Dictionary – Greater Manchester Place Names

GREATER MANCHESTER PLACE NAMES

Compiled by Richard West
Cover image under licence from Alamy. Reference OY0101324868

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INTRODUCTION

It is now more than 50 years since the formation of Greater Manchester but there is still no full account of the place names of Britain’s second-most populous county. Harland’s gazetteer of 1862 gave the origins of many of the place names in the city of Manchester but, until, 1974, most of what is now Greater Manchester was included in Lancashire and Cheshire. The place names of these counties have been quite well documented but most of the books dealing with these place names either pre-date 1974 or ignore the 1974 boundaries and describe places as still being in Lancashire or Cheshire, despite the fact that Greater Manchester has existed for more than 50 years and now includes many places that did not even exist in 1974.

The present work explores the place names of Greater Manchester from the earliest, which probably date from the 7^th century, to those which have emerged in the 21^st century. It does not pretend to be comprehensive but is intended to be a first attempt to compile a guide to the many place names of our county. It is, however, very much a work in progress and it appears online so that others can contribute by filling the gaps and correcting the errors.

ENTRIES

Each entry consists of the following:

Place name: There is no hard and fast definition of ‘place’ – most of the places included are settlements or natural features, but streets and individual buildings are generally not listed, although there are notable exceptions. Obvious or derived names such as Salford Town Hall or West Didsbury are not included.

Location: Which metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester the place can be found in.

Date: When the place was first recorded, although many places may have existed for many years, even centuries, before we find any documentary evidence of their existence.

Variations: Variant names and spellings are indicated briefly.

Meaning: The literal meaning of the name where this is not self-evident.

Etymology: The derivation of each name, with the language of origin or the personal name of an eponym where known.

Cross references to other place names in the book (marked in bold) and to the appendices listing the locations of places depicted in the works of Lowry and Valette.

Boxes A number of place names which are related in some way have been brought together in ‘boxes’ at the appropriate point in the alphabet:

¨ Animals, fish and birds

¨ Domesday Book

¨ Woodland and woods

¨Vegetables and vegetation

GLOSSARY

Aspirational place names are names that are consciously chosen to reflect the hopes that the inhabitants have for their future lives in that place. An early example is Breightmet, meaning ‘beautiful meadow’ and recorded in 1257. Later on, it was often a hope to escape from the ‘dark satanic mills’ of the industrial revolution in Greater Manchester. Examples include Belle Vue, Fairfield, Flowery Field, Garden Suburb, Lark Hill and Hazel Grove.

Eponyms are words derived from the name of a person. Eponyms are widely used as place names across the world. In the Greater Manchester area many date from the Anglo-Saxon period. In these cases, their names have survived far longer than any memory or record of who they were or what they did. Some eponyms are much later, dating from the 18^th or 19^th centuries – Ashburys, Bridgewater Canal, Brooklands and Simister – and in most cases we know the name of the person they are named for and often a lot about their lives and why they have been commemorated in a place name. The person whose name gives us the most eponyms in Greater Manchester is Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), a former prime minister and founder of the modern police force, who was born in Bury and who is commemorated in Peel Park, Peel Tower and (more obliquely) the Peel Centre in Stockport.

Etymology is the study of the origin and history of a word, tracing it back to its original language and form, and often the date when it was first recorded. Many place names in Greater Manchester can be traced back more than a thousand years, with places derived from Celtic or Old Welsh (including the first element of Manchester), a few from Latin (Viridor, the second element of Manchester), Old Norse, Old English, Norman French, Modern French (Belle Vue), Gaelic (Ducie Bridge), Spanish (Calamanco), Greek (Adelphi, Eccles), Hebrew (Jericho, Salem), Catalan (Montserrat) and Arabic (Etihad). In a good many cases the etymology may be uncertain or even unknown. In these cases, this is indicated and different theories or suggestions are given.

Folk etymology is a false derivation which may be commonly believed but which is not true or accurate. Examples from Greater Manchester include Adswood (often said to be ‘Adders’ wood’), Denton (‘Dane town’), Gorton (‘gore town’), Oldham (said to be derived from owls), Reddish (‘blood red’ from an ancient battle), Salford (‘salt’ + ‘ford’) and Wigan (said to be from the Wiggin tree). Most notably, it is often believed that the first element of Manchester is derived from ‘adult male’, despite its actual female origins, and there continue to be campaigns to change the name of the city or its football teams.

Formalisation is the process by which disputed names or spellings become fixed by the need to choose one through a formal naming process. One example in Greater Manchester is Bramhall, where the 19th-century owner of the local country house insisted on Bramall without an H but the Manchester & Birmingham Railway chose Bramhall with an H when it named its station in 1845.

Gentrification Manchester was well aware of its grim industrial reputation and sometimes transferred place names from more affluent or fashionable and aristocratic areas in the south of England in order to ‘gentrify’ a neighbourhood. This practice was particularly common at the end of the 18^th century, when names such as Adelphi, Piccadilly, New Islington, Oxford Road, Grosvenor Square, Paddington and New Windsor were all adopted.

Rationalisation is the process of altering the spelling of a place name so that it conforms to modern spelling and the name seems to become more transparent, even though it may have nothing to do with its actual etymology. A notable example is Strangeways, which is not derived from either ‘strange’ or ‘ways’. It is actually derived from Old English strang, ‘strong’, and waesce, meaning ‘flooding’, but this meaning was lost and the modern spelling was adopted as early as 1326 by those trying to find meaning in its name.

Reduplication is a process whereby two elements in the place name mean the same, usually because the meaning of the first element has been lost. An example is Platt Bridge, where Middle English platt means ‘bridge’ and the addition of Modern English bridge is tautologous. Other examples include Calderbrook, Cheadle, Glodwick, Pendlebury, Wardle and Whittle Hill.

