Newton Heath
Districts & Suburbs of Manchester

NEWTON HEATH
Newton Heath takes its name, self-evidently, from old English meaning "the new town on the heath". The heath in question stretched originally from Miles Platting to Failsworth, and is bordered by brooks and rivers on all four sides - the River Medlock, Moston Brook, Newton Brook and Shooters Brook. Locally the district is simply referred to as Newton. There was also a "detached" area known as Kirkmanshulme which formed part of the district - Belle Vue stands on that land, which is now only remembered in Kirkmanshulme Lane which borders it. The district was incorporated into the City of Manchester in 1890.

Culcheth Hall, which stood alongside the River Medlock within Newton was owned by the Byrons (of whom the poet Lord Byron was a family member). Other great houses once lay within the district, including Clayton Hall (owned by the Greaves family), Whitworth Hall and Hulme Hall.

French Huguenots had settled in the area in the 16th century to avoid continental persecution, and had brought cotton and linen weaving and bleaching skills with them. The arrival of textile mills saw this cottage industry change forever into a fully mechanised mass production system - in 1825 Newton Silk Mill was built and the Monsall Silk Dye Works followed soon afterwards.

The Rochdale Canal made movement of raw materials and finished products a practical reality. Later came other industries, including a soap works, a match manufacturing factory and rope works as well as engineering and glass making works. A multitude of small back-to-back low cost houses had to be constructed to house the new migrant work force. Thus was Newton changed irrevocably from a farming community into an industrialised one.

The 18th century saw Oldham Road turnpiked and a toll bar installed at Lambs Lane - this road still forms the main artery through the district. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Rochdale Canal had been constructed and this brought industrialisation to the district, and the former farming settlement was thus hastened into the Industrial Revolution and creeping urbanisation. The 19th century saw the local population increase nearly 20 fold.

The railways arrived in the 1840s and the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (the LYR) laid two main lines across the district which made a significant change to the look of the district. Engine repair sheds were opened in 1877 at the Newton Heath Traction Maintenance Depot, which grew to become a major local employer which, by the 1860s, had been expanded to a 40 acre site with over 2000 workers.

An unexpected product of Newton Heath is Manchester United Football Club. They began life in 1879 as a football team formed from employees of the LYR who played on a local pitch in Monsall Road, known by the name of Newton Heath Football Club. By 1892 they had been admitted to the Football League and in 1902 they moved to new premises in Bank Street and changed the club name to Manchester United Football Club.

Apart from the railways, Newton Heath grew into a major supplier of engineering, with companies like Mather & Platt, Avro and Heenan & Froude. Blackpool Tower was actually manufactured in Newton.

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.