The lost cottages of Mayfield ........ reveal themselves

 History hasn’t been kind to Mayfield Cottages.

Mayfield Cottages, 1849

There are no pictures of the properties, no reference to them in the street directories, and so far I haven’t even been able to locate them on the 1851 census.

Not that I should be over surprised at these omissions for they were in one of the unfashionable parts of the city, located just a little east of London Road, and sandwiched between the Medlock to the south and a railway viaduct to the north.

And while they looked out on to a school, they backed onto other houses, and were within earshot of a mill, two print works, a couple of dye works and a collection of bleaching houses, engine sheds and a tannery.

So, not the sort of place to attract a 19th century version of House and Home, intent on extolling the attractions of inner city living.

Nor can I be exactly sure when they were built.  They appear on the 1841 OS map of Manchester, but look to be absent from Johnson’s map of 1819.  

The earliest reference to them in the Rate Books is 1846 when they were owned by the Trustees of an A. Binyon, and commanded rents which were a tad lower than houses in the surrounding streets, ranging from 2/3d  up to 3/6d.

Those same rent books do offer up the names of the tenant who paid the rent, but so far the first individuals I can locate on the census records come from the 1861 census.

By which time the original ten cottages had increased to 12, and together they were occupied by 51 people, the eldest of whom was 72 and the youngest just 2 months.

The majority were from Manchester but the street would have echoed with accents drawn from as far away as Ireland, Cumberland and Middlesex.

And given the location of the cottages, most of those who lived there were engaged in manual work, probably in the nearby factories.  These included several textile workers, a warehouse porter, and a  calico machine printer.

But there were also a number engaged in skilled trades, including dressmaking, as well as a blacksmith and a wheelwright.  And these last two occupations are a reminder of the continued reliance on the horse and horse drawn vehicles.

Buxton Street, 1900

To these can be added Ann Smith who described herself as a “Charwoman”,  Alice Gregory who took in laundry and James Green who was a fishmonger and his next door neighbour who was a “Fruit salesmen”

Some of the cottages were back to back properties and some had cellars which in 1861 were occupied by families, ranging from a family of three and another of five.

The cottages were still there in 1894, but vanished under Mayfield Railway Station which opened in 1906.

So the search is now on to track the properties back and forward from the first known date of 1841, and look to see how many of the inhabitants can be brought out of the shadows, and perhaps add to our knowledge of this bit of the city. 

And because no images remain of the cottages I have fallen back on this one of no 6. Buxton Street which was just a few minute's walk away.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Mayfield Cottages, 1849, from the OS map of Manchester and Salford, 1844-49, courtesy of Digital Archives Association,  http://digitalarchives.co.uk/and no 6 Buxton Street, 1895, H Entwhistle, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass