) and Chorlton Police Station was situated on Barlow Moor Road, between Beech Road and the bus station. The police station closed in October 2011 and was listed for auction in November of that year. The first police station was established in Beech Road in 1885 by the Lancashire Constabulary.
At Hough End the GMP Sports and Social Club is on the site of the former Alexandra Park Aerodrome and is where Greater Manchester Police train their dogs and horses. The GMP helicopter uses the pitches as a landing spot when patients are taken on to Wythenshawe Hospital
or dog handlers need to be airlifted to incidents in the helicopter.
and Archdeaconry of Manchester; and since 1850, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. Between 1541 and 1847 it was in the Diocese of Chester
and before that in the Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry. In medieval times churches were scarce in the district and the parish church was the Collegiate Church, Manchester
, dependent on which was the chapel of ease
at Didsbury.
under King Henry VIII. Among the clergy who ministered here was Peter Hordern (died 1836) who was librarian of Chetham's Library
, Manchester. By 1860 there was a need for a larger church building and the new St Clement's Church was built at Edge Lane (opened 1866). Sir William Cunliffe Brooks
was a benefactor to the township but he withdrew support for building a new church: two of his daughters who died in infancy are buried at the old church. Another opponent was Samuel Mendel of Manley Hall, Whalley Range. The old church remained for another 90 years and was then demolished though the ground plan is still apparent (it was excavated in the 1990s). A second Anglican parish, St Werburgh's was established in 1898 in the newer part of the suburb. The church on Wilbraham Road was built in 1900–02. At Hurstville Road, Hardy Lane, is St Barnabas's Church, a chapel dependent on St Clement's, opened in 1951.
in 1905 and the present building was opened in 1910. A smaller neighbouring chapel was used by the Welsh Methodist congregation. The first Congregational Chapel was opened in 1883 and replaced by the present chapel in 1894. This is now the United Reformed Church. The church was named the MacFadyen Memorial Church after the former minister, the Rev. J. A. MacFadyen. Some years ago the church was demolished and the congregation meets in the church hall. Other denominations established churches: the Unitarians in Wilbraham Road in 1901; the Macpherson Memorial Primitive Methodist Church built in 1896 was enlarged in 1908; the Baptist Maclaren Memorial Church in 1907 (also in Wilbraham Road); the Presbyterians in 1908 (again in Wilbraham Road); and the Emmanuel Free Church in 1909. The chapels of the Unitarians and Baptists have been demolished though the congregations are still in existence (the Congregationalists and Baptists have joined in the United Reformed Church in the former Congregational church hall). The Evangelical Church meets at Ivygreen Road having met previously in Beech Road.
when Irish immigrants arrived in the mid-19th century. The parish of St Augustine was established in 1890 at the "Priory" (formerly "Oakley"), Needham Avenue. Ten years later the priest moved into a building in High Lane which remained St Augustine's Church until 1927 (the site was on the corner of Church Road, now Chequers Road). It was replaced by the Church of Our Lady and St John but commonly known as St John's (the changes in dedication were influenced by the existence of St Augustine's, Chorlton-on-Medlock, and St Mary's, Mulberry Street, Manchester). This was on a new site on the corner of High Lane and Whitelow Road.
Another church is that of St Ambrose, Barlow Moor, (architects Reynolds & Stone, 1958). The dedication to St Ambrose of Milan was chosen because St Ambrose Barlow
's birthplace was in the parish.
s, mostly of south Asian
origin. There are mosques in Whalley Range and an Islamic high school (see below) in Chorlton. There are small numbers of Buddhists: one of their establishments is in High Lane in the former Primitive Methodist Chapel and another, the Vairochana Buddhist
Centre, also in High Lane in the former Tom Mostyn's Art School. The oldest (founded 1975) belongs to the Kagyu Ling school of Tibetan Buddhism
and is at Manor Drive, Merseybank.
of Hough End Hall
, lord of the manor
of Manchester (d. 1612) who left £100 to pay a schoolmaster annually £5 for 20 years after his death. The Wesleyan Methodists began both a Sunday school and a day school ca. 1810, whereas the Anglican Sunday school did not begin until a later date. In 1845 the Rev. William Birley was responsible for the building of a Church School at Chorlton Green. When the building was found to be inadequate it was replaced by a new building on the site in 1879. A number of private schools also existed in the late 19th century including C. C. Dadley's grammar school and Tom Mostyn's art school. In 1898 a school was under construction for the Roman Catholic parish of St Augustine and in 1901 a new church school at St Clement's Road replaced the previous building but the older building continued to be used for infants and juniors until this was no longer necessary. In 1904 when Chorlton was incorporated into Manchester a municipal school was opened which moved to its permanent school building in Oswald Road in 1909.
At the present time the secondary schools in Chorlton are the Loreto High School, Chorlton High School and the Islamic High School for Girls at High Lane. The existing building of Chorlton High School replaced the old school at Sandy Lane which was formerly Chorlton Grammar School.
The Beech Road Festival takes place on Beech Road and Chorlton Green in June or July, with commercial and educational stalls and varied entertainments. A tug-of-war between teams from local pubs is a regular fixture and there is live music in Beech Road Park.
The Unity Festival takes place in Chorlton Park, encouraging racial and cultural unity in the area while providing a platform for performances by dancers, musicians and singers. Each festival usually attracts some 10,000 people.
Chorlton Big Green Festival takes place in late March/April. It is an all-day event combining live music, dancing, food, real ale, cider, arts and crafts, workshops, cycling and films. The festival aims to encourage sustainable living in a fun and accessible way. It has a different theme each year and in 2011 the theme is Bike to the Future. Chorlton Arts Festival takes place in May featuring a programme of events spread over nine days. The Chorlton Book Festival is a series of readings, creative writing workshops and publishing talks that takes place over two weeks in the autumn.
Chorlton takes part in the Manchester Food & Drink Festival in early October.
and Dangermouse
were created. The area is used by film crews for TV locations, such as The Second Coming
, as it retains much of its original Victorian architecture. A recent example is White Van Man
shown on BBC3 Television in 2010. A number of poets and minor publishers of poetry were active in the late 20th century and a poetry group meets at Chorlton Public Library. There are three amateur dramatic societies which rehearse and perform in Chorlton.
was long assumed to be the venue for a notable Granada TV concert in 1964 by a number of visiting blues musicians including Muddy Waters
, Sister Rosetta Tharpe
, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, and others. However recent research by C. P. Lee
has identified Alexandra Park railway station, at the end of Athol Road, as the actual location.
The Bee Gees
spent nearly eight years of their childhood living in 51, Keppel Road, Chorlton: in 1958 they moved to Australia. The street also lent its name to a Bee Gees documentary in 1997. The Stone Roses
were a Chorlton band, with guitarist
John Squire
living and working for Cosgrove Hall in the suburb. Mike Pickering of M People
lived on Ryebank Road.
Dunstable-born artist and musician Damon Gough, known as Badly Drawn Boy
is also resident here. In an interview with the Manchester Evening News
, he was quoted as saying "Chorlton's where home is. It's the place I would want to be if the world ended". Jim Noir
, another musician based in Chorlton, recorded his album 'Tower of Love
' in his own house. Another local musician who resides in Chorlton is Mark Collins
of long surviving rock band The Charlatans.
