Manchester in York County England History and Geography

MANCHESTER, a parish in the hundred of SALFORD, county palatine of LANCASTER, comprising the manufacturing and market town of Manchester, the chapelries of Ardwick, Blackley, Cheetham, Chorlton cum Hardy, Denton, Didsbury, Gorton, Heaton-Norris, Newton, Salford, and Stretford, and the townships of Beswick, Bradford, Broughton, Burnage, Chorlton-row, Crumpsall, Droylsden, Fails-worth, Harpurhey, Houghton, Hulme, Levenshulme, Moss-Side, Moston, Openshaw, Reddish, Rushulme, and Withington, and containing, according to the last census, 186,942 inhabitants, of which number, including Salford, 133,788 are in the town of Manchester, 36 miles (E. by N.) from Liverpool (but only 31 by the rail-road), 54 (S.E. by S.) from Lancaster, and 186 (N.W. by N.) from London. The origin of this town, which is remarkable for the extent of its trade and the importance of its manufactures, may be traced to a period of remote antiquity. In the time of the Druids, it was distinguished as one of the principal stations of their priests, and celebrated for the privilege of sanctuary attached to its altar, which, in the British language, was called Meyne, signifying a stone. Prior to the Christian era, it was one of the principal seats of the Brigantes, who had a castle, or strong hold, called Mancenion, or the place of tents, near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell, the site of which, still called the 'Castle Field,' was by the Romans, on their conquest of this part of the island under Agricola, about the year 79, selected as the station of the Cohors Prima Frisiorum, and, with reference to its original British name, called by them Mancunium; hence its Saxon name Manceastre, from which its modern appellation is obviously derived. This station was for nearly four centuries occupied by the Romans, and amply provided with every thing requisite for the accommodation and subsistence of the garrison established in it, having also a water-mill on the Medlock, at some distance below the town, the site of which still retains the name of Knott mill. The station included a quadrangular area, five hundred feet in length and four hundred in width, the interior not exactly level, but rising from the centre towards the sides, on which a rampart of earth sloping inwards was raised from the ground surrounding the enclosure, which is consequently lower than the site of the castrum: on the summit of this rampart a wall was originally built, which extended round the enclosure, on one side of which was the castle, or fort; but very little of the foundation of the wall is at present discernible, the few remaining portions being under ground, and the greater part of the site covered with modern buildings. From this station, as from a common centre, Roman roads branched off to those of Cambodunum, Eboracum, Condate, Rigodunum, Veratinum, and Rerigonium. In the vicinity of the aboriginal settlement, which has obtained the name of Aldport, Roman urns and other vessels, stones inscribed to centurions of the cohort, votive altars, coins, fibul?, and lachrymatories, have been found at various times; and without the vallum, foundations of Roman buildings, and other vestiges of antiquity, have been frequently discovered. The Roman road to Cambodunum, commenced at the east gate of the castrum, and pursuing a north-eastern direction, passed over Newton heath into the county of York; the road leading to Eboracum branched off from the former at a distance of less than two miles from Mancunium, and passing by the townships of Chadderton and Royton, continued in a north-eastern direction through Littleborough, and over Blackstone Edge, to the city of York; the road to Condate passed from the east gate of the castrum, through the village of Stretford, to the ford of Mersey, and thence to Kinderton; the road to Rigodunum branched off from the road to Condate about a mile from its commencement, and taking a south-westerly direction, crossed the river Irwell at Old Trafford, terminating at Blackrode; the road to Veratinum diverged from that to Rigodunum, and after passing by Eccles, continued through Barton to Warrington; and the road to the station Rerigonium commenced at the north-west gate of Mancunium, and passing Quay-street, ran nearly parallel with Deans-gate, and after crossing the river Irk passed over Kersall moor to Ribchester: there were also several smaller vicinal ways, of which some slight vestiges may be traced.

After the departure of the Romans, the fort of Mancunium was taken from the Britons, about the year 488, by a party of the Saxons, who had forcibly established themselves in this part of the kingdom: they placed a garrison in it, which, however, surrendered to the British, who retained possession whilst Arthur Pendragon was prosecuting his victories over that people. In 620, it was captured by Edwin, King of Northumbria, who annexed it to his dominions; and soon afterwards a colony of Angles settled here. In 627, the inhabitants were converted to Christianity, by the preaching of Paulinus, a missionary employed by Gregory I., and a Christian church was built, and dedicated to St. Michael. Manchester having been taken by the Danes, was, about 920, wrested from their possession by Edward the Elder, who repaired and fortified the castle, and rebuilt the town, which had been almost destroyed in the assaults of the invaders, placing in it a strong garrison of his own soldiers, on account of its being a frontier town between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. It was raised to the distinction of a burgh, with extensive privileges, and for some time continued highly prosperous; but being exposed to repeated attacks, and having suffered so much injury in the wars between the Northumbrians and the Danes, notwith-standing its enlargement by Edward, it appears, at the time of the Conquest, to have been in every respect inferior to Salford, a Saxon settlement on the opposite bank of the Irwell, which, being a royal demesne, had risen into importance, and imparted name to the hundred: in the Norman survey we find that Manchester contained two churches, but it is not otherwise mentioned as a place of any note. Soon after the Conquest, it came into the possession of Albert de Gresley, whose descendant, Robert, the fourth lord of Manchester, obtained for it, in the reign of Henry III., the grant of an annual fair on the eve and festival of St. Matthew. In the reign of Edward I., the barons, in order to raise a greater number of men to serve in the army destined for the invasion of Scotland, conferred several privileges on their vassals; and Thomas de Gresley, sixth baron of Manchester, upon that occasion, granted to the inhabitants those rights and immunities which have been emphatically called the 'Magna Charta of Manchester.' This charter, which was granted on the 14th of May, in the year 1301, among other privileges, confers the right of choosing a borough-reeve; of disposing of their lands of inheritance according to their pleasure, reserving only to the heir, in such cases, the prior right of purchase; the power of arresting for debt within the borough the persons of knights, priests, or clerks, and various other privileges. The baron of Manchester was thrice summoned to parliament by writ in the reign of this monarch, by whom he was made Knight of the Bath, and was one of the barons who, in the reign of Edward II., conspired against Piers Gavestone. About seventy years before this, Salford was made a free borough, by charter from Ranulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester.

