I doubt I would ever have explored St Andrew’s Square if I hadn’t taken up the invitation of Bob and Del Amato to visit their food warehouse.
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| St Andrews Square, 1851 |
I knew the square and had wandered past it but had never stopped even to stare at what had become a car park and a home for light industry.
The square is one of those little bits of half forgotten Ancoats, which long ago lost its residents, it’s church, and its school.
The residents began to go in the clearance programmes of the 1930s, the school followed sometime later, and by the end of the following decade the church stood alone, until it closed in 1958.
A few years ago I did some work on Homer Street which backed on to St Andrew’s Square and had fully intended to widen my research but never did.*
And so today I have decided to rectify that omission.
The square is actually just an L shape which takes up the south and east side of the site of St Andrew’s Church.
I can’t be exactly sure when the square was developed, but the church was opened in 1831 and by 1839 the properties show up in the rate books.
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| St Andrew's Church, 1964 |
And just eighteen years earlier on Johnson’s map of 1819 the area up from the river to the canal was still open land although already it was edged with buildings.
St Andrew’s Square, along with Homer Street seems a cut above some of the other streets.
The houses consisted of five rooms and they commanded a weekly rent of just over 5 shillings, which is higher than the surrounding streets.
And many of the residents were drawn from the skilled working class, including a railway clerk, a tailor, a dressmaker and a bookkeeper, along with a salesmen, painter and book keeper.
Their origins were as varied as their occupations with a fair few having come from Scotland, Yorkshire and the Lakes, with others from Cheshire as well as Salford.
So I know that Margaret Mills at number 16 St Andrew’s Square, who was married to a police constable, came from Scotland, and shared her home with seven others, including a nephew, a niece, her father, sister in law and two lodgers.
And not to be out down, her neighbour, Mr. Maddoy the hatter, shared his house with his wife his sister inlaw and her three children, all of whom were engaged in the hat industry.
The plan will be to follow the square’s fortunes over the next century and a bit, charting the different families who lived there, the changing use of the land, and the changes over the last few years.
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| St Andrew's Square |
Which leads me back to Amato Foods, because their site was for a while a sheet metal works, before it became site was used as a vehicle repair centre by the post office, and now a food warehouse.
And I am indebted to Bob and Del for sharing the survey that was undertaken on their site and which offered up some interesting insights to the the previous occupants.
But more about them, along with the story of the church and the school another time, leaving me just to mention the wonderful tapenade and fresh pasta which Amato Foods make in the premises, along with their delivery service offering a range foods that can be delivered to the door, but I wont because that would be advertising, so I shall just direct you to the links.**
Location; St Andrew’s Square,
Pictures; St Andrew’s Square in 1851, from Adshead map of Manchester 1851, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/, St Andrew’s Square, 2021, courtesy of Amato Food Products, and St Andrew’s Church, 1964, T Brooks, m10604, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
*Homer Street; https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Homer%20Street
** Amato Products Ltd, https://amatoproducts.co.uk/ and to order, info@amatoproducts.co.uk
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