Notable residents have included locally born actor Warren Clarke
who lived at 8, Grindley Avenue, and Freddie Garrity (of Freddie and the Dreamers
). Actress Doris Speed
lived in Sibson Road, and for over twenty years she played Annie Walker
, landlady of the Rovers Return
in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street
. Harry H. Corbett
, of Steptoe and Son fame, started out in the Conservative Club's Dramatic Society.
Quentin Crisp
died in a house on Claude Road shortly before his 91st birthday, on the eve of a nationwide revival of his one-man show. His body was cremated with a minimum of ceremony, and his ashes flown back to New York and scattered over Manhattan.
lodged when he first came to Manchester, on Sibson Road in the house next door but one to Doris Speed's house. Sir Matt Busby's funeral was held at St John's Church; former Manchester City footballer Nicky Reid
was brought up locally. After the Second World War the Owners' Committee sold off the tennis courts and recreation area. The tennis courts were absorbed by gardens of adjoining Chorltonville houses, and the recreation area became a private football ground, currently owned by Chorlton & West Didsbury Football Club.
Rugby Union: Broughton Park Rugby Union F.C. is one of the oldest rugby union
clubs in England and was established in 1882, just one year after the Lancashire County Rugby Union was founded and eleven years after the formation of the national Rugby Football Union
. The club has had a number of different grounds in its time, mainly in the Salford/Prestwich area, but also in the south of Manchester. Since 2004 its present new facility is at Hough End in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Originally the club had only one senior side, but now fields four senior sides and supported by one Colts (U19), four youth (U13-U17) and four mini (U8-U12) teams; a total involvement of some 220 players each week. Broughton Park R.F.C. is the City of Manchester's highest placed representative in the Rugby Union Leagues.
Rugby League: A relative newcomer to the area, Mancunians RL
are an amateur rugby league club which groundshares with Broughton Park Rugby Union F.C. at Hough End. The club was formed in 2009, and were crowned North West regional Champions in 2010. The club has recently announced that they are working closely with the Rugby Football League to become a semi-professional club and join the Co-operative Championships in 2015. Mancunians are very active in the local community and operate schools coaching programmes in partnership with The Manchester College
and Greater Manchester Police
.
Cricket and golf: South West Manchester Cricket Club is one of the oldest in the Manchester area and has four adult teams who all play in the Manchester and District Cricket Association: the ground is at Ellesmere Road North, the old clubhouse being what used to be Hobson's Hall Farm. Chorlton cum Hardy Cricket Club is based at Hardy Lane. Barlow Hall
serves as the club house of the Chorlton-cum-Hardy Golf Club
.
Parks and water parks: Stretford Stadium, within Longford Park, is the home of Trafford Athletic Club. Most of the area of the park is in Stretford but the eastern part is in Chorlton with an entrance on Ryebank Road. Also in the park are tennis courts and bowling greens. An area of Chorlton Park was used many centuries ago for horse racing. As a public park it dates from 1928: there are gardens, many trees, and recreational facilities. The Recreation Ground (Beech Park) was opened in 1896 having been donated to the community by Lord Egerton. Chorlton Water Park is on the north side of the Mersey: access from southern Chorlton is via Maitland Avenue. It may be reached from the southern banks of the River Mersey
by a small footbridge. In nearby Chorlton Ees, a proposed development of football pitches and a clubhouse, while widely supported by people who work with local youth, are the subject of some local opposition. The plans were withdrawn while a committee of the City Council were considering them in January 2010. In May 2010 the issue reemerged with a modified proposal from the club which has aroused middle-class incomer opposition once more. Chorltonville recreation area has become a private football ground, currently owned by Chorlton & West Didsbury Football Club.
Public houses: The oldest public house in Chorlton is reputedly the Bowling Green (1693 but moved to a new site in 1908); the Horse and Jockey, Chorlton Green, occupies a building reputedly of the 16th century though the half-timbered look is Victorian and the licence early 19th century. Near the new centre of Chorlton are the Royal Oak (built on the site of an earlier house,actually around the earlier building, an example follwed by a modern resident of Wilbraham Road].) and the Lloyd's Hotel, Wilbraham Road (ca. 1870). The Beech Inn occupies what was once the Methodist schoolroom. Bowls has been for many years a popular sport in the area: many of the greens which still exist are attached to public houses, e.g. the Lloyd's Hotel and the Bowling Green Hotel. The Bridge Inn on the south bank of the Mersey was once in Chorlton but is now in Sale
and is now named "Jackson's Boat" (for the origin of the name see above, History: From the Middle Ages to the Victorian Period).
Cinemas and dance halls: The earliest cinema was the Chorlton Pavilion in Wilbraham Road on the east side of the railway bridge at Buckingham Road which opened in the first decade of the 20th century. It was bought in 1909 by H. D. Moorhouse and became part of his HDM circuit. The Palais de Luxe Cinema opened in 1915 in Barlow Moor Road and closed ca. 1958; a little further south was the Rivoli Cinema, opened in 1937, which later became the Essoldo and later still the Classic and the Shalimar. At Manchester Road was a cinema originally named the Majestic but when opened was called the Savoy, afterwards the ABC and then the Gaumont. The Chorlton Palais de Danse in Barlow Moor Road was once very popular; after becoming a nightclub the site was redeveloped as a McDonald's
fast food outlet.
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of the city of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester 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...
, England. It is known locally as Chorlton. It is situated about four miles southwest of Manchester city centre
Manchester City Centre
Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...
. Pronunciation varies: ' and ' are both common.
The area was essentially a trackless swamp for most of its history. In the late Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
improved drainage methods led to population growth. In the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, its perceived rural character made it a popular upper-class suburb. Inter-war development cemented its nature as a middle-class suburb. The loss of its railway station, the conversion of larger houses into flats or bedsitters, and significant social housing development to the south of the area changed its character again in the 1970s.
Historically, Chorlton was a village on Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
's southern border with Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, and a township within the ancient parish of Manchester. It was incorporated into the city of Manchester in 1904. Chorlton borders Stretford
Stretford
Stretford is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Lying on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, it is to the southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Salford and northeast of Altrincham...
, Sale
Sale, Greater Manchester
Sale is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, the town lies on flat ground on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Stretford, northeast of Altrincham, and southwest of the city of Manchester...
, Didsbury
Didsbury
Didsbury is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre, in the southern half of the Greater Manchester Urban Area...
, Withington
Withington
Withington is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury, and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, near the centre-to-south edges of the Greater Manchester Urban Area; in the...
, Whalley Range and Firswood. The River Mersey runs past Chorlton along its southern boundary.
The historical boundary to the north and west has been revised to remove anomalies. The area's eastern boundary has changed since the 19th century because of the creation of new parishes, incorporation into the City of Manchester, division into wards.
Toponymy
The name Chorlton-cum-Hardy was established in this form in the late 19th century by combining "Chorlton" with "Hardy" by the Latin "cum" often used between two associated settlements. Some writers have derived "Chorlton" from the Old English Ceorlatun meaning "the settlement of ceorlsChurl
A churl , in its earliest Old English meaning, was simply "a man", but the word soon came to mean "a non-servile peasant", still spelt ċeorl, and denoting the lowest rank of freemen...