Transfer A number of place names in Greater Manchester have been transferred from places elsewhere. This may be because the original place had special significance (Blackfriars, Maine Road, New Manchester, Whalley Range, Bruntwood, Richmond Hill) or was the site of a military victory or defeat (Alma Park, Bunker Hill, Crown Point, Gallipoli Gardens, Victory, Waterloo, Trafalgar Square), or, most recently, celebrates the twinning of towns in Greater Manchester with European towns (Armentieres Square, Peine Square).

TIMELINE OF GREATER MANCHESTER PLACE NAMES

The timeline below highlights the main eras and dates in the history of Greater Manchester and shows how place names across the county exemplify the naming practices of its inhabitants at those times. The names in bold are included as main entries in the dictionary.
THE CELTS c.750 BC onwards	The Celts were living in north-west England from about the 8^th century BC but they were either displaced or assimilated by later invaders. Few of their place names survive. As elsewhere in England, the names of many of the rivers of what is now Greater Manchester are possibly of Celtic origin: Calder, Douglas, Glaze, Goyt, Irk and Tame. The area would have been sparsely populated but several place names provide evidence of Celtic occupation around Wigan: Wigan itself, Bryn, Culcheth, Ince-in-Makerfield, Kenyon, Pemberton and Shevington, and Cheadle, Cheetham and Cheetwood all share the same Celtic root (cēd ‘wood’), suggesting that all were Celtic settlements at an early date, and it has been suggested that this area has one of the heaviest concentrations of Celtic names in England. The Celts are also recalled in Wallgate and Walton, both derived from the Anglo-Saxon term for the Celts – the wealh (i.e. the Welsh).
ROMANS AD 78 AD – 410	In AD 78-86 the Roman invaders built a fort that is usually said to have been named Mamucium, derived from the Celtic for ‘breast-shaped hill’. The name was later Anglicised as Manchester, preserving the Latin castra (‘camp’). The Roman legions abandoned their fort in about AD 410, but, despite this long occupation, there are no place names in Greater Manchester preserving the original Latin, although some seem to be translations of earlier Latin names. Suggestions that Manchester’s River Tib may have been named after the Tiber in Rome may simply be fanciful. Although there are no place names in Greater Manchester which are derived from Latin, there are several Anglo-Saxon names which acknowledge Roman forts: Alport, Castlefield, Castleshaw and Littleborough. Old English strǣt in Stretford and Trafford refers to the roman road to Chester.
ANGLO-SAXONS c. AD 450 onwards	The majority of Greater Manchester place names recorded before the industrial revolution are derived from Old English – the language of the Anglo-Saxon invaders who spread over much of England from the 5^th century onwards. They generally constructed their place names from two or three elements: a generic element identifying the type of place it was and another element coming first to distinguish it from others with the same generic element. So, for example, Heaton (‘high village’) was distinguished from Lowton (‘low village’). The Anglo-Saxons used several main types of elements:
	¨	Eponyms Many Anglo-Saxon places were named after leaders, but, of course, we know little or nothing of the men and women who gave their names to Ardwick, Baguley, Cadishaw, Chorlton, Crumpsall, or Pilsworth. It is often easy to spot an Anglo-Saxon eponym as any name formed with -ing- (‘followers, people of’) + –tūn (‘village, estate, etc’) is likely to be named after an Anglo-Saxon leader – Brinnington, Dumplington, Partington, Pennington, Pilkington, Shevington, Torkington, Tottington, Withington and Worthington. For some reason, there are no longer any Greater Manchester names with -ing- + –tūn to compare with Birmingham, Nottingham or Sandringham (but see earlier spelling of Altrincham).
	¨	Topographical The second category of Anglo-Saxon place names is those derived from the geography of the area – the hills and valleys, rivers and streams, and moors and marshes. In the Greater Manchester area, these follow a clear pattern as the landscape changes from east to west:
		Moors	Moors are barren uplands that are generally unsuitable for agriculture. There are over 3000 listed places with moor as their final element, approximately half of them in Yorkshire. In Greater Manchester there are about 20 moor places nearly all in the east, on the edge of the Pennines and Peaks (Moorside). In the south of the county, the old Roman road to Buxton (the A6) marks a boundary, with Great Moor, Heaton Moor and Woodsmoor along the road and contrasting with the nearby Shaw Heath to the west.
		Mosses	To the west of the county are the mosses – bogs or swamps that often made settlement or travel difficult. The name and the phenomenon are distinct to north-west England, as Daniel Defoe noted: ‘On the road to Manchester, we pass’d the great bog or waste call’d Chat Moss, the first of that kind that we see in England, from any of the south parts hither. It extends on the left-hand of the road for five or six miles east and west, and they told us it was, in some places, seven or eight miles from north to south.’ The element is found in at least a dozen places, mostly but not exclusively in the west, such as Barton Moss, Hale Moss, Kitt’s Moss, Moss Side, Mossley, Moston, Shadow Moss and, somewhat corrupted, Moses Gate.
		Brooks	As we have seen, most of the major rivers in Greater Manchester have names which are probably Celtic in origin, but these are fed by countless muddy brooks flowing from the east, most of which have Anglo-Saxon names. These brooks may flow down steep valleys or cloughs (Stoneclough), gentler dales (Rochdale) or long deans/-dens (Denton, Droylsden, Walkden) with paths or roads, or meander round a nook or halh (Bramhall, Crumpsall, Hale, Haugh) or a tongue (Tonge, Taunton). The rivers and brooks were crossed by fords (Salford, Stretford, Trafford) and later by bridges – Platt, meaning bridge, is found from 1212 and bridge itself occurs in Manchester’s Hanging Bridge, dating from 1343. Settlements were frequently established beside these fords and bridges.
		Woods	The flood plain of Greater Manchester between the moors to the east and the mosses to the west was originally heavily wooded, although much of the forest had been cleared by the time the Anglo-Saxons arrived. We find many places that have wood in their name (Woodley, Woodford, Woodhouses – see Woods & Woodland box), but many more that are copses or shaws (Audenshaw, Openshaw, Shaw, Wythenshawe). Amongst the woods, settlements were established in clearings, and names with the element –lee/-leigh/-le meaning ‘woodland clearing’ are especially common (Leigh, Cheadle, Edgeley, Romiley, Stayley, Stalybridge, Worsley).