In 1352, the manufacture of 'Manchester cottons,' a kind of woollen cloth made from the fleece in an unprepared state, was introduced, and obtained a high degree of celebrity; and in the course of this reign, numerous Flemish artisans, who had been invited into England by Edward III., settled in the town, where, finding every requisite advantage, they brought the woollen manufacture to a considerable degree of perfection, and laid the foundation of its staple trade; which, though interrupted by the war between the houses of York and Lancaster, and subsequently, in the reign of Edward VI., by a dreadful malady, called the sweating sickness, had, in the reign of Elizabeth, become of such importance, that one of the queen's aulnagers (officers appointed to examine, and affix the seal to, manufactured cloth) was stationed here, in 1565. During the progress of the Reformation, an ecclesiastical commission for the diocese of Chester was established at Manchester, and numbers of popish recusants, from various parts of Lancashire, were imprisoned in the New Fleet, which appears to have been erected about that time, and probably for that purpose. The commissioners were Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon; Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York; the Earl of Derby; and Dr. Chadderton, Bishop of Chester, who then resided in the episcopal palace at Manchester, but, in consequence of frequent disputes between his servants and the inhabitants removed to Chester. The commissioners, though principally engaged in promoting the reformed religion, and in the detection and punishment of popish recusants, published, during their sittings at Manchester, a deelaration against pipers and minstrels attending bear and bull baitings, against the 'superstitious ringing of bells, wakes, festivals, and other amusements;' to counteract the influence of which prohibition, James I. published his celebrated Book of Sports. Among the persons confined in the New Fleet, under the authority of this commission, were, Sir John South-worth; James Layborne, an eminent layman, who was executed at Lancaster in 1583, his head having been sent to Manchester, and placed, with those of others, on the steeple of the collegiate church; James Bell, and John Finch, who were executed in 1584; John Townley, Esq.; and the lady of Bartholomew Hesketh, Esq. Having been originally a place of sanctuary, it was one of the eight places to which this privilege was confirmed, by a statute in the 32nd of Henry VIII., which, in the following year, was transferred to Chester. During the threatened invasion by Philip of Spain, Manchester supplied one hundred and forty-four men armed with bills and pikes, thirty-eight archers, and thirty-eight arquebusiers, to assist in repelling the 'Invincible Armada.'

At the commencement of the parliamentary war, Sir Cecil Trafford, with a view to strengthen the king's cause, supplied the inhabitants of Manchester and the neighbouring towns with arms and ammunition; but the county, anxiously desirous of peace, sent a petition to the king, then at York, requesting him to propose terms of reconciliation with the parliament, the presentation of which was entrusted to a deputation, consisting of the warden of Manchester, and other freeholders of the county, among whom was John Bradshaw, supposed to be the same individual that, six years after, pronounced sentence of death upon the king, as president of the High Court of Justice. All hopes of reconciliation having vanished, Manchester became the scene of much obstinate contention. The commissioners of array visited it, to demand ammunition for the use of the king; but the town having been previously secured for the parliament, by Ralph Asheton, one of the representatives of the county, the inhabitants refused to surrender; and Lord Strange, with a considerable force, attempting to enter it, they took up arms, and being joined by numbers from the adjacent country, a skirmish took place, in which several men on both sides were killed: this event, which was regarded by the House of Commons as the commencement of the war, was, by the Speaker, announced as 'terrible news from the north.' The inhabitants, apprehending a more serious attack, fortified the town; and the king, having set up his standard at Nottingham, sent Lord Strange, with four thousand infantry, seven pieces of cannon, and some cavalry, to reduce it. After an obstinate conflict for several days, during which it was defended by Captain Bradshaw, aided by Lieut. Col. Rosworm, an able German engineer, Lord Strange, being summoned, on the death of the Earl of Derby, to join the king, whose head-quarters were then at Shrewsbury, withdrew his forces, and raised the siege. To guard against future assaults, the fortifications which had been hastily thrown up, were completed and enlarged, and instructions were given by the parliament to the committee for the defence of the kingdom, to levy a body of dragoons to serve in Manchester, and the neighbourhood, and to indemnify the inhabitants for the loss they had sustained in resisting the commissioners of array; and, to supply them with money to defray the expense of future services, a loan was raised, the interest of which was paid by parliament, and, as an immediate resource, the pay of the officers of the garrison was ordered to be levied on the estates of the royalists. Manchester now became the head-quarters of the parliamentary army stationed in Lancashire, and, in 1643, Sir Thomas Fairfax entered the town, whence he despatched expeditions against Preston and Lancaster, both which surrendered to the parliament. It was again summoned by the Earl of Newcastle, at the head of ten or twelve thousand men, but being unsuccessful, the earl took the route to Hull, in pursuit of Fairfax: it does not appear to have sustained any further attack. During the Protectorate of Cromwell, Manchester, in obedience to the Protector's writ to the high sheriff of Lancaster, made two successive returns of a member to serve in parliament, in common with other towns, which have not since exercised the elective franchise. In 1652, the walls were thrown down, the fortifications demolished, and the gates carried away and sold, a measure which appears to have originated in its growing commercial importance, and its increase in wealth and population. The restoration of Charles II., however, was celebrated in the town with the most splendid pomp and ceremony; the utmost festivity and rejoicings took place, and the public conduits were made to flow with wine in copious streams. In 1715, a tumultuous assembly, headed by one Syddall, a barber, demolished the Independent chapel, in Acres Fields, at that time the only dissenting place of worship in the town, and proceeded to commit other depredations; but the insurrection was quelled, and Syddall, with several of his accomplices, were committed to Lancaster gaol: Syddall, on his liberation from prison, joined the rebels in Preston, and, being again taken prisoner, was sent to this town and executed.