" and "Hardy" from the Old English Ard-Ea, meaning "trees near the water" However according to E. Ekwall (1936) and A. D. Mills (1991) the more probable derivation is from 'Ceolfrith's tun'. (All the other "Chorlton" settlement names are understood to be derived from Ceorlatun.) Ekwall says of Hardy, "Second element ĒG 'island'. The first is doubtful." The long-form name was invented by Victorian property developers, who arrived in the wake of the coming of the railway in 1880, to distinguish it from Chorlton-upon-Medlock. A village green and olde-worlde pub (the Horse and Jockey) were made out of existing buildings and garden so that the area had bucolic attractiveness, and stress was laid on distinguishing the area from the urban Chorlton-upon-Medlock.
The name has been a source of amusement. It has a disproportionate number of mentions in Hansard
Hansard
Hansard is the name of the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, an early printer and publisher of these transcripts.-Origins:...
. Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, in particular, expressed an affinity for "the good people of Chorlton-cum-Hardy". It was mentioned on The Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...
, and other BBC Radio 4 comedies.
Seventh century to early Victorian period
Thomas L. Ellwood suggested 610 AD as the date of founding the settlement but John Lloyd in his 1972 history considered the period 610 to 900 AD more likely. The district was part of the kingdom of NorthumbriaNorthumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
from the 7th century but settlement in the Mersey valley may well have been later. The ancient forest of Arden grew on both sides of the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
which had large variations in its water level and was liable to meander. The silt of the flood plain made good land for farming.
In medieval times the district formed part of the Manor of Withington
Withington
Withington is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury, and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, near the centre-to-south edges of the Greater Manchester Urban Area; in the...
an area stretching from Longford Park to Debdale Park, and south to the Mersey. Hough End (the southeastern fourth part which originally belonged to Chorlton) was removed from it in 1641. Hough End Hall
Hough End Hall
Hough End Hall is a historic house in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, North West England. It was built in 1596 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I by Sir Nicholas Mosley , when he became Lord of the Manor of Manchester and of the dependent Manor of Withington...
replaced the old manor house of Withington; it is now a Grade II listed building. The early history of the area was linked to Stretford
Stretford
Stretford is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Lying on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, it is to the southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Salford and northeast of Altrincham...
which had a river crossing, a market, and was on the main route to Manchester. The chapel of ease in Chorlton was linked to Stretford Parish Church, before it was linked to Didsbury. The estimated population in 1640 was 85; in 1714 it was 325. The 1801 census recorded 513 inhabitants, and the 1811 census 619: by 1851 it had increased to 761. The Tithe Commissioners' survey carried out in 1841 provides details of the size and tenure of every piece of land. The character of the district was agricultural and Chorlton benefited from the growth of Manchester by supplying its demand for food. According to John Lloyd apple orchards were productive here.
Later Victorian period
Until the last quarter of the 19th century the population of Chorlton had increased very little though the development of public transport through Stretford had some effect. The railway came first to Stretford, and the upmarket property development that followed came up Edge Lane, a permanently flood-free area. The abolition of Withington's manorial rights in the 1840s meant that local government began to be formalised. Chorlton became part of Chorlton Poor Law UnionChorlton Poor Law Union
Chorlton Poor Law Union was founded in January 1837 as a consequence of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, also known as the New Poor Law. It was overseen by an elected board of 19 guardians representing the 12 parishes in the area it served: Ardwick, Burnage, Chorlton-upon-Medlock,...
(named after Chorlton-on-Medlock), then Withington Urban District, and was incorporated into the City of Manchester, while Stretford voted for autonomy. The building of Wilbraham Road to connect Lord Egerton's holdings across the north of the Manor of Withington, from Fallowfield to Edge Lane in Chorlton in 1869 established the nucleus of a residential area at the Barlow Moor Road crossing. A railway line from Manchester Central
Manchester Central railway station
Manchester 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:...
through Chorlton was built by the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The 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....
, and Chorlton station
Chorlton-cum-Hardy railway station
Chorlton Metrolink station is a Manchester Metrolink station built on the former Cheshire Lines Committee line. The station is one of the first stations opened as part of Phase 3A of the Big Bang extension plans and is built on the site of the former railway station...
opened on 1 January 1880. This led to considerable residential and commercial development with the establishment of a village centred on the Barlow Moor Road / Wilbraham Road crossroads, northeast of the original village with a centre at Chorlton Green and Beech Road.
There was significant immigration in this period from Ireland and other areas of the British Isles. The Irish came to domestic service
Domestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
and others came in pursuit of work in the expanding industries of Manchester, moving to improve their prospects. A significant number were employed in the area's small-scale horticulture and farming. In the 1880s a member of the Fenians, a precursor of the IRA, was arrested while working in 'The Isles' between Manchester Road and Longford Park. His weapon was not recovered from its hiding-place until the foundations were being dug for Oswald Road School. The Irish community remains and the growth of Roman Catholicism originated with them. By the first decade of the 20th century the church and convent school were established on High Lane and later came the adjoining Irish Association Social Club.
Because the county boundary was determined by the course of the Mersey, it traditionally did not exactly follow the river when it changed course: this happened occasionally in the period before improved flood control measures were introduced in the 1840s. Thus the Bridge Inn (commonly known as Jackson's Boat) was once in Chorlton. The myth attached to this is that it was incorporated into Lancashire to prevent illegal race-goers on Chorlton Ees
Chorlton Brook
Chorlton Brook is a stream in Greater Manchester, England. It heads westward through Chorlton-cum-Hardy, having been formed at the confluence of Platt Brook and Shaw Brook , and after passing north of Chorltonville it flows through Chorlton Ees into the River Mersey upstream of Sale Water...
escaping into Cheshire at the approach of the Lancashire Constabulary. The Manchester–Trafford boundary now follows the course of the river. The crossing here was originally by ferry boat fastened to a chain: in 1816 this was replaced by a wooden footbridge. By 1881 a steel bridge was built as the old bridge was damaged, it was washed away in October 1881. For the area between Chorlton and the river, see Chorlton Ees
Chorlton Brook
Chorlton Brook is a stream in Greater Manchester, England. It heads westward through Chorlton-cum-Hardy, having been formed at the confluence of Platt Brook and Shaw Brook , and after passing north of Chorltonville it flows through Chorlton Ees into the River Mersey upstream of Sale Water...
.
20th century developments
Further growth was aided by the arrival of Manchester Corporation's tramway before the First World War: a terminus was built on Barlow Moor Road a short distance south of the junction with High Lane. Chorltonville
Chorltonville
Chorltonville is a garden village dating from 1911 within Chorlton, in Manchester, North West England. It retains much of its original character, including architecture inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement.- Geography :...
was developed as a garden suburb south of Chorlton Brook
Chorlton Brook
Chorlton Brook is a stream in Greater Manchester, England. It heads westward through Chorlton-cum-Hardy, having been formed at the confluence of Platt Brook and Shaw Brook , and after passing north of Chorltonville it flows through Chorlton Ees into the River Mersey upstream of Sale Water...
