Kersal

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Coordinates: 53°30′36″N 2°16′42″W / 53.510062°N 2.278237°W / 53.510062; -2.278237
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Kersal
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSALFORD
Postcode districtM7
Dialling code0161
PoliceGreater Manchester
FireGreater Manchester
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
Councillors
  • Ari Leitner (Conservative)
  • Arnold Saunders (Conservative)
  • Peter Connor (Labour)
List of places
UK
England
Greater Manchester
53°30′36″N 2°16′42″W / 53.510062°N 2.278237°W / 53.510062; -2.278237

Kersal is a suburb and district of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Manchester and is part of the historic county of Lancashire.

History

Kersal has been variously known as Kereshale, Kershal, Kereshole, Carshall and Kersall.[1]

The name incorporates the

alluvial land by the side of a river". "Kersal" indicates that this was land where cress grew.[2]

In 1142, Kereshale was given to the

Christians Awake there, but it is more likely that it was written at his home in the Old Shambles in Manchester above what is now the Wellington Inn.[1] After John and his wife's death Kersal Cell was left to his daughter the enthusiastic Jacobite Elizabeth Byrom. Her diary of her time with Bonnie Prince Charlie was discovered in the house.[3]

In the 17th century, the Kersal Moor races were the great event of the year. They usually took place around

Siege of Gibraltar, acquired Hough Hall in Moston, through marriage after such a race.[5] Kersal Moor was also host to one of the great political events of the 19th century, when it was the meeting place for the largest of the Chartist Assemblies attended by at least 30,000 people in September 1838 and again in May 1839. It was also the site of one of the first golf courses to be built outside Scotland. Kersal Links opened in 1818, and was the oldest golf course between the Thames and the Tweed until it closed in 1960.[6] The Kersal Moor races began prior to 1680 and continued, with various interruptions, until 1847 when the course was switched to the other side of the River Irwell, to Castle Irwell, where it remained until 1963. In 1961 the Members' Stand at the Castle Irwell Racecourse was opened and contained the world's first executive boxes. The architect for the racecourse, Ernest Atherden, showed this to the directors of Manchester United who opened their first executive box in 1965, and hence began the modern corporatisation of sport.[7]

Former Kersal Bar Toll House

Kersal remained a rural area until about 1840 when the Clowes family, who owned most of the land in the area, began to sell it off for development, and merchants and manufacturers began to build their mansions in the green fields of

newsagent's. This was the only shop in an area where the landowner's restrictive covenants prevented commercial development.[9] The exterior of the house remains largely unchanged to this day, although it was renovated in 2007 with a two-storey extension being added to the rear. The Toll House is now a Grade II listed building.[10]

Demolition of the Kersal flats in 1990

In the 1930s a large

right to buy.[11] Since then much of the council estate has been sold to sitting tenants and by 2011 just over 50% of homes in the Kersal Ward were in owner-occupation.[12]

Governance

Kersal electoral ward within Salford City Council.

Kersal was originally a

ward
(simply Kersal until 2021) is one of twenty, each represented by three councillors, which make up the City of Salford.

Councillors

The ward is represented by three councillors: Ari Leitner (Con),[15] Arnold Saunders (Con)[16] and Andrew Walters (Independent).

Election Councillor Councillor Councillor
2004 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) George Wilson (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
2006 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) George Wilson (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
2007 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) George Wilson (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
2008 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) George Wilson (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
2010 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) George Wilson (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
2011 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) George Wilson (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
2012 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) George Wilson (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
2014 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) George Wilson (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
2015 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) Harry Davies (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
2016 Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) Harry Davies (Lab) Peter Connor (Lab)
By-election
2 March 2017 		Ann-Marie Humphreys (Lab) Arnold Saunders (Con) Peter Connor (Lab)
2018 Ari Leitner (Con) Arnold Saunders (Con) Peter Connor (Lab)
2019 Ari Leitner (Con) Arnie Saunders (Con) Peter Connor (Lab)
2021 Ari Leitner (Con) Arnie Saunders (Con) Andrew Walters (Ind)

  indicates seat up for re-election.   indicates seat won in by-election.

Geography

Kersal is bounded on the north by Singleton Brook, which defines the border with

water catchment area to alleviate this problem.[19]

The land in the north east rises steeply before flattening out into a series of rolling hills. At one time it was a pastoral area (said to be of 100 acres (0.4 km2)) known as Kersal Woods or Kersal Moor. Much of it has now been developed for

residential
purposes or as a football ground, and the open land known today as Kersal Moor comprises an area of only 12 acres (0.05 km2).