In 1745, Prince Charles Edward, the young Pretender, who the year before had visited Manchester, where he was hospitably entertained for several weeks at Ancoat's Hall, the mansion of Sir Edward Moseley, Bart., enetered the county of Lancaster, at the head of an army of six thousand men, and advanced to this town, with a view to recruit his forces, and to raise supplies of men, arms, and money. On the 28th of November, the advanced guard, consisting of about one hundred cavalry, entered the town, and demanded quarters for ten thousand men, and on the following day the main body arrived; in the afternoon the young Pretender took up his quarters in the house of Mr. Dickenson, in Market-street, from that circumstance called the palace, and issued a proclamation, requiring all persons who had any duties to pay, or any of the public money in their hands, to pay the same to his secretary at the palace. The borough-reeve was compelled to publish the manifestoes of the rebels; and on the following day, the whole of the Pretender's army, with its train of artillery, consisting of sixteen pieces of cannon, and the baggage, assembled in the town and neighbourhood: the sum of £3000 was levied in money, from two to three hundred men were raised for the service, and placed under the command of Francis Townley, Esq., of Townley Hall, in the county of Lancaster, and many horses were put under requisition for mounting the cavalry and drawing the baggage. On the lst of December, the rebel army quitted Manchester, marching southward in two columns; and having united at Macclesfield, advanced to Derby, which they reached on the 4th; but to avoid the danger of being enclosed by the armies of Marshal Wade and the Duke of Cumberland, retreated northward to Manchester, where they arrived on the 8th, and continuing their retreat to the north, reached Carlisle on the 10th, closely pursued by the Duke of Cumberland; leaving a garrison of four hundred men in that town, consisting of the Manchester regiment and some Scottish troops, the rebels effected their retreat to the Scottish frontier, which they reached on the 20th of December. On the subsequent surrender of the garrison of Carlisle to the Duke of Cumberland, the officers of the Manchester regiment were sent prisoners to London, where, being tried for high treason, and found guilty, they were executed on Kennington Common. After the execution, the heads of Col. Townley and Capt. Fletcher were placed on Temple Bar, and those of Capt. Deacon and Adjutant Syddall, son of the barber, were sent down to Manchester and placed on the exchange.

In 1759, an act of parliament was passed for discharging the inhabitants from their obligation to grind corn and other grain at the school mill on the river Irk, a custom which had prevailed from a remote period, and had frequently excited a strong spirit of popular discontent. By this act the inhabitants were released from every obligation, except that of grinding malt, which is still retained; and though the sum paid to the feoffees of the mill is very moderate, yet the compulsory clause of grinding malt has induced almost all the public brewers to establish themselves in townships which, though adjoining to, and within the immediate vicinity of, the town, are not subject to that obligation. Christian, King of Denmark, on his tour through England, in 1768, took up his abode in this town, and lodged, with his suite, at the Bull Inn; during his stay he visited the recently-formed excavations for the Duke of Bridgewater's canal. In 1773, the Russian Princess, Czartoriski, arrived here from Birmingham, to inspect the aqueducts and excavations at Worsley, and during her stay visited the principal factories. In 1805, the Archdukes John and Lewis of Austria, accompanied by a retinue of scientific men, spent some time here in visiting the various factories, and inspecting the several processes of the manufactures; and, in 1817, the Grand Duke Nicholas, now Emperor of Russia, honoured the town with a visit for the same purpose. Manchester, in common with other large manufacturing towns, has, during the fluctuations of trade, and the varying state of its manufactures, experienced a proportionate number of popular commotions; and occasional disturbances, arising from the depression of commerce, and the consequent low wages of the operative manufacturer, have been, in some instances, attended with serious results. The improvement in the various branches of its trade and manufactures has, however, been uniformly progressive, and justly entitles it to be considered one of the most extensive and prosperous commercial and manufacturing towns in the kingdom.

Its staple trade is the cotton manufacture, which, in all its various branches, is carried on to an extent almost incredible. The town had obtained considerable eminence for its manufacture of what were called Manchester cottons, which was introduced by the Flemings, in the reign of Edward III.; and in that of Charles I. the linen and cotton trade had made some progress. In the 'Treasure of Traffic,' published by Lewis Roberts, in 1641, Manchester is said to have purchased linen yarn from Ireland, and cotton wool from London, the goods woven from which were sent to those places for sale. About the year 1740, the manufacturers residing here employed agents in different parts of the country to procure a supply of raw cotton, which was manufactured, by the spindle and distaff, in the cottages of the workmen, chiefly into fustians, thicksets, dimities, and jeans, to which were added cotton thicksets, goods figured in the loom, and subsequently cotton velvets, velveteens, and strong fancy cords. About the year 1760, these goods, which had till then been made only for home consumption, found a market on the continents of Europe and America; and as the quantity of weft produced in the whole county of Lancashire, by about fifty thousand spindles worked by hand, was insufficient to keep the weavers in Manchester constantly employed, and consequently to afford a supply adequate to the increasing demand, recourse was had to the aid of machinery, and Mr. John Kay invented the instrument called the puking peg, by the assistance of which the weaver was not only enabled to produce twice the quantity of work, but also to weave cloths of any width. The facility thus given to the weaving department caused a corresponding increase in the demand for yarn, and Mr. Thomas Highs, in conjunction with Mr. Kay, invented the spinning jenny, the powers of which were greatly increased by the improvements of Mr. Hargreaves, whose success exciting the apprehensions of the hand-workmen, caused the destruction of his machinery, and his retreat to Nottingham, where he died in indigence. Mr. Highs continued to make the spinning jennies for sale, and also invented the water-frame, or throstle, for spinning twist by means of rollers: these machines were subsequently improved under Sir Richard Arkwright, whose exclusive patent right was annulled by a decision of the court of King's Bench, in 1785, and the privilege of using such machinery was thrown open to the public. The late Sir Robert Peel, Bart., assisted by Mr. Hargreaves, first brought the cylindrical carding-engines into use, and made many improvements in the application of machinery to the cotton manufacture, by the adoption of which, aided by the powers of the steam-engine, the quantity of goods of every description manufactured in this town has been prodigiously increased.