: the houses are mostly large and semi-detached and individual in design, standing on tree-lined roads. Alexandra Park Aerodrome (1917–1924), was Manchester's first major airfield located east of the Midland railway overbridge on Mauldeth Road West. (See below, Transport).
After the World War came a period of residential development to the east of the new village either side of Wilbraham Road and a council housing estate at Merseybank
Merseybank
Merseybank is a small council estate located 4 miles south of Manchester city centre, England and within the suburb of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. It was built between 1927 and 1932 and has many types of housing typical of those built in the late 1920s by Manchester Corporation.- Places of interest :In the...
. From the 1960s onwards a council estate at Nell Lane near Southern Cemetery; "Chorlton Precinct", a small shopping precinct with an office block, Graeme House (1969/70) (in 2009 rebranded as "The Square") at Wilbraham Road and patchy redevelopment in other areas. There has been immigration particularly from the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
and from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. The Polish community arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, and is the origin of the existence of the 'Barbakan' delicatessen and bakery established in 1964.) Chorlton Green has been designated a conservation area
Conservation area
A 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...
by the city council since 1970 and a second area was designated at Chorltonville in 1991. Chorlton Park Apartments
Chorlton Park Apartments
The Chorlton Park Apartments, is an award winning "Green building" apartment building in Chorlton, Manchester, England. It was designed by architect Roger Stephenson and was built as part of collaboration between Tom Bloxham's development company Urban Splash and Irwell Valley in 2002.The...
have been recognised for the quality of their design. Beech Road has become a cultural centre, with several shops, restaurants and café bars. In 2010 Manchester City Council's South Manchester Regeneration Team issued an action plan for improvements to the "Chorlton District Centre" for the period 2010 to 2020. It proposes investment in the district aimed at creating "a strong, vibrant and successful centre that supports the local community and has the ability to exploit the economic potential of Metrolink".
The 1980s onwards saw a new kind of resident arrive; these were people who had studied in Manchester, and had fond memories of the city's southern suburbs. The high salaries available in the upper reaches of a growing public sector were available to them and they brought with them a particular sensibility. This has rejuvenated the area's cultural life, and transformed some of its shopping areas, as mentioned above. Later arrivals consist of a large number of musicians, artists in all media, and others, and has given the area a significant 'vibe'. The part of Chorlton's population that has not benefited in the last few decades of renewal has been the residents of the large areas of social housing to the south of the district. There have been clashes of interests between groups with different lifestyles, most recently over the provision of playing fields at Chorltonville. The social housing areas score highly on indicators of social deprivation, a fact at odds with Chorlton's reputation as 'trendy' and 'green'.
Transport
Chorlton-cum-Hardy railway station
Chorlton Metrolink station is a Manchester Metrolink station built on the former Cheshire Lines Committee line. The station is one of the first stations opened as part of Phase 3A of the Big Bang extension plans and is built on the site of the former railway station...
through the southern suburbs of Manchester and to horse buses from Chorlton Green towards Manchester city centre. In the early 20th century the electric tramway reached Chorlton and remained in service until January 1949. Motorbuses replaced horse buses and, from 1949 onwards, the trams. Passenger railway services ended at the beginning of 1967 with the closure of Chorlton-cum-Hardy station, which had provided a commuter service into . Bus services have been expanded and reorganized many times since then. The most frequent services run on Manchester Road and Barlow Moor Road, and Edge Lane and Wilbraham Road. In the 21st century, traffic has become a serious problem , not helped by delays in establishing a Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink
Metrolink 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...
(tram) link to the area. From 1992 the Metrolink ran through Stretford, and conversion of the former railway line through Chorlton to a Metrolink line was planned, but failed to secure the funding needed. Work on the conversion began in 2010, and it opened on 7 July 2011, providing residents with a rail journey into the city centre for the first time in 44 years. The Chorlton tram stop is on the site of the old railway station. Services terminate one stop further south at St Werburgh's Road, on the site of the old Chorlton Junction signal-box.
Planned ring road
Mauldeth Road West was built as a dual-carriageway in anticipation of the expansion of motor traffic and had a central strip intended for use as a double track for electric trams. When numbering of roads
Great Britain road numbering scheme
The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Great Britain. Each road is given a single letter, which represents the road's category, and a subsequent number, with a length of between 1 and 4 digits. Originally introduced to arrange...
was introduced in the 1930s, Wilbraham Road was named as a part of the southern intermediate ring-road, the A6010, along with less suitable roads such as High Lane and Platt Lane. Mauldeth Road West was numbered the A6144, and was meant to extend along Hardy Lane, hence the latter's unusual width. It was then to cross the Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
near Jackson's Boat, and join the rest of the A6144 at Old Hall Road, Sale, on its journey to Partington
Partington
Partington is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England, about to the south-west of Manchester city centre. Historically a part of Cheshire, it lies on the southern bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, opposite Cadishead on the northern bank...
and Lymm
Lymm
Lymm is a large village and civil parish within the Warrington borough of Cheshire, in North West England. Lymm was an urban district of Cheshire from 1894 to 1974. The civil parish of Lymm incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little...
. Its purpose was to relieve central Chorlton of the heavy traffic to Trafford Park
Trafford Park
Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located opposite Salford Quays, on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, it is west-southwest of Manchester city centre, and north of Stretford. Until the late 19th century it was the...
, and from the clay pits operational in the Mersey Valley. A-Z maps showed the legend "completion in 1974" through many editions.
Hough End
Alexandra Park aerodrome at Hough End, and its secondary landing site at Turn Moss, had a life-span, from 1917 until 1924; only the Air Training Corps
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps , commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation and the Royal Air Force . It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air...
centre remains. First Barton
Barton Aerodrome
City Airport is a general aviation airport in the Barton-upon-Irwell area of Eccles, in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. Formerly known as both Barton Aerodrome and City Airport Manchester...
, then Ringway
Manchester International Airport
Manchester Airport , formerly often called Ringway, is a major airport at Ringway in the City of Manchester within Greater Manchester, UK. In 2010 it was 4th busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers, and the busiest airport in the UK outside the London region...
were chosen as the municipal aerodrome instead. Local residents benefited from Alexandra Park (later Wilbraham Road) railway station, and the cutting of a dual carriageway Mauldeth Road West. Most of Hough End, the site of the original manor house, was used for building the Old Moat council estate, and the dual carriageway Princess Road
A5103 road
The A5103 is a major road in England. It runs from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre to junction 3 of the M56 motorway and is one of Manchester's principal radial routes.- A6 to the A57 motorway :...
and its median tram-track in 1924-25, ensured Hough End was saved as green space. The Aerodrome company reverted its lease to Lord Egerton, who donated it as an open space in perpetuity to the City of Manchester. During the Second World War, anti-aircraft batteries were located there, and German prisoners, used as workers, lived in temporary housing beside Princess Road.
Governance
The district was a townshipTownship (England)
In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...
of the ancient parish of Manchester
Manchester (ancient parish)
Manchester was an ancient ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford, in Lancashire, England. It encompassed several townships and chapelries, including the then township of Manchester...
in the Salford Hundred
Salford (hundred)
The hundred of Salford was an ancient division of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England. It was sometimes known as Salfordshire, the name alluding to its judicial centre being the township of Salford...
of Lancashire, then Stretford as that grew in importance. From 1876 to 1894 it was part of the district administered by the Withington Local Board and from 1894 to 1904 part of Withington Urban District. Chorlton was absorbed into the City of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester 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 August 1904, together with the rest of the urban district. A separate Withington Committee of the City Council existed between 1904 and 1914.
In 2010 Chorlton ward was represented by one Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
and two Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
. Chorlton Park ward
Barlow Moor
Barlow Moor was in early times an area of waste between Didsbury and Chorlton-cum-Hardy and was named after Barlow. Barlow Moor Road runs through the area and connects to Wilmslow Road at the southern end and Manchester Road at the northern end. Southern Cemetery and Chorlton Park are landmarks on...
which incorporates the Mersey Bank and Nell Lane estates of south and south-east Chorlton is represented by three Liberal Democrat councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
s.
Whalley Range ward includes parts of Chorlton and is represented by a Labour and two Independent councillors.
South Manchester Police
Chorlton-cum-Hardy is in the South Manchester Division of Greater Manchester PoliceGreater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...
(GMP) and Chorlton Police Station was situated on Barlow Moor Road, between Beech Road and the bus station. The police station closed in October 2011 and was listed for auction in November of that year. The first police station was established in Beech Road in 1885 by the Lancashire Constabulary.
At Hough End the GMP Sports and Social Club is on the site of the former Alexandra Park Aerodrome and is where Greater Manchester Police train their dogs and horses. The GMP helicopter uses the pitches as a landing spot when patients are taken on to Wythenshawe Hospital
Wythenshawe Hospital
The University Hospital of South Manchester is a major acute teaching hospital in Wythenshawe, south Manchester, England. It provides services for adults and children at Wythenshawe Hospital and Withington Community Hospital...
or dog handlers need to be airlifted to incidents in the helicopter.
Religion
Chorlton has been since 1847 in the Anglican Diocese of ManchesterAnglican Diocese of Manchester
The Diocese of Manchester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York, England. Based in the city of Manchester, the diocese covers much of the county of Greater Manchester and small areas of the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.-History:...
and Archdeaconry of Manchester; and since 1850, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. Between 1541 and 1847 it was in the Diocese of Chester
Diocese of Chester
The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York based in Chester, covering the county of Cheshire in its pre-1974 boundaries...
and before that in the Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry. In medieval times churches were scarce in the district and the parish church was the Collegiate Church, Manchester
Manchester Cathedral
Manchester Cathedral is a medieval church on Victoria Street in central Manchester and is the seat of the Bishop of Manchester. The cathedral's official name is The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George in Manchester...
, dependent on which was the chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
at Didsbury.
Church of England
The first church was south of the present Chorlton Green, its churchyard is still in existence next to the Bowling Green Hotel though interments ceased in 1882. This chapel, dedicated to St Clement, was established early in the 16th century, probably 1512, was replaced by a brick-built chapel in 1779. For about 35 years this would have been Roman Catholic, until the separation from RomeEnglish Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
under King Henry VIII. Among the clergy who ministered here was Peter Hordern (died 1836) who was librarian of Chetham's Library
Chetham's Library
Chetham's Library in Manchester, England is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Chetham's Hospital, which contains both the library and Chetham's School of Music, was established in 1653 under the will of Humphrey Chetham , for the education of "the sons of honest,...
, Manchester. By 1860 there was a need for a larger church building and the new St Clement's Church was built at Edge Lane (opened 1866). Sir William Cunliffe Brooks
Sir William Cunliffe Brooks, 1st Baronet
Sir William Cunliffe Brooks, 1st Baronet was an English barrister, banker and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1869 and 1892....
was a benefactor to the township but he withdrew support for building a new church: two of his daughters who died in infancy are buried at the old church. Another opponent was Samuel Mendel of Manley Hall, Whalley Range. The old church remained for another 90 years and was then demolished though the ground plan is still apparent (it was excavated in the 1990s). A second Anglican parish, St Werburgh's was established in 1898 in the newer part of the suburb. The church on Wilbraham Road was built in 1900–02. At Hurstville Road, Hardy Lane, is St Barnabas's Church, a chapel dependent on St Clement's, opened in 1951.
Nonconformism
Methodism was probably introduced in the 1790s and a chapel was built in Beech Road in about 1805 and replaced by a larger building in 1827. It moved to the present site in 1873 when the chapel in Manchester Road was built in the neo-Gothic style, it has a First World War war memorial in the grounds. In 2010 the chapel's Sunday school building was adapted and became an arts centre. Manley Park Methodist Church was established on Egerton Road (North); the congregation began worshipping in a tin tabernacleTin tabernacle
Tin tabernacles were a type of prefabricated building made from corrugated iron developed in the mid 19th century initially in Great Britain. Corrugated iron was first used for roofing in London in 1829 by Henry Robinson Palmer and the patent sold to Richard Walker who advertised "portable...
in 1905 and the present building was opened in 1910. A smaller neighbouring chapel was used by the Welsh Methodist congregation. The first Congregational Chapel was opened in 1883 and replaced by the present chapel in 1894. This is now the United Reformed Church. The church was named the MacFadyen Memorial Church after the former minister, the Rev. J. A. MacFadyen. Some years ago the church was demolished and the congregation meets in the church hall. Other denominations established churches: the Unitarians in Wilbraham Road in 1901; the Macpherson Memorial Primitive Methodist Church built in 1896 was enlarged in 1908; the Baptist Maclaren Memorial Church in 1907 (also in Wilbraham Road); the Presbyterians in 1908 (again in Wilbraham Road); and the Emmanuel Free Church in 1909. The chapels of the Unitarians and Baptists have been demolished though the congregations are still in existence (the Congregationalists and Baptists have joined in the United Reformed Church in the former Congregational church hall). The Evangelical Church meets at Ivygreen Road having met previously in Beech Road.
Roman Catholic churches
Roman Catholicism was re-introduced to Chorlton after its suppression in the 16th-century ReformationEnglish Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
when Irish immigrants arrived in the mid-19th century. The parish of St Augustine was established in 1890 at the "Priory" (formerly "Oakley"), Needham Avenue. Ten years later the priest moved into a building in High Lane which remained St Augustine's Church until 1927 (the site was on the corner of Church Road, now Chequers Road). It was replaced by the Church of Our Lady and St John but commonly known as St John's (the changes in dedication were influenced by the existence of St Augustine's, Chorlton-on-Medlock, and St Mary's, Mulberry Street, Manchester). This was on a new site on the corner of High Lane and Whitelow Road.
Another church is that of St Ambrose, Barlow Moor, (architects Reynolds & Stone, 1958). The dedication to St Ambrose of Milan was chosen because St Ambrose Barlow
Ambrose Barlow
Ambrose Edward Barlow, O.S.B., was an English Benedictine monk who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. He is one of a group of saints canonized by Pope Paul VI who became known as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales....
's birthplace was in the parish.