Demography

A profile of the ward conducted by Salford City Council in 2014 recorded a population of 12,929 with 86.8% of people describing themselves as white, 2.3% African, 1.4% Pakistani and 2.7% as other ethnic group.[20]

The

Muslim with none of the other faiths exceeding 0.5%.[21]

Religion

St Paul's Church, Moor Lane

Churches in Kersal include the

Anglican St Paul's Church on Moor Lane, built at the instigation of Colonel William Legh Clowes and Eleanora Atherton of Kersal Cell "for the benefit of the poor of Rainscow" (Rainsough — a hamlet just across the border in Prestwich) in 1851–1852.[22]

The only church in Lower Kersal is the Anglican St Aidan's on Littleton Road, a brick-built church opened in 1972 which seats about 120 people.[23]

There is also the

Servite Friars and known locally as "the Servites". The building adjacent to the church at number 500 Bury New Road, now used as the Servite Priory for the church, was originally the Greek Consulate and still has many Greek motifs adorning its internal decor.[citation needed
]

The former Catholic Chaplaincy at St Philip's Church on Northallerton Road, Lower Kersal, is now home to the "Just Youth" ministry of the

Holy Ghost Fathers.[citation needed
]

There are convents of the Roman Catholic

Carmelite Convent on Vine Street for many years.[citation needed
]

Orthodox Jewish
community.

Education

There are three schools serving the area, St Philip's Roman Catholic Primary School on Cavendish Road, Lower Kersal Community Primary School on St Aidan's Grove, off Littleton Road and St Paul's Church of England Primary School on Nevile Road which replaced a school of the same name built in the 19th century on

high school
off Moor Lane on Mesnefield Road, Kersal High School, which was replaced in 2003 with the Albion High School, based on Lissadel Street, Charlestown. Kersal High School was demolished in 2006 and its site used for housing.

Health

The mortality rate in Lower Kersal and Charlestown is more than twice the national average and approximately one third of the population has a chronic illness.

General Practitioners serve the area, only three are located within it and there is just one pharmacy and one part-time dentist.[26] New Deal for Communities (NDC) was a programme that was part of the Government strategy to regenerate deprived neighbourhoods in England. The two neighbourhoods covered by the Salford NDC were Charlestown and Lower Kersal. A grant of £53m was awarded to the area and a 10-year plan developed. It focused on health, crime, education and employment, young people, building communities and the physical environment. Plans for new health services in Kersal, including two GP practices, a pharmacy, a healthy living project, children and young people's health services and community health services, were implemented with the opening of the Horizon Centre, part of the Willow Tree Healthy Living Centre, at 94 Littleton Road in 2007.[27]

Sports

Salford City Football Club ("The Ammies") is based at the Moor Lane ground in Kersal. The club, founded in 1940, moved into this historic ground in 1978, a location with a sporting legacy which includes horse racing, golf, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, tennis and archery, going back as far as 1681.[28]

Horse racing moved from Kersal Moor to a new racecourse at Castle Irwell, just across the

Public Enquiry two years later.[29] The main stand at Castle Irwell was designed by local architect Ernst Atherton and was the first stand at any sports venue in the UK to include private boxes, the idea having later been copied by Manchester United and then made commonplace throughout the country. The structure still survives as a students' union building; and in the early 1970s the majority of the site was used to build a student village for the University of Salford, the first student houses opening in October 1972.[30]

Kersal's long association with sport continues with the building of Salford Sports Village, a major sports facility centred on Littleton Road which opened in March 2006. This facility is a £4.7m flagship project for the Charlestown and Lower Kersal New Deal for Communities Partnership, Salford Community Leisure and Manchester Football Association. The football facilities include mini, junior and adult grass pitches, a third generation artificial floodlit pitch, a 60-metre x 40 metre artificial pitch, 18 adult grass pitches and players and officials changing rooms. There is also a community suite with a meeting room/social facility with catering facilities, office accommodation training room and an ICT suite.

The Riverbank Park, a neighbourhood park and children's play area, opened next to the Sports Village in 2007.

Community facilities

Kersal Dale Country Park occupies about 32 hectares of countryside[31] straddling a large meander of the River Irwell to the east of Kersal. Approximately half of the park is beech woodland on the side of the Irwell Valley and half is flat land on the flood-plain of the river, which occupies part of the area formerly taken up by the Irwell Castle Racecourse and Kersal Links golf course. The park is designated as a Local Nature Reserve.[32] The Salford Ranger Team organise environmental walks and talks, educational programmes for schools and other activities. There is also a permanent orienteering course.

Kersal Moor is an eight hectare recreation ground to the north of Kersal designated as a Site of Biological Importance and a Local Nature Reserve which consists of open moorland popular with dog walkers and schools.[33]

Lower Kersal Activities Centre, Northallerton Road, Lower Kersal runs a variety of community activities for different age groups, including holiday play schemes. Salford College also runs community courses for over 16s at the centre.

