Districts
of Manchester
Aerial photo of Miles Platting looking toward Manchester city centre
Image provided courtesy of Webb Aviation © 2008. www.webbaviation.co.uk
- all rights reserved.
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.
See also:
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.