Islam and Buddhism
Present day Chorlton has a population of MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s, mostly of south Asian
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
origin. There are mosques in Whalley Range and an Islamic high school (see below) in Chorlton. There are small numbers of Buddhists: one of their establishments is in High Lane in the former Primitive Methodist Chapel and another, the Vairochana Buddhist
New Kadampa Tradition
The New Kadampa Tradition ~ International Kadampa Buddhist Union is a global Buddhist organisation founded by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in England in 1991. In 2003 the words "International Kadampa Buddhist Union" were added to the original name "New Kadampa Tradition"...
Centre, also in High Lane in the former Tom Mostyn's Art School. The oldest (founded 1975) belongs to the Kagyu Ling school of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
and is at Manor Drive, Merseybank.
Education
The earliest record of a school in Chorlton is the will of Sir Nicholas MosleyNicholas Mosley (mayor)
Sir Nicholas Mosley , also spelt Mosly and Moseley, was a manufacturer of woollen cloth, lord of the manor of Manchester, and Lord Mayor of London....
of Hough End Hall
Hough End Hall
Hough End Hall is a historic house in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, North West England. It was built in 1596 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I by Sir Nicholas Mosley , when he became Lord of the Manor of Manchester and of the dependent Manor of Withington...
, lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of Manchester (d. 1612) who left £100 to pay a schoolmaster annually £5 for 20 years after his death. The Wesleyan Methodists began both a Sunday school and a day school ca. 1810, whereas the Anglican Sunday school did not begin until a later date. In 1845 the Rev. William Birley was responsible for the building of a Church School at Chorlton Green. When the building was found to be inadequate it was replaced by a new building on the site in 1879. A number of private schools also existed in the late 19th century including C. C. Dadley's grammar school and Tom Mostyn's art school. In 1898 a school was under construction for the Roman Catholic parish of St Augustine and in 1901 a new church school at St Clement's Road replaced the previous building but the older building continued to be used for infants and juniors until this was no longer necessary. In 1904 when Chorlton was incorporated into Manchester a municipal school was opened which moved to its permanent school building in Oswald Road in 1909.
At the present time the secondary schools in Chorlton are the Loreto High School, Chorlton High School and the Islamic High School for Girls at High Lane. The existing building of Chorlton High School replaced the old school at Sandy Lane which was formerly Chorlton Grammar School.
Annual events
Chorlton took part in the 2010 Manchester City Council funding initiative 'U Decide', an annual event where community groups bid for up to £1000 of council money, and are selected by a vote of local residents present. Chorlton holds a variety of annual festivals which have received funding through U Decide.The Beech Road Festival takes place on Beech Road and Chorlton Green in June or July, with commercial and educational stalls and varied entertainments. A tug-of-war between teams from local pubs is a regular fixture and there is live music in Beech Road Park.
The Unity Festival takes place in Chorlton Park, encouraging racial and cultural unity in the area while providing a platform for performances by dancers, musicians and singers. Each festival usually attracts some 10,000 people.
Chorlton Big Green Festival takes place in late March/April. It is an all-day event combining live music, dancing, food, real ale, cider, arts and crafts, workshops, cycling and films. The festival aims to encourage sustainable living in a fun and accessible way. It has a different theme each year and in 2011 the theme is Bike to the Future. Chorlton Arts Festival takes place in May featuring a programme of events spread over nine days. The Chorlton Book Festival is a series of readings, creative writing workshops and publishing talks that takes place over two weeks in the autumn.
Chorlton takes part in the Manchester Food & Drink Festival in early October.
Creative and performing arts
The area is populated with creative people such as artists, writers and actors. Until January 2009 Chorlton was the location for the Cosgrove Hall animation studios where the children's series Chorlton and the WheeliesChorlton and the Wheelies
Chorlton and the Wheelies was an animated children's television series that ran from September 1976 until June 1979 on British Television Channel...
and Dangermouse
DangerMouse
Danger Mouse is a British animated television series which was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television. It features the eponymous Danger Mouse, an English mouse who works as a superhero/secret agent. The show is a loose parody of British spy fiction, particularly James Bond and the...
were created. The area is used by film crews for TV locations, such as The Second Coming
The Second Coming (TV serial)
The Second Coming is a two-part British television drama first screened on ITV in the UK in February 2003. It concerns the realisation of Steve Baxter that he is in fact the Son of God, and has just a few days to find the human race's Third Testament and thus avert the Apocalypse.It was written...
, as it retains much of its original Victorian architecture. A recent example is White Van Man
White Van Man (TV series)
White Van Man is a British sitcom created by Adrian Poynton and first broadcast on BBC Three and BBC HD in 2011. Will Mellor plays Ollie, a man with business dreams who has to put them on hold while he takes over the family handyman business from his father Tony played by Clive Mantle. It was...
shown on BBC3 Television in 2010. A number of poets and minor publishers of poetry were active in the late 20th century and a poetry group meets at Chorlton Public Library. There are three amateur dramatic societies which rehearse and perform in Chorlton.
Historic
- Saint Ambrose BarlowAmbrose BarlowAmbrose Edward Barlow, O.S.B., was an English Benedictine monk who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. He is one of a group of saints canonized by Pope Paul VI who became known as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales....
, a member of the notable Barlow family, was born at Barlow HallBarlow HallBarlow Hall is an ancient manor house and Grade II listed building in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in the suburbs of Manchester, England. A house has existed on the site since at least the 13th century, but the present building dates back no further than the 16th century , with additions having been made later...
in 1585. He suffered martyrdom for his faith. - Joshua Brookes, curate of St Clement's church from 1782 to 1791. In 1791 he became chaplain of Manchester Collegiate ChurchManchester CathedralManchester Cathedral is a medieval church on Victoria Street in central Manchester and is the seat of the Bishop of Manchester. The cathedral's official name is The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George in Manchester...
. He was an eccentric member of an eccentric family and many stories are told of him. He is portrayed in Mrs. Linnaeus Banks's novel The Manchester Man. He is commemorated locally in the name of the public housePublic houseA public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
Joshua Brooks [sic], 106 Princess StreetPrincess Street, ManchesterPrincess Street is one of the main streets in Manchester City Centre, Greater Manchester, England. It begins at Cross Street and runs approximately eastwards across Mosley Street, Portland Street and Whitworth Street until the point where it continues as Brook Street and eventually joins the...
. - Charles PeaceCharles PeaceCharles Frederick Peace was a notorious English burglar and murderer from Sheffield, whose somewhat remarkable life later spawned dozens of romanticised novels and films...
, a notorious petty criminal who killed P. C. Nicholas Cock in 1876 (at the Old Trafford end of Manchester Road). On conviction he was hanged at Leeds. - Alderman James Herbert Dawson, one of the promoters of the garden suburb at ChorltonvilleChorltonvilleChorltonville is a garden village dating from 1911 within Chorlton, in Manchester, North West England. It retains much of its original character, including architecture inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement.- Geography :...
, was a long-serving councillor in Manchester and in Lytham St AnnesLytham St AnnesLytham St Annes is a conurbation in the Fylde district of Lancashire, England. The neighbouring towns of Lytham and St-Anne's-on-the-Sea have grown together and now form a seaside resort...
. - Sir Arthur Whitten BrownArthur Whitten BrownSir Arthur Whitten Brown KBE was the navigator of the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight.-Life and work:...