Lower Kersal Social Club, Stamford Road, is a sports and social club open to the public. The club consists of two rooms – the vault area with TV's, 4 darts boards, 1 snooker table and 1 pool table.

The Community Groups' Network gives local community groups, residents' groups and volunteers in Charlestown and Lower Kersal the chance to meet and share information.

Lower Kersal Young People's Group is a Greater Manchester youth network.

The Y-Talk Website has been designed with, and for, young people in Charlestown and Kersal. The site is produced and managed by Salford Youth Service.

Industry

A soap factory was established in Kersal Vale, by the side of the River Irwell on the border with Prestwich in 1920 by Alexander Tom Cussons. The factory produced the famous brands of Carex, Cussons Imperial Leather and Morning Fresh but was closed down in 2009 and was demolished in 2010.[citation needed]

Plans

The Charlestown and Lower Kersal New Deal for Communities has made many improvements to the area including the sports village and improvements to housing and the local environment. There is much work yet to be done, including the demolition of old housing stock to make way for new development. The New Deal Team is working closely with Salford City Council, partner agencies and a network of well-established community groups with their stated aim being to "make sure that the area can become a prosperous and thriving part of Salford." The plans have not been universally welcomed and action groups have been formed to protest at the perceived lack of consultation and the threat to existing homes.[34]

Notable residents

See also

  • Listed buildings in Salford, Greater Manchester

References

  1. ^ a b see'Townships: Broughton', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4 (1911), pp. 217–222. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41408. Retrieved 28 October 2007
  2. ^ Ekwall, E. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names, 4th ed. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1960, p.273
  3. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48929. Retrieved 21 May 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  4. ^ Dobkin (1999), p. 3.
  5. ^ [1][permanent dead link], Retrieved 27 October 2007
  6. ^ Retrieved 2007-11-03
  7. ^ "Grounds for saving". London: The Observer. 17 November 2002. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
  8. ^ Dobkin (1999), p. 39.
  9. ^ Dobkin (1999), p. 40.
  10. ^ "Listed Building Register B – Salford City Council". Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
  11. ^ "Council tenants will have 'right to buy'". BBC News. 20 December 1979. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
  12. ^ "Area: Kersal (Salford Ward): Tenure". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  13. ^ Farrer, William; Brownhill, J. (1908), "House of Cluniac monks: The cell of Kersal", in Farrer, William; Brownhill, J., eds. (1908). A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 2. London: Victoria County History – via British History Online.
  14. ^ Dobkin (1999), p. 26.
  15. ^ "Councillor Ari Leitner". sccdemocracy.salford.gov.uk. Salford City Council. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Councillor Arnold Saunders". sccdemocracy.salford.gov.uk. Salford City Council. Retrieved 4 April 2017.,
  17. ^ Hindle, Paul (1998). Exploring Greater Manchester — a fieldwork guide (PDF). Manchester Geographical Society.
  18. ^ Stories and Photos – Kersal & Broughton Archived 19 September 2004 at the Wayback Machine, Salford City Council, 15 July 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2007
  19. ^ River Irwell Catchment Flood Management Plan Archived 31 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Environment Agency, December 2006. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
  20. ^ Kersal Ward Profile (PDF). Salford City Council. March 2016. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  21. ^ "Area: Kersal (Salford Ward): Religion". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  22. ^ Dobkin (1999), p. 9.
  23. ^ St Aidan's, Lower Kersal Archived 5 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Anglican churches in central Salford. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
  24. ISBN 978-0-85303-735-4
    .
  25. ^ "EJP | In Depth | On Anglo Jewry | Anglo Jewry Today". Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
  26. ^ a b The Salford New Deal for Communities Delivery Plan Archived 10 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine, The Charlestown/Lower Kersal Partnership, 2001. Retrieved 3 November 2007
  27. ^ NHS (9 November 2020). "Find services – NHS". www.nhs.uk.
  28. ^ "salfordcityfc.com – Domain Name For Sale". salfordcityfc.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  29. ^ Gordon 1975, p. 177
  30. ^ Gordon 1975, p. 201
  31. ^ "The Cliff / Kersal Dale – Salford City Council". 29 June 2008. Archived from the original on 29 June 2008.
  32. ^ "Kersal Dale history – Salford City Council". Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  33. ^ "Salford City Council Supplementary planning Document: Nature Conservation and Biodiversity: Adopted 19 July 2006" (PDF). Salford City Council. 19 July 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  34. ^ "Networking Newsletter (Issue 54): Green Belt in for a Thrashing". Archived from the original on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 1 November 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2007
  35. ^ Anon. "Annie Louisa Swynnerton:Biography". ArtMagick. Archived from the original on 3 February 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  36. ^ "The story of Kersal Massive: Manchester's most infamous ever rap trio". 22 December 2020 – via themanc.com.

Bibliography

External links
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