Every process of that manufacture is carried on to a very considerable extent, but the branch of it for which Manchester is most distinguished is the spinning, in which department alone there are in the town and vicinity one hundred and fourteen factories, worked by one hundred and eighteen steam-engines, the aggregate power of which is equal to that of three thousand nine hundred and eighty-one horses; by this machinery, about two million one hundred and eighty-two thousand three hundred and fifty spindles, and six thousand nine hundred and twenty-six power-looms, are set in motion. The power-loom is a recent invention, originating with the Rev. Mr. Cartwright, of Holland House, in the county of Kent, who, after repeated attempts, ultimately succeeded in establishing a factory upon that principle at Doncaster, and was indemnified by parliament for the losses he had sustained in the course of his experiments. Mr. Grimshaw, of Manchester, adopting Mr. Cartwright's plan, established a factory in which were five hundred power-looms, but the building having been destroyed by fire, the design was for a time abandoned. The difficulties which had impeded the general adoption of this invention were finally removed by the aid of Mr. Johnson's machine for dressing the warps, and, in 1806, the use of the power-loom was again introduced, with complete success. The factories, in several of which the whole process of the manufacture, from the introduction of the raw material to its completion, is carried on, are immense ranges of building, from six to eight stories in height; some employing from eighteen hundred to two thousand persons each, and the whole furnishing employment to upwards of thirty thousand persons. The making of muslin was first attempted about the year 1780, at which time the machine called the mule was introduced into the spinning factories, and to such a degree of perfection has this branch of manufacture been brought, that the muslins of Manchester are little inferior to those of India. The silk manufacture has, within the last few years, been revived, under very favourable circumstances, and is rapidly improving; the number of mills already established is considerable, and the silks manufactured are not inferior in the beauty of their texture to those of Spitalfields, or of France. The principal articles at present manufactured are, velvets, fustians, jeans, ticking, checks, ginghams, nankeens, diaper, quilting, calico, muslins, muslinets, cambric handkerchiefs, small wares, silks, and, in fact, every variety of cotton and silk goods. There are also extensive bleaching-grounds, and works for printing and dyeing, and for every other department of the manufactures; and, in addition to what may be considered the staple manufactures of the town, are numerous others dependent on them, such as that of machinery of all kinds, for which there are extensive forges, foundries, &c., employing about ninety steam-engines, of the aggregate power of one thousand seven hundred horses. There are also several laboratories for the making of oil of vitriol, and other chemical productions used in the different processes of the trade, for bleaching, dyeing, &c.: in the vicinity are several mills for the manufacture of paper of all descriptions, from the coarsest kind, for packages, to the finest kinds of writing and printing paper, all which have been brought to a high degree of perfection, and are manufactured on a very large scale. There are extensive manufactories for hats, which have flourished for many years; also various other branches of manufacture, which have all improved with the increasing trade of the town, and afford employment to a very great portion of the inhabitants. Engraving, as connected with the printing of calico, muslin, and cotton goods, is extensively carried on; and there are saw-mills on a very extended scale. For the purchase of the various productions of the town, of which large quantities are exported, foreign merchants have either established agents, or one of their partners, resident here, to conduct their commercial transactions, and to purchase not only Manchester goods, but also the produce of all the adjoining manufacturing districts, which are accumulated here as in a central dep?t. A chamber of commerce was established in 1820, by which the trading interests of its members, and those of Manchester generally, have been greatly promoted: twenty-five directors are annually chosen at a general meeting of the subscribers, held in February, to whom the management of its affairs is entrusted.

The exchange and commercial buildings were erected from a design by Mr. Harrison, in 1806, at an expense of £20,000, advanced on shares of £50 each, by four hundred proprietary members, who subsequently added £30 each to the original shares, for the purchase of the site: it is a spacious, handsome, and well-arranged edifice of Runcorn stone, in the Grecian style of architecture: the north front, which faces the market-place, is semicircular, and ornamented with lofty fluted columns of the Doric order; the news-room, which occupies the basement story of this part of the building, is elegantly provided with every accommodation, and lighted by a semicircular dome and handsome windows of plate glass: at the distance of fifteen feet from the walls is a circular range of pillars of the Ionic order, supporting the ceiling; and over the central fire-place is a full-length portrait of Thomas Stanley, Esq., for many years member for the county, finely painted by the late Sir Thomas Lawrence: there are two thousand subscribers belonging to this establishment. Above the news-room, and resting on the pillars which support the ceiling, is a circular range of building, fifteen feet in breadth, and two stories high (originally forming part of the extensive establishment of Mr. W. Ford, bookseller), of which the lower contains the Exchange library, belonging to a proprietary of four hundred members, and comprising more than fifteen thousand volumes: the proprietary ticket is £10. 10., and the annual subscription £1. The gallery is lighted by a range of windows immediately above those in the circular part of the news-room, but of smaller dimensions, and is well arranged for the reception of the books; the upper story is divided into apartments for various uses. In the south part of the building is the post-office, adapted in every respect to the commercial importance of the town; and the chamber of commerce occupies another part of the building. A handsome geometrical staircase leads from the hall to the upper part of the Exchange buildings, in which is an elegant dining-room, ninety-two feet long, and twenty-nine feet wide, with a rich mantelpiece of Abyssinian marble at each end, and an orchestra on the north side: this room, which was opened in celebration of the anniversary of the birthday of George III., in 1809, is well adapted for public entertainments: there are several ante-rooms, and a variety of offices, connected with the general purposes of the institution.

The vast tradeand commercial importance of this town have been in a great degree promoted by its proximity to the port of Liverpool, whence its manufactures are exported to every quarter of the globe, and with which it has a facility of communication by means of the Mersey, and Irwell navigation, constructed in 1720, under an act of parliament amended in 1794, when the proprietors were incorporated; and the celebrated Bridgewater canal, of which a description is given in the article on LANCASHIRE; both of them communicating with the river Mersey at Runcorn. The Manchester, Bolton, and Bury canal, constructed by act of parliament in 1791, crossing the Irwell at Clifton, and again at Little Lever, passes for fifteen miles through a district abounding with coal and mineral produce, and unites with the Leeds and Liverpool canal near Blackburn, by a branch formed in 1793. The Ashton under Line canal, constructed in 1792, is carried, by a lofty archway, in an oblique direction over Store-street; and by another aqueduct, of equal strength and beauty of design, it crosses the river Medlock, branching off to Stockport, and at Fairfield, by another branch, communicates with Oldham. The Rochdale canal, constructed in 1794, forms a communication from the Duke of Bridgewater's canal at Manchester to the Calder navigation at Sowerby bridge, beyond which is a cut from Salter-Hebble to Halifax. By means of the Grand Trunk canal, a line of communication has been established with London, Bristol, and other principal towns. In 1826, an act was obtained for the construction of an iron rail-road between Manchester and Liverpool, adapted to the use of carriages drawn by locomotive engines impelled by steam, for the conveyance of merchandise and passengers. This stupendous undertaking was completed in 1830, at an expense of upwards of £800,000, subscribed in shares of £100 each, by a company of proprietors: the line of road is carried, by a series of arches, commencing at the Company's warehouses, in the Liverpool road, across the roofs of the houses in Water-street, and over the river Irwell, by a handsome stone bridge of two arches, each sixty-five feet in span, and thirty feet high from the surface of the water to the central summit. After passing over a level tract of ground beyond the river for nearly four miles and a half, it is, by means of inclined planes, viaducts, and other contrivances, continued through grounds of various elevation, rising, at its greatest altitude, to a height of one hundred and twenty-three feet above, and falling, at its greatest depression, to a depth of one hundred and twenty-four feet and a half below, the general level. The whole line from Manchester to Liverpool is thirty-one miles in length; which distance, though it may be travelled in little more than an hour, is generally performed in about two hours: on its course not less than sixty-three bridges have been erected, and two tunnels made. This important work was opened to the public with a grand procession, on which occasion the late Mr. Huskisson, member for Liverpool, having alighted from one of the carriages, which had halted for a few minutes, in endeavouring to regain his seat fell in the line of one of the locomotive engines, which was travelling with a velocity of thirty miles an hour, and was so severely injured, that he died in the course of the evening: for a more minutely detailed account of this noble undertaking, see the article on LANCASHIRE. A joint-stock company, for the conveyance of goods by water, called the New Quay Company, was originally established in 1822, with a capital of £30,000: the shareholders are chiefly merchants and traders, and the company has a considerable number of vessels plying between Manchester and Liverpool. In addition to the various and numerous branches of inland navigation, by which a facility of conveyance by water is obtained to every part of the kingdom, the trade of the town employs more than two hundred conveyances by land, for the more prompt distribution of its merchandise and manufactures, and upwards of one hundred coaches daily, for the accommodation of passengers.

