Divided Chorlton

It is still possible to talk to people who describe themselves as living in old or new Chorlton. Of course once upon a time there was no old or new Chorlton, just the township of Chorlton-cum-Hardy which in turn was made up of three hamlets of which Chorlton centred on the green and Chorlton Row was the largest. But there was also Martledge to the north which covers the area from the Four Banks along Manchester Road and east towards Stretford and finally Hardy which ran from Chorlton Brook on to the Mersey. Of the three Hardy was not only the most remote but also the least populated. Given that it was often flooded it is not surprising. So apart from three farms, there were few cottages and the last of these was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century after a particularly bad flood.

Now the name Martledge has all but been forgotten and Hardy is rarely used and only then in connection with the townships old title of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. I guess soon the distinction between and old and new Chorlton will also disappear. But for most of the 20th century it was a vivid reminder of how the area had developed. Old Chorlton was the heart of the rural Chorlton and as such was dominated by the green and Chorlton Row which was renamed Beech Road.

New Chorlton was the area which was developed at the end of the 19th century around the Four Banks and the station. Here were the people who by and large did not make a living from the land. They were clerk’s warehouseman and various types of professional and some commuted into the city by train. They may have been attracted by the open fields to the south and east but saw the advantages of what was already fast becoming a suburb of Manchester.
It is perhaps no accident that new Chorlton had the banks while old Chorlton had only a post office and the weekly Penny Savings Bank which met every Saturday between 6 and 7 in the old school on the green. According to the Bank “any sum may be deposited between One Penny and £50. When the account reached £1 it is transferred to the Manchester and Salford Savings Bank “

A lot of research now needs to be done using the census returns to build a profile of the occupations of the residents of the two halves of Chorlton, but in placing the Penny Savings Bank on the green “the Trustees and managers” were clear in their own minds that perhaps this area was more likely “to see a large increase in the number of depositors, and cottager’s domestic servants, and parents on behalf of their children.” After all here were built “the six shilling a week houses” consisting of four rooms with perhaps a small kitchen extension, yard and tiny front garden.
Today that distinction between old and new has faded but ironically with the rise of Beech Road and the green as a place for quirky shops, bars and restaurants and the revamped Horse & Jockey, perhaps there is still something different about one part of Chorlton.

The picture of Chorlton Row circa 1880 showing the smithy about the time Chorlton Station was built, from the collection of Tony Walker