Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of the city of Manchester, England. It is known locally as Chorlton. It is situated about four miles southwest of Manchester city centre. Pronunciation varies: /ˈtʃɔrltən/ chorl-tən and /ˈtʃɒlən/ chol-ən are both common.[1]
The area was essentially a trackless swamp for most of its history.
In the late Middle Ages improved drainage methods led to population growth. In the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, its perceived rural character made it a popular upper-class suburb. Inter-war development cemented its nature as a middle-class suburb.
The loss of its railway station, the conversion of larger houses into flats or bedsitters, and significant social housing development to the south of the area changed its character again in the 1970s.
Historically, Chorlton was a village on Lancashire's southern border with Cheshire, and a township within the ancient parish of Manchester.
It was incorporated into the city of Manchester in 1904. Chorlton borders Stretford, Sale, Didsbury, Withington, Whalley Range and Firswood. The River Mersey runs past Chorlton along its southern boundary. The historical boundary to the north and west has been revised to remove anomalies. The area's eastern boundary has changed since the 19th century because of the creation of new parishes, incorporation into the City of Manchester, division into wards.[2]
The name Chorlton-cum-Hardy was established in this form in the late 19th century by combining "Chorlton" with "Hardy" by the Latin "cum" often used between two associated settlements. Some writers have derived "Chorlton" from the Old English Ceorlatun meaning "the settlement of ceorls" and "Hardy" from the Old English Ard-Ea, meaning "trees near the water"[3]
However according to E. Ekwall (1936)[4] and A. D. Mills (1991)[5] the more probable derivation is from 'Ceolfrith's tun'. (All the other "Chorlton" settlement names are understood to be derived from Ceorlatun.) Ekwall says of Hardy, "Second element ĒG 'island'.
The first is doubtful." The long-form name was invented by Victorian property developers, who arrived in the wake of the coming of the railway in 1880, to distinguish it from Chorlton-upon-Medlock. A village green and olde-worlde pub (the Horse and Jockey) were made out of existing buildings and garden so that the area had bucolic attractiveness, and stress was laid on distinguishing the area from the urban Chorlton-upon-Medlock.
The name has been a source of amusement. It has a disproportionate number of mentions in Hansard. Harold Wilson, in particular, expressed an affinity for "the good people of Chorlton-cum-Hardy". It was mentioned on The Goon Show, and other BBC Radio 4 comedies.
In 1903 Slater's Street Directory of Manchester shows that old Chorlton had hardly changed for 25 years. Around Beech Road were three farms, two inns, the parish church and the church school. In Beech Road more shops were trading and a police station had been established and a recreation ground (now Beech Road Park) had been provided and at the eastern end Bowling Green Farm remained.[14]
Further growth was aided by the arrival of Manchester Corporation's tramway before the First World War: a terminus was built on Barlow Moor Road a short distance south of the junction with High Lane. Chorltonville was developed as a garden suburb south of Chorlton Brook: the houses are mostly large and semi-detached and individual in design, standing on tree-lined roads. Alexandra Park Aerodrome (1917–1924), was Manchester's first major airfield located east of the Midland railway overbridge on Mauldeth Road West.[15] (See below, Transport).
After the World War came a period of residential development to the east of the new village either side of Wilbraham Road and a council housing estate at Merseybank. From the 1960s onwards a council estate at Nell Lane near Southern Cemetery; "Chorlton Precinct", a small shopping precinct with an office block, Graeme House (1969/70) (in 2009 rebranded as "The Square") at Wilbraham Road[16] and patchy redevelopment in other areas.
There has been immigration particularly from the Indian subcontinent and from Poland. The Polish community arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, and is the origin of the existence of the 'Barbakan' delicatessen and bakery established in 1964.[17])
Chorlton Green has been designated a conservation area by the city council since 1970 and a second area was designated at Chorltonville in 1991. Chorlton Park Apartments have been recognised for the quality of their design. Beech Road has become a cultural centre, with several shops, restaurants and café bars.[18]
In 2010 Manchester City Council's South Manchester Regeneration Team issued an action plan for improvements to the "Chorlton District Centre"[19] for the period 2010 to 2020. It proposes investment in the district aimed at creating "a strong, vibrant and successful centre that supports the local community and has the ability to exploit the economic potential of Metrolink".[20]
The 1980s onwards saw a new kind of resident arrive; these were people who had studied in Manchester, and had fond memories of the city's southern suburbs. The high salaries available in the upper reaches of a growing public sector were available to them and they brought with them a particular sensibility.
This has rejuvenated the area's cultural life, and transformed some of its shopping areas, as mentioned above. Later arrivals consist of a large number of musicians, artists in all media, and others, and has given the area a significant 'vibe'. The part of Chorlton's population that has not benefited in the last few decades of renewal has been the residents of the large areas of social housing to the south of the district.
There have been clashes of interests between groups with different lifestyles, most recently over the provision of playing fields at Chorltonville. The social housing areas score highly on indicators of social deprivation, a fact at odds with Chorlton's reputation as 'trendy' and 'green'.
The first church was south of the present Chorlton Green, its churchyard is still in existence next to the Bowling Green Hotel though interments ceased in 1882. This chapel, dedicated to St Clement, was established early in the 16th century, probably 1512, was replaced by a brick-built chapel in 1779.
For about 35 years this would have been Roman Catholic, until the separation from Rome under King Henry VIII. Among the clergy who ministered here was Peter Hordern (died 1836) who was librarian of Chetham's Library, Manchester. By 1860 there was a need for a larger church building and the new St Clement's Church was built at Edge Lane (opened 1866).
Sir William Cunliffe Brooks was a benefactor to the township but he withdrew support for building a new church: two of his daughters who died in infancy are buried at the old church.[12] Another opponent was Samuel Mendel of Manley Hall, Whalley Range. The old church remained for another 90 years and was then demolished though the ground plan is still apparent (it was excavated in the 1990s).
A second Anglican parish, St Werburgh's was established in 1898 in the newer part of the suburb. The church on Wilbraham Road was built in 1900–02.[27] At Hurstville Road, Hardy Lane, is St Barnabas's Church, a chapel dependent on St Clement's, opened in 1951.
Information Care of wikipedia.com