The town is situated on the banks of the river Irwell, which here receives the tributary streams of the Irk and the Medlock, and on the north-west bank of which is situated the township, or district, of Salford, connected, by means of five bridges, with Manchester, of which it forms an integral part. Of these bridges, the most ancient, which had existed from time immemorial, was rebuilt in the reign of Edward III.: the Strangeways iron bridge was erected in 1817, and a sixth bridge, in connexion with the Manchester and Liverpool railway, has been built over the same river. Over the Medlock are nine bridges, in various parts of the town, of which that leading from Oxford-street crosses the river in an oblique direction. There are also seven bridges over the river Irk, of which six are very low, and subject to be flooded at high water; the seventh is a very lofty structure of three arches, and a great ornament to the town, connecting a new line of road, from the extremity of Miller-street, with what was anciently Strangeways park, and forming an entrance into the town, which avoids the steep ascent of the Red Bank, and the dangerous turn in the old road from Scotland-bridge. Exclusively of these, there are several smaller bridges over the Shooter's brook, and not less than thirty over the numerous branches of the canals which intersect the town. The town is well paved, and lighted with gas, under the direction of two hundred and forty commissioners, appointed by an act of parliament passed in the 9th of George IV., for cleansing, paving, lighting, watching, and regulating it, and forming a body corporate, with a common seal: the gas-works are superintended by thirty directors chosen from among the commissioners. The inhabitants are supplied with water by the Manchester and Salford Water Company, established by act of parliament in 1609, which is conveyed by pipes from their reservoirs at Beswick and at Gorton, that at the latter place, covering more than fifty acres of ground, having been excavated in 1825. Salford was formerly included in the same jurisdiction with Manchester, with respect to its police, the same act of parliament being applicable to both; but by an act passed in the 9th of George IV., they were separated, and Salford is now governed by a distinct code of regulations, under an act passed in the 11th of George IV., and in the same session the local act for Manchester was amended. The environs, in many parts, particularly in Broughton, abound with scenery pleasingly diversified; and in the neighbourhood are some handsome ranges of building, and numerouselegant villas: among these are Ardwick Green, in the centre of which is a fine sheet of water, surrounded with respectable residences; Salford Crescent, occupying an elevated site, and commanding a beautiful view of the windings of the Irwell, with the fertile vallies on the opposite bank, and sheltered by rising hills. On the bank of the same river are several successive tiers of houses, which rise above each other from the margin of the river; and on the Irk is Gibraltar, an irregular cluster of rural and picturesque cottages. The older part of the town contains several ancient houses (which, however, are fast disappearing), interspersed with modern dwellings; and the streets, with the exception of such as have been improved under various acts of parliament, are inconveniently narrow: the more modern parts contain many spacious streets, in which are numerous handsome and respectable houses; but the general plan appears to have been more adapted to the accommodation of its extended trade than to the display of elegance and symmetry in its general appearance. Cotton-mills, factories, and warehouses of immense extent, have been erected in those parts of the town previously occupied by the most pleasant dwelling-houses, and every other part of it is crowded with numerous cottages of families employed in the various works.

The Literary and Philosophical Society, established in 1781, consists of ordinary, honorary, and corresponding members, who pay £2. 2s. on their admission, and an annual subscription of £1. 1s.; they hold meetings every alternate Friday, from October till the end of April, in a hall containing suitable apartments; gold and silver medals are awarded for the best dissertations on particular subjects: the society has published seven volumes of transactions, in the English, French, and German languages, which are much circulated on the continent. The Philological Society, consisting of thirty resident, and fifty corresponding, members, was instituted in 1803; and an Agricultural Society, consisting of members residing within thirty miles of the town, was established in 1767, and is one of the earliest institutions of that kind in England: its object is to bestow annual premiums for useful discoveries in cultivation, for superior specimens of produce both in cattle and in crops, and for the encouragement of cottagers who, by their labour, have maintained their families without parochial assistance, and of farming servants who have continued for the greatest length of time, and with the best characters, in one situation; all subscribing members and their tenants, in the counties of Lancaster and Chester, may claim the premiums. The new circulating library, in St. Anne's street, containing four thousand volumes, was established in 1792. A part of Cheetham's hospital is also appropriated as a library, to which, under certain regulations, the public enjoy free admission. Mr. Cheetham bequeathed £1000, to be vested in land, directing the produce to be applied in the purchase of books; and £100 to provide a place for their reception: this fund, by the management of the trustees, has considerably accumulated, and the library at present contains more than sixteen thousand volumes, some valuable manuscripts, a collection of prints, and several natural and artificial curiosities. The Portico, an elegant edifice of the Ionic order, was erected by subscription, in 1806, at an expense of £7000: the building, which is of Runcorn stone, contains a library, a committee-room, a news-room lighted by a dome, a reading-room, and other offices. This institution, which belongs to a proprietary of four hundred members, holding shares originally of the value of £13. 13., afterwards increased to £21, and paying an annual subscription of £2. 10. per annum, is under the regulation of a committee. The library, which forms a gallery round the walls of the news-room, is sixty-five feet long, and forty-two feet wide; and the committee-room and reading-room are each thirty feet long, and sixteen feet wide. A library, established in Spear-street, in 1802, is at present held in Fountain-street, and contains a very good collection of theological and other works. The law library was instituted by the members of that profession, in 1820: the proprietary ticket is £5. 5., and the annual subscription £1. 11. 6. There is also a library in St. Anne's-street. The society for promoting the study of natural history was projected in 1821, and rapidly attained its present state of maturity and importance: there are at present more than three hundred proprietary members; the terms of admission are £10, and the annual subscription £2. 2. Its concerns are under the direction of a president and council of ten proprietary members, annually chosen, four vice-presidents, a treasurer, four curators, and two secretaries: the buildings comprise a museum, in which, in addition to a valuable collection of insects, made by the late J.L. Phillips, Esq., is an extensive exhibition of the rarest specimens of the animal kingdom, consisting of quadrupeds, birds, and fishes, and of shells, minerals, fossils, and other natural curiosities, scientifically arranged, in a suite of apartments well adapted to their preservation: attached to the museum are, a library of works on natural history, a council-room, a curatory, and apartments for the librarian and keeper of the museum.

