Living beside the Medlock in the shadow of railway viaducts in 1851

I am looking at 14 and 16 Victoria Terrace in 1900, and by the time the picture was taken they had been standing for just over 60 years.

They formed a row of properties half of which faced out on to the River Medlock with the rest looking out on to Coronation Square.

All together there were fourteen of them, and along with another ten houses they formed a small enclave behind Fairfield Street, bounded by the river to the east and south, surrounded by textile mills, and in the shadow of a tall railway viaduct.

In all probability they were built sometime around the coronation of the old Queen, and the first recorded reference to them is 1839 in the Manchester Rate Books which records that they were owned by a William Walker.

The houses in Victoria Terrace consisted of four rooms and had been built as back to backs, while the remaining houses on Coronation Square were a mix of two, three and four roomed houses.

In 1841 these 24 properties were home to 120 people, a decade later to 104, and in 1891 there were still 71 residents.

Given the location of this small enclave, most families derived a living from unskilled occupations, of which in the 1840s and 50s was primarily linked to the textile trade.

Just across the river in full view of nos 14 and 16 was the Ardwick Mill on Crane Street and within a few minutes walk there was the weaving shed of the Maskery Mill,and several other textile factories along with a brewery, an iron works, saw mill and timber yard.*

By 1891, reflecting the changes in the area, there had been a decline in the number of residents who worked in the textile trades, and an increase in those who worked for the railway companies, or described themselves as skilled workers.

There was overcrowding, and some properties were sublet, and the worst cases were in the smaller properties of Coronation Square.

And armed with the census returns for 1841, 51 and 91, it is possible to identify the families who occupied each property, and as you would expect there appears to have been a steady change in occupancy.

There is still much to do, including tracking the age profile of the residents and their places of birth, alongside a detailed analysis of just how overcrowded some of the properties were.

But there will be some mysteries which I doubt it will be easy to clear up. 

And of these the one that jumps out at me comes from our picture, for below that precarious looking walkway suspended over the river, there is evidence of a another storey, complete with windows and even a door.  But what is missing, is the means of access to that set of rooms.

Given that these two were back to back properties, there seems no obvious way to get to them.

Other photographs dating from the early 20th century showing them being demolished only serve to add to the confusion.

That said I am sure some will come with a theory and possibly the answer.

In the meantime I shall continue to trawl the census returns, and rate books, looking at the occupations, and ages of our residents with a view to collecting a detailed picture of our little enclave.

Pictures; 14 and16 Victoria Terrace, 1900, m11490, and 1904,  m11495, A Bradburn courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and the area in 1849, from the OS map of Manchester and Salford, 1848-49, and in 1851 from Adshead map of Manchester, 1851, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Maskery Mill Union Street, the Mount Street Dye Works, Mount Street, Pin Mill Cotton Factory, Pin Mill Brow, Ancoats Bridge Print Works, and Ancoats Bridge Mills, Ancoats Hollow.