	¨	Vegetation There are many places named after different types of wood, although this is not always obvious – Ashton, Beech Hill, Birch, Firswood, Hollins (holly), Horwich (wych elm), Ogden (oak), Sale (willow), Salford (willow), Withington (willow), and Wythenshawe (willow). There are also names which are derived from the uses to which the wood was put – for making poles (Bollinhurst), brooms (Bramhall, Brimrod), staves (Stalybridge) and timber (Timperley). See Woods & Woodland box There are relatively few places named for other types of vegetation. Several places indicate that reeds or rushes, which could be used for thatching (Thatch Leach), could be found (Broadbent, Lever, Reddish, Sedgley). Some places are names after vegetables – celery (Agecroft), watercress (Kearsley, Kersal), and wild garlic (Ramsbottom) – and others indicate that cereal crops such as barley (Barlow Moor, Pemberton) and rye (Ryton, Ryecroft) were being grown. See Vegetables & Vegetation box
	¨	Animals The Anglo-Saxons also named many places after animals and birds, especially deer (Hartshead, Hattersley, Roe Green), goats (Bucklow, Gatley), pigs (Boarshaw, Swinton), cranes (Cornbrook) and hawks (Hawkley). Perhaps surprisingly in a region with so many rivers, there are very few places named after fish (Compstall). See Animals, Birds & Fish box
	¨	Directional While there are several names indicating the northern location of places (Norbury, Norley, Northenden, Northern Moor), compass points were also used for distinguishing purposes: Norden (= northern valley) and Sudden (= southern valley), Astley (east Leigh) and Westleigh , Haughton and Westhaughton.
CHRISTIANITY 6^th-7^th centuries onwards	Christianity spread to the area of Greater Manchester in the 6^th and 7^th centuries and evidence of this is found in place names across the county, although little or nothing is known of the monks commemorated in Monsall or Monton, the priests in Prestolee, Prestwich or Priestnall, or the abbey in Abbey Hey. Rooden and possibly Blackrod retain the Old English rōd (meaning ‘cross’) before it was supplanted by the Gaelic or Norse cross, which is found in other, presumably later place names. Eccles is also thought to be a Celtic word derived from the Latin or Greek for an ecclesiastical gathering. The only person from this early period of whom we know anything is St Chad (c.634-672), the Bishop of Lichfield in Mercia, whose parish covered the Greater Manchester area until 1541. St Chad’s Church in Rochdale, parts of which date from the 13^th century and which may have been named in AD 673, is said to be the oldest church in the county, and St Chad is also commemorated in Chadkirk and possibly even Chat Moss. Some of the Anglican churches built in Manchester in the 18^th and 19 centuries (some of them no longer in existence) have given their names to districts (All Saints, St George’s), squares (St Ann’s, St Peter’s) and parks (Angel Meadows, St John’s Gardens, St Michael’s Flags). Non-conformist churches also coined names for districts with aspirational (Fairfield) or Biblical (Jericho, New Earth and Salem) names. Several other places which originally had Anglo-Saxon names were later rationalised as if they had Christian origins (Abram, Moses Gate).
VIKINGS c. AD 900-1050	The Vikings settled in North-west England from the 8th century but sources differ as to whether Greater Manchester became part of the Danelaw or not. Certainly, the spread of the Vikings caused concern and legend has it that the Nico Ditch was built in 869-870 to guard against the Vikings: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in AD 923 ‘King Edward … ordered levies … to occupy Manchester in Northumbria, and had it repaired and garrisoned’ in order to meet the Viking threat. It also seems that Bury and at least some of the places with the –bury element (Bredbury, Norbury, Didsbury, Pendlebury and Littleborough) may have originally been fortified Anglo-Saxon settlements built to protect against the Vikings. There is little place-name evidence of large-scale Viking settlement in what is now Greater Manchester: there is a cluster of eponyms in western Manchester (Flixton, Urmston) but nowhere ending in –by, the most common Norse element (as in Derby or Grimsby), not one -toft (as in Lowestoft), only one –thwaite (Laithwaite), and only one –thorpe (Thorp in Oldham). The only Viking name element that does occur with any frequency is –hulme (‘island, raised ground’): Hulme, Davyhulme, Levenshulme, Cheadle Hulme, Oldham (corrupted from Aldholme) and Wolstenholme. A hulme was an area of raised ground that would be particularly suitable for a settlement in an area susceptible to frequent flooding.
INTEGRATION & ASSIMILATION	Cheadle Hulme exemplifies Greater Manchester’s almost unique mixture of the three linguistic traditions – Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Norse: Cheadle (Celtic cēd + Old English lēah) + Old Norse hulme. Such names show how, over time, peoples speaking different languages and with different cultures came to live in peace together.
NORMANS 1066 onwards	The Norman conquest of 1066 meant that the official language of England became French, and it remained so until Richard II was deposed in 1399. Despite this, and the fact that Norman lords were given estates across much of England, Norman French had very little impact on place names in mediaeval England. Many of these lords took English names from the lands they governed, but a few Norman names remain today – Darcy (of Darcy Lever), Darnel (of Darnhill), Massey (of Dunham Massey), Norris (of Heaton Norris), Molyneux (of Molyneux Brow) and, much later, Davenport (in Stockport) and Grosvenor (of Manchester’s Grosvenor Square). However, the Normans impacted north-western place names in other ways, as can be seen from their Domesday Book of 1086. William the Conqueror sent his agents throughout England to list all the towns, villages and property, so that he would know what taxes were due. Domesday recorded 13,418 settlements throughout England and Wales, about 600 in Cheshire and Lancashire, but fewer than 25 in what is now Greater Manchester. Two reasons are normally given for this: William’s agents did a poor job, simply omitting major places such as Stockport, Wigan and Bury. More likely, the Normans’ genocidal ‘harrying of the north’ in 1069-1070, in which up to 75% of the population of the north were slaughtered, left many places ‘Weaste’ – uninhabited or of little value. See Domesday Book box
CIVIL WAR 1642-1651	Greater Manchester figured significantly in the Civil War: the war itself is often said to have begun when Royalists tried to capture the town and Richard Perceval of Levenshulme became the first casualty during street fighting on 15 July 1642. Oliver Cromwell is said to have passed through Trub Smithy at some point, and to have camped at Oliver Clough during the Siege of Manchester in 1643. In May 1644, the Royalist commander, Prince Rupert, camped on Barlow Moor before leading the Bolton massacre, in which 1500 Parliamentary troops and citizens were killed. On 25 August 1651 the Royalists were defeated in the Battle of Wigan Lane at a hamlet which became known as Battling Wood, which was later corrupted to Bottling Wood.