The Royal Institution, embracing a variety of objects connected with the pursuits of literature and science, and the cultivation of the fine arts, originated with a few public-spirited individuals (either artists or persons connected with the arts), in 1823, and was soon honoured with the public, and finally with royal, patronage: this institution is under the direction of a president, twelve vice-presidents, and a committee, chosen from a body of nearly seven hundred hereditary and life governors, of whom the former are contributors of forty, and the latter of twenty-five, guineas each. The building, which has been erected from a design by Mr. Barry, of London, and is of a durable and richly-coloured stone, from the vicinity of Colne, forms a splendid addition to the architectural ornaments of the town; it is in the Grecian style of architecture. The principal elevation, towards Mosley-street, has a noble portico of six lofty columns of the Ionic order, supporting a rich entablature and pediment in the centre, on each side of which are columns and pilasters connecting it with the wings; above the doors and windows are panels for bas reliefs symbolical of the design of the institution: the attic story of the hall, rising to a considerable elevation above the wings, is to be surmounted by a finely-sculptured figure of Minerva. The area round the building is enclosed with a handsome iron palisade on a lofty plinth of masonry, with pedestals at the angles of the steps leading to the portico and side entrances, on which are to be placed groups of figures and statues. The centre comprises the hall and the theatre, and one of the wings is appropriated as an academy of the fine arts, with exhibition rooms, and the other as a museum of natural history. The hall, which is wholly lighted from the attic story, is forty feet square, and sixty feet high; it contains a grand staircase of stone, consisting of central and lateral flights, with pedestals for sculptures, leading to a gallery on three sides of the hall, supported on Doric pillars, and to the theatre which is of a semicircular form. On the gallery are entrances on each side, leading through corridors flanked with columns, into the exhibition rooms in each wing of the building; the ceiling of the hall is richly panelled in deeply-recessed compartments, and beneath the attic windows is a rich cornice with a frieze for bas reliefs: ancient sculptures and casts from the antique will be ranged in the hall and corridors. The theatre, which will hold six hundred persons, has a gallery supported on columns of bronze, and the walls are decorated with engaged columns, and with isolated columns in the angles: the ceiling is richly panelled, and the theatre is lighted by a lantern, which, by machinery, may be darkened instantaneously, at the will of the lecturer. There are three exhibition rooms in each wing, which may be thrown into one; they are twenty-three feet in height, and lighted from the ceiling; the principal room in each wing is forty-eight feet long, and thirty feet wide, and the others are thirty feet square. There are also various rooms for the use of the officers and others connected with the institution, to which access is obtained from the hall and from other parts of the building. The whole cost of this elegant pile, when complete, will be about £50,000, and the building will comprehend an ample and complete arrangement for the various purposes contemplated in its erection.

A Floral and Horticultural Society was instituted in 1823, and a Botanical and Horticultural Institution in 1828: the garden for the latter, about two miles from the Exchange, on the new Stretford road, comprising about sixteen acres of ground, contains a great variety of green-house, herbaceous, Alpine, American, rock, and medicinal plants, and is under the care of a curator, who resides on the spot. The entrance, on one side of which is the curator's house, and on the other the council-room, botanical library, and porter's lodge, is a handsome structure, in the Grecian style and Ionic order, the erection of which cost about £2000. A mechanics' institution was established in 1824, and is supported by subscription: the building was erected in 1827, at an expense of £7000, and contains a library, in which are two thousand volumes, and a theatre, in which lectures are delivered on those branches of science which are of practical application in the exercise of their trades. The theatre royal was erected in 1806, at an expense of £15,000, advanced on shares by a proprietary of forty: it is a plain, but commodious, edifice, of which the interior is well arranged and handsomely decorated. The amphitheatre, or, as it is called, the minor theatre, was built in 1753, for a principal theatre, but being found too small, was rebuilt by act of parliament in 1775, and having been burnt down in 1789, was again rebuilt and opened for its present use in 1790. The gentlemen's private subscription concerts were established in 1777, when a room, adapted to the accommodation o. eight hundred auditors, was built in Fountain-street which being afterwards found too small, a new concert-room was erected, in 1829, for the reception of one thousand two hundred subscribers, in Lower Mosley-street, at an expense of £7000: the entrance is through a handsome lofty portico of six columns of the Corinthian order, supporting a rich entablature and pediment; the concert-room is one hundred and seven feet long and forty-nine wide: there are eight public concerts in the season, at which vocal and instrumental performers of eminent talents are engaged: the private concerts, to which the subscribers and their families are admitted, take place every fortnight. The assembly-rooms in Mosley-street were erected in 1792; they form a capacious suite of rooms elegantly fitted up, and superbly decorated; the ball-room is eighty-seven feet long, and forty-four feet wide; the walls and ceiling are beautifully painted in compartments, and lighted with brilliant chandeliers and lustres of cut-glass: the tea-room is fifty-four feet long, and fifty-one feet broad, similarly decorated, and over the mantel-piece is a full-length portrait of Lord Strange: a billiard-room of equal dimensions, and a card-room of smaller size, are also included in the buildings, which were raised by shares of £100 each. The first of a series of triennial musical festivals was attempted here, with complete success, in 1828, for the encouragement of which the sum of £20,000 was immediately advanced, on shares of £100 each, as a guarantee for the indemnity of the managers. The late Sir Robert Peel, Bart., on accepting the office of patron, presented the stewards with a contribution of £500. Oratorios were performed in the collegiate church, and miscellaneous concerts and dress balls were given in the theatre and assembly-rooms: the produce of the performances, which combined the first-rate musical talents in the country, and were brilliantly and numerously attended, exceeded £15,000; and, after paying all expenses, a surplus of more than £5000 was distributed among the various charitable institutions. The races, which were established in 1730, commence on the Wednesday in Whitsun-week, and continue to the end of the week: the course, which is enclosed by railing, and carefully guarded against accidents, is on Kersal moor, and is about a mile in circuit; a grand stand and numerous booths have been erected on various parts of it, for the accommodation of the spectators, the number of whom is seldom less than two hundred thousand. A riding school and gymnasium have been established, for which a building was erected, in 1829, near the concert-rooms, at the lower end of Mosley-street. The barracks for the cavalry, in the township of Hulme, are a uniform and handsome range of building, affording accommodation for a squadron of horse, and comprehending an area sufficient for the performance of their evolutions. The barracks for infantry, situated in the Regent's road, Salford, are very extensive, and form a compact range of building calculated for the reception of one thousand men, affording, within the enclosure, ample ground for exercise and every requisite accommodation.