, aviation pioneer who is buried at Southern CemeterySouthern Cemetery, ManchesterSouthern Cemetery, Manchester is a large municipal cemetery in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Greater Manchester, England, three miles south of Manchester city centre: it was opened in 1879... - Henry RoyceHenry RoyceSir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet, OBE was a pioneering car manufacturer, who with Charles Stewart Rolls founded the Rolls-Royce company.-Early life:...
, mechanical engineer and founder of Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce LimitedRolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
, lived here from 1893 to 1898
Modern
- HRH The Princess Anne, laid the foundation stone of the Multiple Sclerosis SocietyMultiple Sclerosis Society of Great BritainMultiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a British medical research charity dedicated to curing the neurological condition multiple sclerosis...
Housing Scheme on Cundiff Road in October 1989 - David BonserDavid BonserThe Right Reverend David Bonser was the Anglican Bishop of Bolton from 1991 until 1999.Educated at King’s College London Bonser studied for ordination at St Boniface College Warmister...
, the Anglican Bishop of BoltonBishop of BoltonThe Bishop of Bolton is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester, in the province of York, England. The title takes its name after the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester.-List of the Bishops of Bolton:...
from 1991 until 1999, was RectorRectorThe word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of St Clement's Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 1968–72 - Sir Robert MarkRobert MarkSir Robert Mark, GBE, QPM was an English police officer who served as Chief Constable of Leicester City Police, and later as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1972 to 1977....
, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, began his career with the Manchester City PoliceManchester City PoliceThe Manchester City Police was, from the early 19th century until 1968, the territorial police force of the city of Manchester, in northern England.Under the provisions of the Police Act 1964, Manchester City Police merged with the Salford City Police to create the...
. He was born in Chorlton and was resident there until his move to Leicester in 1957.
Public entertainment and popular music
Due to the signs (i.e. "Chorltonville") seen on the programme, Chorlton-cum-Hardy railway stationChorlton-cum-Hardy railway station
Chorlton Metrolink station is a Manchester Metrolink station built on the former Cheshire Lines Committee line. The station is one of the first stations opened as part of Phase 3A of the Big Bang extension plans and is built on the site of the former railway station...
was long assumed to be the venue for a notable Granada TV concert in 1964 by a number of visiting blues musicians including Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, and others. However recent research by C. P. Lee
CP Lee
CP Lee is a musician, author, broadcaster and lecturer from Manchester, England.-Biography:Christopher Paul "CP" Lee is a writer, broadcaster, lecturer and performer who started playing in the North West folk and beat clubs of the 1960s with his band Greasy Bear and became a lynchpin of the punk...
has identified Alexandra Park railway station, at the end of Athol Road, as the actual location.
The Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
spent nearly eight years of their childhood living in 51, Keppel Road, Chorlton: in 1958 they moved to Australia. The street also lent its name to a Bee Gees documentary in 1997. The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
were a Chorlton band, with guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
John Squire
John Squire
John Thomas Squire is an English musician, songwriter and artist.Squire is best known as the guitarist for The Stone Roses, a rock band in which he formed a songwriting partnership with lead singer Ian Brown. After leaving The Stone Roses he went on to found The Seahorses and has since released...
living and working for Cosgrove Hall in the suburb. Mike Pickering of M People
M People
M People are a British house music act from Manchester, who formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is from the initials of Mike Pickering, who formed the group.-Career:...
lived on Ryebank Road.
Dunstable-born artist and musician Damon Gough, known as Badly Drawn Boy
Badly Drawn Boy
Damon Gough is an English alternative music singer/songwriter. He was born on 2 October 1969, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Lancashire, England....
is also resident here. In an interview with the Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
, he was quoted as saying "Chorlton's where home is. It's the place I would want to be if the world ended". Jim Noir
Jim Noir
Jim Noir is the stage name of Alan Roberts, an English singer-songwriter from Davyhulme, Manchester. Noir's stage moniker is in homage to Vic Reeves, whose real name is Jim Moir. He has released two albums to date, 2005's Tower of Love and 2008's self titled LP...
, another musician based in Chorlton, recorded his album 'Tower of Love
Tower of Love
Tower of Love is the debut album by Manchester based multi-instrumentalist Jim Noir.-Track listing:UK release# "My Patch"# "I Me You I'm Your"# "Computer Song"# "How to Be So Real"# "Eanie Meany"# "Tower of Love"# "The Key of C"...
' in his own house. Another local musician who resides in Chorlton is Mark Collins
Mark Collins (musician)
Mark Collins is an English guitarist best known as a member of the British indie/rock band The Charlatans.-Career:...
of long surviving rock band The Charlatans.
Notable residents have included locally born actor Warren Clarke
Warren Clarke
-Biography:Clarke was born in Oldham, Lancashire. His first television appearance was in the long running Granada soap opera Coronation Street, initially as Kenny Pickup in 1966 and then as Gary Bailey in 1968. His first major film appearance was in Stanley Kubrick's controversial A Clockwork...
who lived at 8, Grindley Avenue, and Freddie Garrity (of Freddie and the Dreamers
Freddie and the Dreamers
Freddie and the Dreamers were an English band who had a number of hit records between May 1963 and November 1965. Their stage act was based around the comic antics of the 5-foot-3-inch-tall Freddie Garrity, who would bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying. The group remained active...
). Actress Doris Speed
Doris Speed
Doris Speed, MBE was an English actress, best known for her role as snooty Rovers Return landlady Annie Walker on Coronation Street, a role she played from 1960 to 1983.-Early life and career:...
lived in Sibson Road, and for over twenty years she played Annie Walker
Annie Walker
Anne "Annie" Walker is a long-standing fictional character in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was played by actress Doris Speed from the series' first episode in 1960 until Speed retired from the role 23 years and 1,746 episodes later in 1983.The character of Annie has been noted as...
, landlady of the Rovers Return
Rovers Return Inn
The Rovers Return Inn is a fictional public house on the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street. The Rovers Return occupies the corner of Coronation Street and Rosamund Street. Since the first episode it has been the principal setting in the show and many of its most memorable moments...
in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett OBE was an English actor.Corbett was best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son in the 1960s and 70s...
, of Steptoe and Son fame, started out in the Conservative Club's Dramatic Society.
Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp , was an English writer and raconteur. He became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant.- Early life :...
died in a house on Claude Road shortly before his 91st birthday, on the eve of a nationwide revival of his one-man show. His body was cremated with a minimum of ceremony, and his ashes flown back to New York and scattered over Manhattan.
Sport and recreation
Association football: Chorltonville recreation area has become a private football ground, currently owned by Chorlton & West Didsbury Football Club. Many other amateur football teams are active in Chorlton and both the local Football League teams (City and United) are well-supported in the area. It was in Chorlton-cum-Hardy that George BestGeorge Best
George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
lodged when he first came to Manchester, on Sibson Road in the house next door but one to Doris Speed's house. Sir Matt Busby's funeral was held at St John's Church; former Manchester City footballer Nicky Reid
Nicky Reid
Nicholas Scott "Nicky" Reid was an English footballer defender. He played at both centre back and full back during his career....
was brought up locally. After the Second World War the Owners' Committee sold off the tennis courts and recreation area. The tennis courts were absorbed by gardens of adjoining Chorltonville houses, and the recreation area became a private football ground, currently owned by Chorlton & West Didsbury Football Club.
Rugby Union: Broughton Park Rugby Union F.C. is one of the oldest rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
clubs in England and was established in 1882, just one year after the Lancashire County Rugby Union was founded and eleven years after the formation of the national Rugby Football Union
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...
. The club has had a number of different grounds in its time, mainly in the Salford/Prestwich area, but also in the south of Manchester. Since 2004 its present new facility is at Hough End in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Originally the club had only one senior side, but now fields four senior sides and supported by one Colts (U19), four youth (U13-U17) and four mini (U8-U12) teams; a total involvement of some 220 players each week. Broughton Park R.F.C. is the City of Manchester's highest placed representative in the Rugby Union Leagues.
Rugby League: A relative newcomer to the area, Mancunians RL
Mancunians RL
Mancunians RL is a rugby league club based in Manchester. They play in the North West Premier division of the Rugby League Conference. Their second team plays in the North West Merit League....
are an amateur rugby league club which groundshares with Broughton Park Rugby Union F.C. at Hough End. The club was formed in 2009, and were crowned North West regional Champions in 2010. The club has recently announced that they are working closely with the Rugby Football League to become a semi-professional club and join the Co-operative Championships in 2015. Mancunians are very active in the local community and operate schools coaching programmes in partnership with The Manchester College
Manchester College
Manchester College is a liberal arts and sciences college located in North Manchester, Indiana. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students.-Principles:...
and Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...
.
Cricket and golf: South West Manchester Cricket Club is one of the oldest in the Manchester area and has four adult teams who all play in the Manchester and District Cricket Association: the ground is at Ellesmere Road North, the old clubhouse being what used to be Hobson's Hall Farm. Chorlton cum Hardy Cricket Club is based at Hardy Lane. Barlow Hall
Barlow Hall
Barlow Hall is an ancient manor house and Grade II listed building in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in the suburbs of Manchester, England. A house has existed on the site since at least the 13th century, but the present building dates back no further than the 16th century , with additions having been made later...
serves as the club house of the Chorlton-cum-Hardy Golf Club
Chorlton-cum-Hardy Golf Club
Chorlton-cum-Hardy Golf Club is a golf club in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in the southern suburbs of Manchester, England. It is separated from Sale Golf Club to the south only by the River Mersey. The clubhouse of the golf club is located at Barlow Hall, originally built in the 13th century, but rebuilt...
.
Parks and water parks: Stretford Stadium, within Longford Park, is the home of Trafford Athletic Club. Most of the area of the park is in Stretford but the eastern part is in Chorlton with an entrance on Ryebank Road. Also in the park are tennis courts and bowling greens. An area of Chorlton Park was used many centuries ago for horse racing. As a public park it dates from 1928: there are gardens, many trees, and recreational facilities. The Recreation Ground (Beech Park) was opened in 1896 having been donated to the community by Lord Egerton. Chorlton Water Park is on the north side of the Mersey: access from southern Chorlton is via Maitland Avenue. It may be reached from the southern banks of the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
by a small footbridge. In nearby Chorlton Ees, a proposed development of football pitches and a clubhouse, while widely supported by people who work with local youth, are the subject of some local opposition. The plans were withdrawn while a committee of the City Council were considering them in January 2010. In May 2010 the issue reemerged with a modified proposal from the club which has aroused middle-class incomer opposition once more. Chorltonville recreation area has become a private football ground, currently owned by Chorlton & West Didsbury Football Club.
Public houses: The oldest public house in Chorlton is reputedly the Bowling Green (1693 but moved to a new site in 1908); the Horse and Jockey, Chorlton Green, occupies a building reputedly of the 16th century though the half-timbered look is Victorian and the licence early 19th century. Near the new centre of Chorlton are the Royal Oak (built on the site of an earlier house,actually around the earlier building, an example follwed by a modern resident of Wilbraham Road].) and the Lloyd's Hotel, Wilbraham Road (ca. 1870). The Beech Inn occupies what was once the Methodist schoolroom. Bowls has been for many years a popular sport in the area: many of the greens which still exist are attached to public houses, e.g. the Lloyd's Hotel and the Bowling Green Hotel. The Bridge Inn on the south bank of the Mersey was once in Chorlton but is now in Sale
Sale, Greater Manchester
Sale is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, the town lies on flat ground on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Stretford, northeast of Altrincham, and southwest of the city of Manchester...
and is now named "Jackson's Boat" (for the origin of the name see above, History: From the Middle Ages to the Victorian Period).
Cinemas and dance halls: The earliest cinema was the Chorlton Pavilion in Wilbraham Road on the east side of the railway bridge at Buckingham Road which opened in the first decade of the 20th century. It was bought in 1909 by H. D. Moorhouse and became part of his HDM circuit. The Palais de Luxe Cinema opened in 1915 in Barlow Moor Road and closed ca. 1958; a little further south was the Rivoli Cinema, opened in 1937, which later became the Essoldo and later still the Classic and the Shalimar. At Manchester Road was a cinema originally named the Majestic but when opened was called the Savoy, afterwards the ABC and then the Gaumont. The Chorlton Palais de Danse in Barlow Moor Road was once very popular; after becoming a nightclub the site was redeveloped as a McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
fast food outlet.
See also
- Barlow MoorBarlow MoorBarlow Moor was in early times an area of waste between Didsbury and Chorlton-cum-Hardy and was named after Barlow. Barlow Moor Road runs through the area and connects to Wilmslow Road at the southern end and Manchester Road at the northern end. Southern Cemetery and Chorlton Park are landmarks on...
- Chorlton-cum-Hardy railway stationChorlton-cum-Hardy railway stationChorlton Metrolink station is a Manchester Metrolink station built on the former Cheshire Lines Committee line. The station is one of the first stations opened as part of Phase 3A of the Big Bang extension plans and is built on the site of the former railway station...
- Chorlton Park ApartmentsChorlton Park ApartmentsThe Chorlton Park Apartments, is an award winning "Green building" apartment building in Chorlton, Manchester, England. It was designed by architect Roger Stephenson and was built as part of collaboration between Tom Bloxham's development company Urban Splash and Irwell Valley in 2002.The...
- ChorltonvilleChorltonvilleChorltonville is a garden village dating from 1911 within Chorlton, in Manchester, North West England. It retains much of its original character, including architecture inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement.- Geography :...
- MerseybankMerseybankMerseybank is a small council estate located 4 miles south of Manchester city centre, England and within the suburb of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. It was built between 1927 and 1932 and has many types of housing typical of those built in the late 1920s by Manchester Corporation.- Places of interest :In the...
- Parks and open spaces in Chorlton cum HardyParks and open spaces in Chorlton cum HardyParks, water parks and other open spaces in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester include the following.Stretford Stadium, within Longford Park, is the home of Trafford Athletic Club. Most of the area of the park is in Stretford but the eastern part is in Chorlton with an entrance on Ryebank Road. Also in...
- Southern Cemetery, ManchesterSouthern Cemetery, ManchesterSouthern Cemetery, Manchester is a large municipal cemetery in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Greater Manchester, England, three miles south of Manchester city centre: it was opened in 1879...
- Whalley Range, Manchester