ENFRANCHISEMENT & CIVIL RIGHTS 17^th century onwards	The first MP for Manchester was not elected until 1654 but the constituency was abolished in 1660 on the restoration of the monarchy as Manchester had supported Oliver Cromwell and the parliamentarians in the civil war. This situation lasted throughout the 18^th century and in 1725 Defoe described Manchester as ‘the greatest meer village in England. It is neither a wall’d town, city or corporation; they send no members to Parliament’. Despite the Peterloo protests, parliamentary representation was not restored to Manchester until 1832 and the first MP, Mark Philips, is commemorated in Philips Park. The right to vote was dependent on property ownership and in the 1860s, John Platt, a mill owner and the mayor of Oldham, gave his employees the freehold of their houses so that they could vote. The right to vote was restricted to men until 1918, largely as a result of the suffragette movement formed by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, whose campaigning is celebrated at the Pankhurst Centre. A much earlier milestone in women’s rights is commemorated at Womanscroft Bridge in Bramhall, where, in 1637, a landowning woman who ‘had a house with a small croft and toft’ was given certain legal rights, including being a juror and being ‘exempt from the burden of repairing the bridge over Lady Brook, known as the Woman’s Croft bridge’.
JACOBITE REBELLION 1745-1746	In 1745-1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie led a Jacobite army into England in an attempt to regain the throne that his father, James II, had been forced to give up in 1688. He reached Manchester on 28 November 1745 and is thought to have stabled his horses in Stockport, before marching on to Derby and then retreating to defeat at the Battle of Culloden. Longsight and Tiviot Dale are both said to owe their names to the Bonnie Prince and his army. It has also been suggested that Scotland in central Manchester was named because the Jacobite troops camped there in 1745, but this seems unlikely.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION & COAL c.1760-1840	The term ‘industrial revolution’ was invented in 1799 by the Frenchman, Louis-Guillaume Otto, and was applied to Britain by Arnold Toynbee in 1881. The industrial transformation of Britain in the second half of the 18^th century and first half of the 19^th had several causes, but chief among these was the availability and application of coal. Several place names across Greater Manchester point to the early mining of coal and other minerals: Cinder Hill, Collyhurst, Coldhurst, Cowlishaw, Delph, Pitses and Quarlton. Daniel Defoe, who toured Great Britain in 1724-1726, described the widespread mining of coal between Wigan and Bolton, but the mines of the area were mostly shallow, with horse-powered winding gear. This early mine equipment is captured in Gin Pit village, where Gin is short for engine. However, the depth of mines was limited by the dangers of flooding, which was addressed by the use of steam pumps. One of the first of these was installed in 1749 in Norbury colliery, which was frequently flooded by the Bollinhurst Brook. The other problem noted by Defoe was the remoteness from markets: ‘they are remote; and though some of them have been brought to London, yet they are so dear, by reason of the carriage, that few care to buy them.’ This problem was initially solved by canals, notably the Bridgewater Canal, which was built in 1759-61, halving the price of coal in Manchester, and becoming the forerunner of the national canal network. Coal not only powered the industries of Greater Manchester; the region became a centre for the manufacture of textile machinery, industrial equipment and railway locomotives. Some of the manufacturers and engineers gave their names to places in the county, e.g. Simon’s Bridge, Whitworth Park. The last coal mines in the county closed in the 1990s, leaving only the Lancashire Colliery Museum at Astley Green and a legacy of dereliction and pollution. However, much has been done to transform the industrial landscape into nature reserves and conservation areas, notably the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh, where flashes are a local word for surface flooding caused by the collapse of underground mine workings. The Three Sisters, now a recreation area, take their name from former waste heaps at a local colliery.
‘COTTONOPOLIS’	The term ‘Cottonopolis’ was invented in about 1851 but the textile industry started much earlier. The earliest mills, such as that at Bowdon, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, or those at Milnrow (‘a row of houses by a mill’) and Quarlton (‘mill hill’) in the 13^th century, were almost certainly corn or flour mills. The textile industry seems to have been established by the 14^th century, initially concentrating on flax (see Crossacres), wool (Walkden, Walkers) and linen (Bowker Vale, Gigg). The switch to cotton had begun by about 1725, when Daniel Defoe visited Bolton and noted ‘that the cotton manufacture reach’d thither’. The rapid and large-scale expansion of cotton manufacture came later in the century with mechanisation, notably the building of the first water-powered mills at Portwood on the Mersey in 1732, at Garret by the River Medlock in about 1760 and at Thorp in Royton in 1764, Crompton’s spinning mule, invented at Hall i’ th’ Wood in 1779, and Arkwright’s steam-powered mill at Shudehill in 1783. The earliest mills tended to be named for the places they were built or the brooks that powered them, but many mills, and the villages and parks around them were named by and for their owners or their wives. Knott Mill, dating from 1509, is an early example and later examples include Bealey’s Goit, Drinkwater Park, Hallam Coronation Garden, Holt Town, Hope, Houldsworth, Langworthy and Eckersley. The First World War led to the loss of markets and the last mill in Greater Manchester and Lancashire – Elk Mill in Royton – was completed in 1926. Today, the only cotton mill remaining in production in the county is Tower Mill in Dukinfield.
RAILWAYS 1830-1880	The Liverpool & Manchester, the world’s first intercity railway, was opened in 1830 with its eastern terminus at Liverpool Road. In the next 50 years, about 200 stations were built in Greater Manchester. Most were named after existing locations, but some were opened for new suburbs opened up by the railways such as Altrincham, Chorlton-cum–Hardy and Sale, and others, such as Ashburys, Brooklands and Davenport, were opened to serve communities named after individuals. In many other cases, it seems that the railways formalised the names or spelling of places which were not officially agreed: Astley Bridge, Chequerbent, Guide Bridge, Hazel Grove, Heald Green, Howe Bridge, Mumps, Newton Heath, Rushford and Stoneclough.
