Now anyone who knows the Salisbury will have passed James Leigh Street and its companion Cayley Street.
And I guess shed loads of commuters will pass by the two on their way up the stairs to Oxford Road Station but probably don’t give either street a second glance.
And that is a shame.
They are best approached by dropping down the slope from Oxford Road into the hollow where the Salisbury stands.
In total there were three of these narrow streets consisting of James Leigh Street, Cayley Street and Mary Street, which took in 28 small back to back properties.
And while the back to backs have long gone, the names of the people who built the houses are still there. So James Leigh, and perhaps his wife or daughter Mary left their mark as did Mr William and Mr Frank just round the corner in the streets they built.
Usually when a name like James Leigh or Frank turn up as a street name there is more than a chance that they had a hand in either cutting the road or theirs were the properties that fronted it.
So as you do I went looking for Mr James Leigh in the Manchester Rate books and came up with a lot.
Now I can be fairly certain that the three roads post date 1819 and were there by 1849, but even so that 30 years yields up a fair few property owners called Leigh, so it will be a tedious process of elimination.
But it’s a start.
Of the three only James Leigh still exists as a place you can visit. Cayley Street is now hidden behind a stout brown gate and Mary Street has vanished altogether.
So I shall finish with a look at the Salisbury which was originally the Tulloghgorum Tavern, a name it retained till 1895 when it became the Salisbury.
The origin of its name is obscure but there is a Scottish poem and Highland reel with the same name, and I am reliably informed that in Gaelic the word is variously spelled - Tullochgorm, Tulloch Gorm, Tulloch Gorum, Tulach Gorm. Tulach or tulloch and means a hill, hillock, knoll while Gorm is Gaelic for blue, green, or blue-green, so the meaning of the two words could be translated "blue-green hills."
All of which is way beyond me, although it is worth noting that the name of the Lass O’ Gowrie just across Oxford Street also has a Scottish connection.
I had for a while wondered about the a possible connection to Little Ireland which was just round the corner but if I have read Johnson’s map of 1819 the pub may already have been there before the that slum was aid out.
Of course the license records might help but in the meantime I shall just say with certainty that the change of name is linked to the Conservative leader Lord Salisbury who formed a government in 1895.
By then most of the mean little streets had gone, cleared away by the railway company, and industry.
But it is still possible to get a sense of what it might have been like a century and a half ago.
Dop down from Oxford Street into that hollow and then as now the place is dominated by the tall railway viaduct and two of those narrow streets.
And while the back to backs have long gone, and Little Ireland is just a page in a history book at least the names of the people who built the houses are still there.
Location; Manchester
Pictures; James Leigh Street and Cayley Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the surrounding area in 1849, from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/
 |
| James Leigh Street, 2016 |
And that is a shame.
They are best approached by dropping down the slope from Oxford Road into the hollow where the Salisbury stands.
In total there were three of these narrow streets consisting of James Leigh Street, Cayley Street and Mary Street, which took in 28 small back to back properties.
And while the back to backs have long gone, the names of the people who built the houses are still there. So James Leigh, and perhaps his wife or daughter Mary left their mark as did Mr William and Mr Frank just round the corner in the streets they built.
 |
| The three streets in 1849 |
So as you do I went looking for Mr James Leigh in the Manchester Rate books and came up with a lot.
Now I can be fairly certain that the three roads post date 1819 and were there by 1849, but even so that 30 years yields up a fair few property owners called Leigh, so it will be a tedious process of elimination.
But it’s a start.
Of the three only James Leigh still exists as a place you can visit. Cayley Street is now hidden behind a stout brown gate and Mary Street has vanished altogether.
So I shall finish with a look at the Salisbury which was originally the Tulloghgorum Tavern, a name it retained till 1895 when it became the Salisbury.
The origin of its name is obscure but there is a Scottish poem and Highland reel with the same name, and I am reliably informed that in Gaelic the word is variously spelled - Tullochgorm, Tulloch Gorm, Tulloch Gorum, Tulach Gorm. Tulach or tulloch and means a hill, hillock, knoll while Gorm is Gaelic for blue, green, or blue-green, so the meaning of the two words could be translated "blue-green hills."
All of which is way beyond me, although it is worth noting that the name of the Lass O’ Gowrie just across Oxford Street also has a Scottish connection.
I had for a while wondered about the a possible connection to Little Ireland which was just round the corner but if I have read Johnson’s map of 1819 the pub may already have been there before the that slum was aid out.
 |
| Cayley Street, 2016 |
By then most of the mean little streets had gone, cleared away by the railway company, and industry.
But it is still possible to get a sense of what it might have been like a century and a half ago.
Dop down from Oxford Street into that hollow and then as now the place is dominated by the tall railway viaduct and two of those narrow streets.
And while the back to backs have long gone, and Little Ireland is just a page in a history book at least the names of the people who built the houses are still there.
Location; Manchester
Pictures; James Leigh Street and Cayley Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the surrounding area in 1849, from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/
Thank you for this, always wondered about the street in Manchester that bore my name!
ReplyDelete