The market days are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday; the first is principally for the sale of merchandise, of which great quantities are brought in carts and wagons from the different factories. The markets are plentifully supplied with corn and provisions of all kinds. The corn market is held in a building in Hanging-ditch, which was opened as a corn exchange in 1820. The hay market is held in Bridgewater-street; the cattle market in the new Smithfield, at Shude-hill; the markets for butchers' meat are held in Brown-street Bridge-street, and the London road, at the back of which is the leather hall, and in other parts of the town. The fish market, which is abundantly supplied with salmon from the river Ribble; with herrings, soles, and flounders, from the north-west coast; and with cod, haddocks, lobsters, and crabs, from the east coast; is held in a suitable building erected on the site of what was formerly called the Old Shambles (which was the only market-place in the town for butchers' meat), at the expense of Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., near Smithy Door, in 1828; the meal, flour, and cheese market is held in a building on Shude-hill; the fruit, or apple, market is held in Fennel-street, and the upper end of Long Millgate; the vegetable market is held in St. Mary's gate, and in the upper end of Smithy Door, the middle and lower end of which is the market for butter, poultry, and eggs. Salford, which had been previously supplied from Manchester, has also a separate market, for which accommodation has been provided under the town hall, of which the first stone was laid by Lord Bexley, in 1825. The fairs are Easter Monday and Tuesday, for toys; and October 1st and 2nd, for horses, cattle, and pigs: the latter, for greater convenience, has been removed to Camp field, near St. Matthew's church; but the steward of the manor, attended by the borough-reeve and constables, asserts the right of the lord of the manor to hold it in St. Anne's square, where, until within the last few years, it was constantly held: there are some other fairs, but of minor importance. At Salford, a fair, commencing on Whit-Monday, is much frequented by the Yorkshire clothiers, blanket-manufacturers, button-makers, and japanners: the cloth hall, which is a spacious and convenient building, is occupied by numerous tenants during this fair, which lasts for twenty-one days; and there is another fair, commencing November 17th, and continuing for the same space of time; the first day of each is for the sale of cattle.

The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold a petty session for the division every Thursday: the municipal regulations are conducted by a borough-reeve and two principal constables, chosen annually from among the most respectable of the inhabitants, by a jury impannelled by the stewards of the manor, at the latter of the courts leet, which are held every year after Easter and Michaelmas. The constables appoint a deputy to act for them, who has a salary of £600 per annum, and is assisted by four beadles and two hundred special constables. A court of requests for the parish is held over the butchers' market in Brown-street, under an act passed in the 48th of George III., every alternate Wednesday, for the recovery of debts under £5. The lord of the manor of Manchester holds a court baron every third Wednesday; and a court for the hundred of Salford is held every third Thursday, for the recovery of debts under 40s.: the sheriff's county court is also held here monthly, by adjournment from Preston, for the trial of pleas, and the recovery of debts not exceeding £10, in actions in which the parties reside in the hundred of Salford. The quarter sessions are held at Salford by adjournment, at which the business for the whole of the hundred of Salford is transacted, under the superintendence of a chairman, who has a salary of £800 per annum, paid by the hundred; the number of prisoners tried at these sessions is generally about two hundred. A barrister, with a salary of £1000 per annum, paid out of the police rates of Manchester and Salford, sits daily as a magistrate, under the provisions of an act of parliament, for the despatch of business, in which he is assisted by some of the county magistrates resident in the neighbourhood. The town hall is a noble and elegant edifice, erected under the superintendence and from a design of Mr. Francis Goodwin, in the Grecian style of architecture, at an expense of £40,000, after the model of the Temple of Erectheus, at Athens, with a beautiful tower and dome in the centre, resembling the tower of Andronicus, called the 'Temple of the Winds:' the principal entrance is by a magnificent colonnade with a rich entablature, in front of which are some sculptured representations of the town of Manchester, and emblems of trade and commerce; in the wings are niches containing statues of Solon and Alfred; in the medallions of the attic are busts in alto relievo of Pythagoras, Lycurgus, Hale, and Locke. The building contains various departments for transacting the public business of the town; on the principal floor is a splendid public room, one hundred and thirty-two feet long, forty-three feet eight inches wide, and fifty-one feet and a half in height to the centre of the principal dome: the interior of this noble room is divided into three parts by two ranges of eight elegant Ionic pillars, so disposed that each part may form a separate room; the central part is lighted by a magnificent dome, supported on sixteen dwarf columns of Scagliola marble, corresponding with the exterior design of the tower; and the other parts are finished in a very chaste style of classic beauty. The light is elegantly introduced into the extreme sections of the great room by concealed skylights, and through stained glass in the panels of the ceiling and dome, decorated to correspond with those that are not pierced for that purpose. Three staircases lead to this splendid room, with the interior of which the principal staircase will be made to harmonize. The town hall at Salford is a handsome stone edifice, with a noble portico in the Grecian Doric style, after that of the Temple of Theseus, supporting a triangular pediment; it affords in the lower part an area for the use of the market, and contains in the upper an elegant suite of assembly-rooms. The large room, which extends the whole length of the building, is elegantly fitted up, and decorated with pilasters supporting a richly-ornamented frieze and cornice; the ceiling is chastely embellished, and the room is appropriated to the use of the Salford courts, which are held here, being also occasionally used for public balls and concerts: the approach is by two handsome stone staircases. The principal entrance to the market-place is from the centre of the town hall, through a Doric colonnade; there are separate markets for meat, vegetables, fish, and poultry, chiefly covered over and well ventilated: this building was erected under the superintendence of Messrs. Lane and Goodwin, at an expense of £10,000.