VICTORIAN ERA 1837-1901	The reign of Queen Victoria coincided with the rise of Cottonopolis, and many places were named after Victoria herself (Victoria Bridge, Victoria Station, Victoria Park, Queen’s Park, etc), her husband, Prince Albert (Albert Bridge, Albert Square, Albert Park, etc), their son, the Prince of Wales (Clarence Park), and his wife, Princess Alexandra (there are at least four Alexandra Parks). Victoria’s golden jubilee in 1887 is commemorated in Jubilee Park, and Edward VII’s coronation in 1902 in Coronation Street.
PUBLIC PARKS 1846	It was in Greater Manchester that two of England’s first municipal parks – Peel Park, named in honour of Sir Robert Peel, and Philips Park – were opened to the public in 1846. Over the next 150 years, many country-house estates were donated or purchased and opened as public parks, ranging from the very small, such as Marie Louise Gardens in south Manchester to the enormous Heaton Park, acquired in 1902.
CITY OF MANCHESTER 1853	Manchester had lost its MP in 1660 because it had supported Cromwell in the civil war, and it was not until 1832 that parliamentary representation was restored. This was followed by the granting of city status in 1853. As a mark of civic pride, plans for a new town hall were announced in 1863 and, at the same time, Albert Square was laid out as a memorial to Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who had died in 1861. Also in 1853, the construction of the Free Trade Hall on the site of the Peterloo massacre of 1819 in St Peter’s Square was begun to mark the repeal of the corn laws in 1846. In 1853, the City Manchester reached its peak as a cotton manufacturing city, with 108 mills.
SLAVERY AND THE COTTON FAMINE 1861-1865	The Lancashire ‘Cotton Famine’ occurred when the American Civil War cut off Greater Manchester’s cotton supplies from the southern states of the US. In 1863, US President Abraham Lincoln thanked the Manchester cotton workers for their support for the abolition of slavery and his statue, with an extract from his letter, now stands in Lincoln Square. During the cotton famine, various projects were carried out to provide an income for the unemployed textile workers, notably Alexandra Park in Oldham and the Haigh estate (now Haigh Woodland Park) in Wigan.
MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL 1894	The first attempt to connect Manchester to the Irish Sea was the Mersey & Irwell Navigation, which was built in 1721-1724 between Runcorn in Cheshire and Hunt’s Quay in the centre of Manchester. This was not a true canal but a waterway which improved navigation on the two rivers through a series of cuts and locks. The Manchester Ship Canal is a 58-kilometre artificial waterway between Runcorn in Cheshire and Salford. It was built in 1887-1893 and was opened by Queen Victoria at Mode Wheel on 21 May 1894. It led to a considerable increase in trade and industry, notably the development of Trafford Park, the world’s first industrial estate, in 1896.
WORLD WAR I 1914-1918	The military action of the First World War had little direct impact on Greater Manchester but there were Zeppelin bombing raids on Holcombe and Greenmount on 25 September 1916 and on Wigan on 12 April 1918. The Wigan raid killed seven people and a further nine were injured. However, the explosion at the Hooley Hill Munitions Factory on 13 June 1917 caused far more casualties, with 46 killed and hundreds injured. War memorials were erected after the war, as well as memorial parks such as Broadhurst Park in Moston, Dunwood Park in Crompton, Gallipoli Gardens in Bury, Tandle Hill Country Park in Royton, Woodbank Memorial Park in Stockport, and the Albert Hill VC Memorial Park in Denton.
URBAN RE-HOUSING 20^th century	Urban overcrowding and slums led most of the councils of what is now Greater Manchester to build estates to re-house large numbers of residents in improved accommodation. The first was perhaps the New Barracks estate in Salford, built in 1901-04 and including Coronation Street. Many more followed in the 1930s, and most adopted the names of the farms, mines or areas where they were built – Brushes, Johnson Fold, Langley, Linnyshaw Park and Limeside. In some cases, new aspirational names were coined, e.g. Abbey Hills. A third option was to take the name of a local hall or its grounds and apply it to the whole new housing estate, e.g. Polefield and Wythenshawe.
CITY OF SALFORD 1926	Salford was granted city status in 1926 but this was not marked by any new civic buildings. However, city status coincided with the announcement of plans to build the first of a new type of ‘super cinema’ outside London – the Ambassador.
WORLD WAR II 1939-1945	Between July 1940 and July 1942, Greater Manchester was subject to repeated German bombing raids, including the ‘Manchester blitz’ of 22-24 December 1940. 684 people were killed, 2364 were injured and there was widespread destruction. Many buildings were damaged, and St Augustine’s and All Saints churches were so badly damaged that they had to be demolished. Late in the war, on 24 December 1944, there were V-1 flying bomb attacks on Abbey Hills, Tottington, Davenport and Worsley which claimed 37 lives. Whitehead Gardens in Tottington commemorate these victims.
GREATER MANCHESTER 1 April 1974	The new county of Greater Manchester was created on 1 April 1974 from parts of north-east Cheshire, south-east Lancashire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is composed of 10 Metropolitan Boroughs: Bolton, Bury, the City of Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, the City of Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. All of these except Tameside were pre-existing names dating from mediaeval times or earlier.
METROLINK & REGENERATION 1992 onwards	Greater Manchester, and the City of Manchester in particular, have undergone widespread regeneration since the 1990s. The Metrolink tram system, now the largest in the UK, was opened in 1992 and not only preserves the names of older parts of the county (Bess o’ th’ Barn, Pomona, Shadow Moss) and closed or disused railway stations (Cornbrook, Derker, Failsworth, Hollinwood, Milnrow, Oldham Mumps), but includes stops named after new areas (Anchorage, Etihad Campus, MediaCityUK, New Islington, Salford Quays, Velopark). The new skyscraper area to the south of Manchester city centre is becoming known as “Manc-hattan”. However, regeneration has meant not just demolition and modernistic architecture. There has also been a movement towards the restoration and repurposing of mills and markets such as Manchester’s Mackie Mayor and Stockport’s Weir Mill, based on what has sometimes been called the ‘Altrincham model’.
CULTURES & LIFESTYLES	Perhaps the stereotypical images of Greater Manchester are captured in the artwork of L S Lowry (see Appendix 1) and the TV soap opera Coronation Street. However, in the years since the war and particularly since 1974, new communities and cultures have emerged, and some of these have given rise to new place names. These were initially unofficial but some have now been adopted officially: China Town, Curry Mile, Gay Village, Madchester and the Northern Quarter.

