Updated - March, 2008
Salford Cathedral
Salford register office -
Kingslea,
Barton Road,
Swinton,
Manchester, M27 5WH.
Tel: 0161 909 6501. Fax: 0161 794 4797.
Cheques payable to City of Salford.
The present-day Salford originated as a small town in the early thirteenth century. The first recorded mention of a bridge over the River Irwell connecting Manchester and Salford occurs in documents from 1226. Henry III, in 1228, granted Salford the right to hold a weekly market and annual fair. The traditional location for the market and fairs is believed to be at the end of Chapel Street near Greengate. A plan of Salford in 1740 shows that the town was mainly concentrated within the triangle of Chapel Street, Gravel Lane & Greengate, focused around Sacred Trinity Church (which was founded in 1634). Salford's growth began in the early years of the Industrial Revolution when the construction of the Bridgewater Canal, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and, more recently, the Manchester Ship Canal, provided a lengthy period of economic and physical growth stretching to the Second world War and beyond. This period saw the establishment of a thriving economy within the City based upon the docks, heavy engineering, chemicals, coal mining and textiles. With this booming economy came a growth in population and the spread of artisans' and employers' dwellings in old Salford and in the outlying towns.
As a result of industrial growth the City's population, which was 12,000 in 1812, rose in 30 years to 70,244, and by the end of the century to 220,000. The rapid increase, hardly exceeded anywhere else in the country, was reflected in the vast areas of poor quality housing that were built throughout the Victorian period when overcrowding created real social problems.
Nevertheless, Salford became one of the greatest cotton towns, while brewing, too, played a significant part in the local economy. In 1894 the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal, the newly-built docks in Salford formed another important source of local employment for almost 100 years.
Here is a new site that is well worth a visit, and please add it to your favourites, as I am sure that you will wish to return to see the site grow over the coming months.
The Weaste Cemetery Heritage Trail
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