Cheetham Hill Road

Cheetham Hill Road is a road in north

Bury New Road is a feeder to junction 17 of the M60 (formerly M62), the trans-Pennine motorway and, here, the Manchester ring road.[1]

History

Roman Manchester ran from the castrum (fort) at the Medlock crossing in Castlefield, along Deansgate to the crossing of the River Irk at the foot of Red Bank. Cheetham Hill Road starts at the River Irk crossing. The course of the Roman road has not been determined, though it is likely that there was a path that followed Red Bank up the sandstone river cliff following the gentle gradient that was preferred by draught animals. Cheetham, with its other spelling Chetham is an interesting name, the first syllable is a Celtic pre-Roman given name, while the suffix ham, meaning settlement has a Mercian or Northumbrian post-Roman name. Almost all Manchester placename are post-Roman; this implies that Cheetham was of sufficient importance in Roman times for the Celtic name to survive. .^[2]

In the Middle Ages, the land was ceded to Roger de Midleton who leased it to Henry de Chetham. A descendant was Humphrey Chetham who was born at Crumpsall Hall in 1580. Crumpsall Hall, which stood at the junction of Cheetham Hill Road, Sandy Lane (Crescent Road) and Humphrey Street, was demolished in 1825.^[3] A new Crumpsall Hall was built in Crumpsall Park 300m away.

Another important estate was Stocks, at the corner of Elizabeth Street and Cheetham Hill Road. At Stocks, the main road into Manchester passed by North Street and Red Bank and over the bridge into Long Millgate. A new road called York Street cut through from here to New Bridge Street and the Miller Street-Corporation Street junction.^[4] York Street was renamed Cheetham Hill Road around the turn of the nineteenth century due to the large number of York Streets in central Manchester. York Street and its parallel streets were a planned development with elements of a gridiron structure.

In the late 1830s, the very wealthy were living in villas in Crumpsall, leaving the a range of relatively cheap and spacious houses along York Street that were ideal for the traders with retail properties in town, and along

Offices

• The Peninsula, a 13 storey office block opposite New Bridge Street, completed in 2009 with 148,890 square feet (13,832 m²) of office space.^[8]

Civic buildings

• palazzo style building ^[9]
• Assembly Rooms by Mills and Murgatroyd 1858, with a double cube ballroom 80 feet (24 m) by 40 feet (12 m). It had a Louis XV interior designed by John Gregory Crace and was demolished in 1966.^[10]
• Crumpsall Library

Places of worship

Churches

• Church of St John the Evangelist, Cheetham, Waterloo Road (1869–71); architects Paley & Austin^[11]
• St Chad's, York Street, Cheetham Hill Road (1846–47) architects Weightman & Hadfield; the earliest post-Reformation Roman Catholic church to establish itself in Manchester.^{[citation needed][12]}
• St Luke's (1836–39) by Thomas Witlam Atkinson, Grade II listed. ^[9]

Synagogues

• The Great Synagogue (Old Congregation), Cheetham Hill Road, Cheetham (SJ 842998) was designed by Thomas Bird; opened on 14 March 1858, and closed in 1974. It was demolished in 1986. It was built in the Italian manner with large Corinthian columns and pilasters.^{[13] [14]}
• Congregation of British Jews (Manchester Reform Synagogue), Park Place, Cheetham Hill Road was designed by Edward Salomons. The original building in Park Place was consecrated on 25 March 1858 but was lost during the 1 June 1941 blitz.^[13]
• Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue was designed by Edward Salomons. 1873-74. Standing but closed in 1983 when it became the Manchester Jewish Museum.^{[13] [14]}
• The New Congregation Synagogue, Cheetham Hill Road (formerly York Street), Cheetham.(SJ 842997) was opened in 1889, but now used as business premises.^{[13] [14]}
• Central Synagogue, Park Street, Park Street / Cheetham Hill Road, Cheetham (SJ 840992) became the Central Synagogue in 1894. Now used as business premises. The new Central Synagogue is located in Heywood Street, Cheetham (SD 842010) and was built in 1928.^[13]
• United Synagogue, Cheetham Hill Road, Cheetham (SJ 842997) opened in 1904 in a converted Methodist Chapel; it was demolished in 1987.^[13]
• Higher Crumpsall and Higher Broughton Hebrew Congregation. Magnificent stone-white building still in use

Mosques

• Al-Sunnah Mosque: 13 Winterford Road, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, M8 9PD.

Public transport

The 135 Manchester-Bury bus runs the entire length of the road. The lower end, from Corporation Street to Thomas Street, is also served by the 42. On other parts of the road, the 51A, 149, 154 and 167 services run.^[15]

See also

• List of streets and roads in Manchester

References

Footnotes