A
ABBEY HEY is a residential and recreational area of Gorton, east of Manchester city centre. The origin of the name would seem to be ‘an abbey in or with an enclosed field’, from abbey + Old English hecg or hege (‘a hedge’). However, there is no archaeological or documentary evidence of an abbey or monastery in the area in mediaeval times, although a family with the name Abbaye is recorded in the area in 1320. With no definite record, the derivation is therefore usually said to be uncertain.
ABBEY HILLS is a district in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. There is no abbey in the area, which was originally known as Wabbow Hills as it surrounded a farm of that name. It is assumed that Wabbow was the personal name of the original owner of the farmstead but no record can be found of him. In the 1930s a large housing estate was built in the area and the more aspirational name Abbey Hills was adopted.
ABBOTSFIELD PARK is a public park and miniature railway in Flixton in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. An Abbot family lived in the area in the mid-17^th century and streets and localities were named after them. In 1889 a local cotton mill owner, James Stott, built a large family residence and named it Abbotsfield, which was taken over as a civilian hospital during World War II. In 1945 the house was returned to its pre-war owners, the Conservative Club, but the local park, the Flixton Recreational Ground, was renamed Abbotsfield Park to commemorate the work of the hospital staff during the war. The park is also known as Chassen Park.
ABNEY HALL PARK is an 80-hectare public park in Cheadle in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The park is set in the grounds of Abney Hall, which was owned by Sir James Watts and who named the estate after Sir Thomas Abney (1640-1722), a banker and Lord Mayor of London who had offered a home to his father in Stoke Newington for many years. In 1958 Abney Hall was sold to the local authority, which used the hall as Cheadle town hall and opened the grounds to the public.
ABRAHAM MOSS is a Metrolink tram stop in Cheetham Hill in the City of Manchester which was opened on 18 April 2011. It serves various facilities in the area – a community school, and a library and leisure centre – all named after Abraham Moss (1888/89-1964), who was Lord Mayor of Manchester in 1953-1954 and President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews at the time of his death.
ABRAM is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is recorded from 1199 as Hadburham, but Abraham is recorded in 1372 and the modern spelling is found from 1461. The meaning is ‘homestead or village of a woman called Eadburg’ from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Ēadburg + hām (‘homestead, village’). By the end of the 14^th century the name had been rationalised from the Anglo-Saxon to the Biblical Abraham, which was later shortened to Abram.
ABRAM FLASH is a 40-hectare nature reserve in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan that forms part of the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh. It is on the site of Abram Colliery, a coal mine which opened in about 1870 and finally closed in 1956. It takes its name from the village of Abram and flash, a lake formed by subsidence.
ACRES is an area in Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, formerly in Lancashire. The name and origin are not well documented, but there are several other places in the area with acre in their name, for example Crossacres and Greenacres. The origin, therefore, may well be Old English aecers (‘fields, plots of cultivated land’), which gives us the modern measure of land, which literally means ‘a measure of land which a yoke of oxen could plough in a day’.	MEASUREMENTS OF LAND Several place names originate from or refer to various measurements of land.
	ACRE: area of land which a yoke of oxen could plough in a day (= c. 0.4 hectares)		ACRES ( ̴)
			ACRESFIELD ( ̴ + field)
			CROSSACRES (cross + ̴ )
			CUTACRE (eponym + ̴)
			GREENACRES (green + ̴)
			SOURACRE (muddy + ̴)
	FURLONG: the length of a furrow that an ox could plough without resting (= c.0.2 km)		BAMFURLONG (bean + ̴)
	HIDE: area of land that could support a household (= c.50 hectares)		HYDE ( ̴)
	MILE: Roman unit consisting of 1000 paces of 5 feet (= c. 1.6 km)		CURRY MILE (curry + ̴)
			MILE END ( ̴ from centre of Stockport)
			MILES PLATTING (bridge ̴ from city centre)
ACRESFIELD See ST ANN’S SQUARE
ADELPHI is a locality in the City of Salford west of Adelphi Street and within the U-shaped bend of the River Irwell. The area was developed in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. In 1793, Adelphi Weir was built to harness the waters of the Irwell for a cotton mill. In the following years, print, dye and bleach works were built in the area, as well as swimming baths, all taking the name Adelphi. The name is gentrifying – one of a few areas in Salford and Manchester (e.g. Piccadilly) that adopted the names of fashionable areas of London. The original Adelphi area of London was designed and built by the famous architect, Robert Adam, and his three brothers in 1768-1772, hence the name, which is Greek for ‘brothers’. Parts of Adelphi in Salford seem to have been fashionable – Adelphi House was built in 1808 as the home of a wealthy businessman and it is now part of the University of Salford. However, over time Adelphi became increasingly grim and industrialised, but today the area has undergone urban regeneration and is fashionable once again. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
ADSWOOD is a suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and was part of Cheshire until 1974. The name is found from the mid-13^th century as Addiswode, meaning ‘Æddi’s wood’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Æddi + wudu. Suggestions that the name is shortened from Adders’ Wood, a snake-infested royal hunting ground in the reign of King Charles II (1625-1649), are probably folk etymology.