The Chorlton-row town hall, dispensary, and constables' dwelling-house, are connected in one building, the front of which is handsome and imposing. In the central part is a boldly-projecting portico of four Doric columns supporting a pediment, of which the frieze is ornamented with wreaths; the wings are decorated with ant?, rising from a rustic basement. The portico leads to the public offices on the ground-floor, including a committee-room, principal clerk's office, assembling-room for the poor, and the pay-office; over these is a spacious room for public meetings, well fitted up, and approached by a wide staircase and lobbies. On the basement floor are the watchmen's assembling-room, the lamplighters' room, oil-cellar, and three lock-up rooms, and in the attic are ample store-rooms. One of the wings is appropriated as a residence for the constable, and the other as a dispensary, which was established and is supported by subscription: this building was erected under the superintendence of Mr. Richard Lane, at an expense of £4500. The new Bailey, or house of correction for the hundred of Salford, adjoining which is the governor's residence, was erected in 1790, upon the radiating principle, and comprises twenty-four wards, the same number of day-rooms and airing-yards, one hundred and fifty workshops, for the classification and employment of the prisoners, and a tread-mill, with eight wheels, for such as are condemned to hard labour: the outer walls include an area of twenty-seven thousand square yards: over the entrance, which is a large rusticated stone building, is a sessions-room, in which the weekly and quarter sessions are held; adjoining it are the grand jury rooms and with-drawing-rooms for the magistrates and barristers, and in the lower story are the turnkey's lodge, and rooms for the confinement of prisoners prior to examination. The discipline observed in this prison, which is capable of receiving nine hundred and twenty-six prisoners, and in which there are generally five hundred, is admirably calculated to reclaim the guilty, and to afford them, on their release, the means of future subsistence by honest industry; those who have learned any trade are regularly employed in the exercise of it, and receive a considerable portion of their earnings; and such as have not, prior to their committal, are taught, during their confinement, some trade by which they may honestly maintain themselves after their discharge.

Manchester comprises only one parish, which is in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester. The old collegiate church, which, till after the Reformation, afforded accommodation for all the inhabitants of Manchester and Salford, was founded and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, by Thomas, Lord de la Warre, in the 9th of Henry V., who endowed it for a warden and eight fellows; this establishment, the revenue of which was £226. 12. 5., was dissolved in the reign of Edward VI., and re-established in that of Elizabeth, under the designation of the Warden and Fellows of Christ's College, Manchester. The dilapidation of the church, and the misappropriation of the collegiate funds, under the wardenship of Richard Murray, induced the inhabitants to petition the throne for a revival of the former charter, in 1635, and Charles I. granted them a new charter of foundation, with rules for the government of the college, drawn up by Archbishop Laud. Under this charter, the management is vested in a warden, to be appointed by the crown, who must at least be a bachelor in divinity, or of canon and civil laws; and in four fellows, who must be masters of arts, or bachelors of laws; they are a body corporate, with a common seal, under the designation of the 'Warden and Fellows of Christ's College, Manchester.' The same charter provides for the appointment of a sub-warden, treasurer, collector, registrar, a master of the choir, organist, four singing men (either clerks or laymen), and four boys skilled in music, to be chosen by the warden and fellows; and ordains that there shall be continually in the college, two chaplains, or vicars, of the degree of bachelors of arts, and two clerks to administer the sacraments, visit the sick, and perform other religious offices. During the usurpation of Cromwell, the Independents established their own form of worship in the college, in 1649; and, in the same year, the chapter-house and the college chest were broken open, and the foundation deeds seized by the soldiers, and sent, with other papers, to London, where they were subsequently destroyed in the great fire of 1666. The college was soon afterwards dissolved by an act of parliament for the sale of dean and chapter lands, and, during the interregnum, the last warden officiated as parochial minister, for an annual stipend. After the Restoration, the institution was revived, subject to the statutes of Charles 1., and the warden reinstated in his office. The church is a spacious and elaborately ornamented structure, in the later style of English architecture, with a handsome square embattled tower, strengthened with buttresses, and crowned with pinnacles; the roof of the nave, which rises to a considerable height above the aisles, is concealed by a rich pierced parapet and decorated with pinnacles; the windows are spacious, and filled with elegant tracery, and the exterior, which is relieved by the projection of some beautiful chapels, has a splendid and truly magnificent appearance. The view of the interior is strikingly impressive; the lofty nave is lighted by a noble range of clerestory windows of fine proportion and beautiful design, and the choir is splendidly enriched with tabernacle-work of elaborate and delicate execution; the roof is finely groined and ornamented with grotesque figures of angels playing on musical instruments, shields, and other devices, richly carved; considerable portions of the original stained glass are still preserved in several of the windows; and the altar is decorated with a piece of tapestry representing the offerings of the early Christians, and the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira. In different parts of the church, and in several chapels, are many ancient and interesting monuments.

Trinity church, at Salford, was founded and endowed by Humphrey Booth, Esq., in 1635, but having fallen into decay, it was rebuilt in 1752: it is a neat edifice in the Grecian style of architecture, and of the Doric order, with a steeple, and contains some handsome monuments and mural tablets: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Sir Robert Gore Booth, Bart. St. Ann's church, on the south side of St. Ann's square, founded in 1709, under the auspices of Lady Ann Bland, is a spacious structure in the Grecian style of architecture, and of the Corinthian order, with a tower formerly surmounted by a spire, which has been taken down; the interior, affording accommodation for one thousand one hundred and seventy-five persons, is a fine specimen of handsome and appropriate decoration: the living is a rectory not in charge, in the patronage of the Bishop of Chester. St. Mary's, between Deans-gate and the river Irwell, erected by the Warden and Fellows of the College, by act of parliament in 1756, is a handsome edifice of the Doric order, with a lofty tower and spire, one hundred and eighty-six feet in height; the interior, which contains nine hundred and ninety-seven sittings, though dark, from the massive proportions of the pillars supporting the galleries, is very elegant: the altar-piece is embellished with a well-executed painting of the Ascension, after Raphael, by Williams; and the window is enriched with stained glass, beneath which are the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul: the living is a rectory not in charge, in the patronage of the Warden and Fellows of the College: St. Paul's, a neat edifice of brick, was erected in 1765, and contains one thousand one hundred and forty-seven sittings: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Warden and Fellows of the College. St. John's, in Byrom-street, was built by Edward Byrom, Esq., under the authority of an act of parliament, in 1769: it is a handsome structure, in the later style of English architecture, with a tower; the interior, which affords accommodation for one thousand and ninety persons, is remarkably neat, and handsomely ornamented: the chancel windows are embellished with stained glass; in one of the south windows is a beautiful representation of Christ entering into Bethlehem, in ancient stained glass, brought from a convent in Rouen; and in the corresponding windo

From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale