The mystery cuts in stone at the end of the Old Road ........ walking Chorlton in the 1760s

Now anyone who walks the Old Road which meanders on the edge of Turn Moss will know that eventually you will reach the Cut Hole Aqueduct which takes the Duke's Canal over the Kickety Brook.

The mark of the mason, circa 1760s

The aqueduct was built in the 1760s and any one taking the Old Road would have gone under its arches on their way to Stretford, ending up at the Cock Inn and the Pump.

At which point I have to confess that the Old Road is my name for what has variously been known as Hawthorn Lane and Back Lane, but given that this is a very old thoroughfare I shall continue to call it the Old Road.

What I had never spotted on the stonework were the mason’s marks, which have a history going back beyond the Middle Ages.

Left in stone, circa 1760s

I have no idea just what they mean, but I know someone will, and my fascination is shared by my old friend David Bishop who photographed them and passed them onto me.

And never one to miss an opportunity of a story here they are.

David has promised me more and I wait with impatience.

Of course given all the controversy “over that plan” for Turn Moss I rather think plenty of people will also be interested.

The Old Road and aqueduct, 1854

All of which leaves me to add this 1854  map of the Old Road as it reaches the aqueduct, pointing also to the weir which was built in the 18th century to slow down flood water from the Mersey flowing fast to the Duke’s Canal and damaging it.

The weir was badly damaged in the 1840s and had to be rebuilt, after which it continued to protect the aqueduct and the canal until the last serious flood in 1915.

Location; The Old Road

Pictures; mason’s marks on the stone of Cut Hole Aqueduct, 2018 courtesy of David Bishop, and the Old Road from the 1854 OS for Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

The upside down map and a glimpse of Hough End Hall in 1768

Now it isn’t often that you get the chance to walk the fields of south Manchester in 1768 but that pretty much is what I have been doing today.

Hough End Hall in 1768

Over the years I have collected maps of the area going back to the sixteenth century but of course the further back you go the less detail is offered up by the map makers.

So this map of the land around Hough End Hall is a rare treat because here recorded in 1768 are the names of the fields, some of the owners and some of the buildings close by the hall.

And what is remarkable is that a full 78 years after our map was made virtually all the fields marked still had the same names.

Now this I know because the tithe maps of Withington for 1848 have survived and along with the schedule tell us the size of each field, its use and value along with who was farming it and who owned it.

The 1768 map is less detailed but does offer up those all important field names and their size with some of the landowners.

But there is or at least there was a problem when I began to compare this 18th century map with the later tithe map for while most of the field names were all there they appeared out of kilter and for one brief moment I toyed with the idea that our earlier map maker had reversed the map, so what should have been north of the hall was recorded as south.

This I dismissed and moved on to other things.

The Story of Hough End Hall 1596-2015

But Peter Topping who also had the map persevered and using modern street maps and a lot of patience concluded that our map was upside down but as he said “whoever decreed that a map should feature north at the top?” 

And with that out of the way this is truly a find which was included in the story of Hough End Hall.

To my knowledge this is the earliest detailed map of this bit of Withington and Chorlton and given its date may well have been commissioned around the time the Egerton family bought the hall and estate.

As such it will be the earliest representation of the hall in any real detail and shows that the “walled orchard” along with the “old orchard” were there by the mid 18th century and raises a fascinating line of enquiry into that Bowling Green and the small water course that fed off from Chorlton Brook presumably to supply the house along with whatever wells may have been dug.

It may also have fed the huge pond opposite Sandy Lane which can be seen in many of the photographs from that early 20th century.

I rather think that our map will offer up much more about that area in 1768 but as you would expect me to say that will all be in the book.

Pictures; detail from the 1768 map, Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives GB127.M24., http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and cover from Hough End Hall the Story, Andrew Simpson & Peter Topping