Miles Platting, District of Manchester

Miles Platting
Districts & Suburbs of Manchester

Miles Platting was incorporated into the City of Manchester in 1838. The origin of the name is unclear as there are no early records of the district at all. The derivation of the word "Platt" however is from an old word meaning "a small piece of ground" and and "miles" is probably a corruption of the word "mills". Arguably, therefore, the placename might stand for "mills on a small piece of ground", but this is purely speculative. The District of Miles Platting came into being as a separate entity from neighbouring Clayton, Ancoats and Newton Heath during the Industrial Revolution and first seems to have appeared on maps in the 1820s.

Miles Platting did indeed have many mills - Holland Mills, Victoria Mills and Ducie Mills being the most prominent. By the 1870s it also had a chemical works, timber yard, gas works and a tannery. Certainly the black grimness of the local landscape was its most notable feature. Its population was very large for the geographical size of the district and densely packed back-to-back houses were common. Railways tended to dominate the visual landscape of the district as the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway made its way out of Manchester Victoria Railway Station to Leeds and York. This main line and the innumerable sidings that accompanied it have been considerably reduced over recent years, and the local railway station has been closed and demolished for several years now.

Contemporary Miles Platting is part of the East Manchester Regeneration Scheme and is undergoing extensive redevelopment and the removal of some of the last vestiges of the Industrial Revolution. New light industry premises are being made available and substantial incentives to encourage new business into the area. The area around Oldham Road, particularly, is undergoing extensive transformation as the old buildings disappear and new ones take their place.

Return to: Suburban Districts of Manchester

See also:

• Map of City Boundaries in 1838
• Map of City Boundaries in 1938
• Map of City Boundaries in 2002
• Gazetteer of Greater Manchester Place Names

NOTE:
We have made reference to several sources in compiling this web page, but must make special mention of the Breedon Books' "Illustrated History of Manchester's Suburbs" by Glynis Cooper, of which we made particular use. Information about this book can be found on our Books About Manchester webpage.