Yesterday Richard Bond wrote about the discovery of an 1881 map of Chorlton-cum-Hardy which neither of us had seen.*
It is a beautifully executed map in great detail and from the bits I have seen is far superior to the OS map which was surveyed eleven years later and published in 1894.
And in the course of exploring the area around Lane End, which today is where High Lane meets Barlow Moor Road and Sandy Lane, Richard spotted a statue marked on the 1881 map.
That statue doesn’t appear on the later OS map and of course set both of us off on a bit of historical speculation.
Who in what had been a rural backwater would erect a statue, and who or what event might that statue have commemorated?
Added to which having gone to the effort of placing it close to Lane End, why had it vanished by 1894?
The statue stood in the grounds of Beech House which belonged to the Holt family who had made their money in the late 18th century making the wooden blocks used for calico engraving.**
Their town house was on St John’s Street off Deansgate, and was the only double fronted property on the south side of the road.
By the end of the 19th century they had an extensive portfolio of properties in the area, and owned land in Chorlton-cum-Hardy as well as the estate at Lane End.
There are references to them in the census returns from 1841 to 1901.
James and Hannah Holt moved into the township in the 1830s.
They also appear in Pigot and Co’s National Commercial Directory, 1834 and 1841, as well as Slater’s Directory of Lancashire.
They retained the family home in St John Street and they are listed in Pigot & Dean’s Directory of Manchester & Salford for 1821 prior to their move to Chorlton.
They also appear in the rate books for the township and the tithe schedule. His son and later grandson all moved into the township.
We know how they voted in the 1835 General Election and were regarded enough to be mentioned by Thomas Ellwood in his History of Chorlton-cum-Hardy.***
The Holts retained a large portfolio of property in the city as well as in the township. There are references to the extent of these holdings in their private papers. The property qualifications of their Parliamentary votes along with their voting record for the 1835 General Election can be seen in the Electors Guide.
Looking at a range of maps from the 19th century, it is possible to see just how extensive were the grounds around their large home which ran from Beech Road, along Barlow Moor Road to High Lane, and then down High Lane, almost as far as Cross Road and extended south to Beech Road. The eastern perimeter extended all the way to what is now the edge of Barlow Moor Road.
So, it is entirely possible that one of the family erected a statute, perhaps of Mr. James Holt, the founder of the business and the first of the Holt’s to settle here.
Alternatively it might have been a figure drawn from classical mythology, to blend with the ornate gardens.
Nor can we be sure it was taken down by 1892, because the OS map is not as detailed as that from 1881.
What is certain, is that if it was still there in the grounds in 1892, it didn’t survive the demolition of Beech House around 1908 and the sale of the grounds, some of which are now under Malton Avenue and the parade of shops running up to High Lane, while another portion was obtained by the Corporation who used it to widen Barlow Moor Road and build the tram terminus.
Now, there are photographs of the trees being felled in the garden hard up against Barlow Moor Road, and so somewhere there may be a picture of the statue, and it might have survived to grace some other garden.
We shall see.
Pictures; Beech House once called Beech Cottage, 1907, m17645, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass11 John Street, home of the Holt family from the late 18th century, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Beech Cottage and gardens in 1881 from the map of that year, courtesy of Trafford Local Studies, and in 1894, l from the OS map of South Lancashire, and in 1854 from the OS map of Lancashire, 1845-1854, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/
*Early Chorlton Map Discovered by Richard Bond, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/09/early-chorlton-map-discovered-by.html
** The Holt Family, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Holt%20family
***Chapter 5 December 5 1885, The History of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, was written by Thomas Ellwood and published in 25 articles in the South Manchester Gazette, between the winter of 1885 into spring of 1886
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