AFFETSIDE is a village in the western area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is not well documented but the current spelling is first found in 1504. It means ‘the boundary on the hill’ from the Old English ofes (‘border, boundary’) + side (‘hillside’). The hill is 270 metres high and the boundary is marked by Watling Street (not the old Roman road), which today marks the boundary between Bury and Bolton.
AGECROFT is a district of Pendlebury in the City of Salford. It is first recorded as Achecroft in 1394. There have been various suggestions for its name: one is that it is ‘field of wild celery’ from Old English ache + croft; others, perhaps more likely, are that the first element is edge, meaning ‘brink’, or Ecga, a personal name. Agecroft Hall, a Tudor country house, once stood in the area but it was auctioned off in 1925, dismantled and re-erected in Richmond, Virginia. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
AIGGIN STONE is thought to be a mediaeval stone marking the old boundary between Lancashire and Yorkshire, north of Blackstone Edge. It was first recorded in 1800 and various suggestions have been put forward to account for its name: it might be a corruption of Edge Stone, a rendering of the Latin agger (‘pile, heap, mound’), or it could be derived from the French aguille (‘needle, sharp-pointed rock’).
AINSWORTH is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, also known as Cockey Moor. It is recorded in about 1200 as Haineswrthe, meaning ‘Ægen’s enclosure’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Ægen + Old English worth (‘enclosure, enclosed settlement’).
ALAN TURING MEMORIAL is a sculpture erected in 2001 in Sackville Gardens in central Manchester to commemorate Alan Turing (1912-1954), who lived and worked in Manchester from 1948 until his death in 1954. The inscription on the memorial reads, ‘Father of Computer Science, Mathematician, Logician, Wartime Codebreaker, Victim of Prejudice’.
ALBERT BRIDGE is an arched-bridge over the River Irwell, linking Salford to Manchester. It was built in 1843-1844 to replace the earlier New Bailey Bridge, and was named after Prince Albert (1819-1861), after his marriage to Queen Victoria in 1840 and the construction of Victoria Bridge in 1838-1839.
ALBERT HALL is a music venue in central Manchester that was originally built by the Manchester and Salford Wesleyan Mission in 1908 as the Albert Hall and Aston Institute. It was named after Prince Albert (1819-1861), the husband of Queen Victoria, and the principal donor, Edward Aston (1840-1911). It was closed in 1969 and in 1999 it was converted into a nightclub named Brannigan’s after the Irish policeman and boxer, James Christopher Brannigan (1910-1986). The club closed in 2011 and the building was refurbished as a music hall, re-opening as Albert Hall in 2013.
ALBERT HILL VC MEMORIAL PARK is a small public park and garden of remembrance in Denton in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It was opened on 22 May 1958 and commemorates Albert Hill (1895-1971), who lived in Denton from 1907 till 1923 and won the Victoria Cross during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
ALBERT PARK is a 6-hectare public park in Broughton in the City of Salford. It was opened in 1877 and named in memory of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, who had died in 1861.
ALBERT PARK is a residential area of West Didsbury in the City of Manchester, about 6.5 kilometres south of the city centre. The area was developed as an affluent housing area in 1862-70 and named after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, who had died in 1861.
ALBERT SQUARE is a pedestrianised space in front of Manchester Town Hall. It was laid out in 1863-1864 as a memorial to Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who had died in 1861, and to provide a fitting location for a statue of Albert which had been commissioned the city. Victoria was invited to open the Square but declined, and she also declined to open the Town Hall when it was completed in 1877. (For Valette pictures, see Appendix 2)
ALDER FOREST is a residential area in Eccles in the City of Salford that also includes the 8.23-hectare Alder Forest Playing Field. There is little documentation relating to the name and its derivation, but it clearly suggests the presence of alder forests in this area, the name probably coming from the Old English alor, meaning ‘an alder tree’.
ALDERMAN’S HILL and ALPHIN PIKE are both hills in the Peak District overlooking Uppermill and the Tame valley in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The names are recorded only in the 19^th century – 1817 and 1842 respectively – but are taken from a local legend of two Saddleworth giants called Alder and Alphin who fought a battle over a water nymph called Rimon who lived in Chew Brook. They threw boulders across the valley (see Pots and Pans) and Alphin was killed, while Rimon, who loved Alphin, killed herself.
ALEXANDRA PARK, Edgeley is a 24-hectare park in the Borough of Stockport. It was laid out in the grounds of what had been Edgeley House and was opened to the public as Alexandra Park in 1870. It was named after Princess Alexandra (1844-1925), who married the Prince of Wales in 1863. On Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, he became King Edward VII and she became Queen Alexandra.
ALEXANDRA PARK, Moss Side is a 24-hectare public park in Whalley Range and Moss Side in the City of Manchester. The site was purchased by Manchester Corporation in 1864 from William Egerton and opened to the public in 1870. It was named after Princess Alexandra (1844-1925), who had married the Prince of Wales in 1863, and who became Queen Alexandra on Queen Victoria’s death in 1901.
ALEXANDRA PARK, Oldham is a 23-hectare public park in Glodwick in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It was laid out in 1863-1865 as a way of giving work to textile workers during the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861-1865, when cotton could not be imported from the southern United States because of the American Civil War. It was opened on 28 August 1865 and named after Princess Alexandra (1844-1925), who had married the Prince of Wales in 1863, and who became Queen Alexandra on Queen Victoria’s death in 1901.
ALEXANDRA PARK, Wigan is a 7-hectare public park in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. It was laid out on land donated by Colonel Henry Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell (1831-1906) and opened in April 1903. It was named after Queen Alexandra, who became queen in 1901 when her husband succeeded Queen Victoria as King Edward VII.
ALKRINGTON or ALKINGTON GARDEN VILLAGE is a suburb of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It is recorded in 1212 as Alkinton, meaning ‘the village of Alhhere’s people’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + Old English -ing- (‘belonging to; followers of’) + tūn (’enclosure, village’).
ALL SAINTS is a district in central Manchester, part of which now forms the All Saints Campus of Manchester Metropolitan University. It is one of the few place names in Greater Manchester with an overtly religious origin, taking its name from the Anglican All Saints Church, which was completed in 1820. The church was badly damaged in the blitz of December 1940 and was demolished in 1946. The graveyard had been made into a children’s playground in the 1930s and now forms part of the park in Grosvenor Square. (For Valette pictures, see Appendix 2)
ALMA PARK is a residential area of the City of Manchester, south-east of the city centre. The name is not well documented but, along with numerous other places in Britain, it commemorates the Battle of Alma on 20 September 1854 during the Crimean War.
ALPHIN PIKE See ALDERMAN’S HILL
ALPORT was a district in central Manchester to the south of what is now Deansgate (which was formerly known as Alport Street). The name first appears in 1281 and can be explained as meaning simply ‘old town’, from Old English ald + port. However, the area was close to the old Roman garrison and it may be that port in this context meant ‘walled town or fort’. The area was demolished in the 1890s.
ALT is a village in the Borough of Oldham that was formerly in Lancashire. It is recorded in about 1190 and is said to take its name from the Celtic allt meaning ‘hill or hillside’. The name does not seem to be related to that of the River Alt in Merseyside.
ALTRINCHAM is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford that was formerly in Cheshire. It is recorded in 1290 as Aldringeham and with its modern spelling from 1321. It means ‘the village of Aldhere’s people’ from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + -inga- (‘followers of’) + hām (‘homestead, village’). Altrincham is one of the few places in Greater Manchester with the hām element.		HAM The Old English element hām, meaning ‘homestead, village’, seems to be more unusual in what is now Greater Manchester than further south in England, with only six examples listed:
		ALTRINCHAM (eponym + ̴)		DUNHAM (hill + ̴)
		CHEETHAM (wood + ̴)		IRLAM (angry + stream + ̴)
		CHESHAM gravelly place + ̴)		THORNHAM (thorn + ̴)
The AMBASSADOR was a ‘super cinema’ and variety theatre in Pendleton in the City of Salford. The announcement of plans to build the new theatre – the first of a new generation of cinemas to be built outside London – coincided with the granting of city status to Salford in 1926. It opened on Christmas Eve 1928 and was, like many theatres and cinemas at the time, named the Ambassador. The original Ambassadors Theatre was built in London in 1913 and named after the first British ambassadors – the word dates from the 14^th century but it was only in 1893 that it was adopted as an official diplomatic title and theatres saw themselves as ambassadors for drama and the arts. The Ambassador in Salford became a bingo hall in 1961 and was demolished in 2004.
AMBERSWOOD is a 160-hectare nature reserve in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan that forms one of the sites of the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh. It occupies the site of Amberswood Colliery, which began operations in 1855 and closed down as an opencast mine in 1988. The name is not well documented before the opening of the mine in 1855 and the railway station in 1872. The name may literally mean ‘wood where amber is found’, from the Norman-French aumbre + Old English wudu, but there are no place names in England listed with this derivation – the others are either eponyms or take their names from the Old English amore, meaning ‘bunting bird’.
ANCHORAGE is a Metrolink tram stop in Salford Quays which was opened on 6 December 1999. It takes its name from the Anchorage residential and commercial block located at the end of Erie Basin that was constructed in 1991. All the basins and localities in the redeveloped Salford Quays are named after places in North America, and so the Anchorage block is presumably named after Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage in Alaska was originally named Anchor Point by Captain James Cook in 1778 but was later renamed Anchorage.
ANCOATS is an inner-city suburb of Manchester that was first recorded in 1212 as Einecote. Its original meaning seems to ‘lonely huts or cottages’ from Old English āna, ‘lonely’ + cot, ‘cottage’.
ANGEL MEADOW is a 3-hectare public park in central Manchester close to Victoria station. It is set in what was an affluent area, which took its name from St Michael and All Angels Church, which was built in 1788, but it became one of the city’s worst slums in the 19^th century. The area was cleared in the 1960s and Angel Meadow was laid out in 2004. See also St Michael’s Flags and Angel Meadow Park.

ANIMALS, FISH & BIRDS The Anglo-Saxons named many of their places after animals and other creatures. Some of the animals were clearly wild (wolves, hares and cats) while others were livestock kept for eggs, meat or milk, particularly pigs and goats. There are very few places in England named after fish and Greater Manchester is no exception – there is only one mention of fish. Several places are named after deer and hawks, reflecting the love of hunting that is hinted at in the Domesday Book entries for the Greater Manchester area.
AUSTERLANDS (sheep)	CROWCROFT (crows)	LOSTOCK (pigs)
BAGULEY (badger, small pig?)	CROWHILL (crows)	LUZLEY (pigs)
BICKERSHAW (bees)	DUKINFIELD (ducks)	PIETHORNE BROOK (magpies)
BOARSHAW (pigs)	FEATHERSTALL (cattle)	RAINSOUGH (ravens?)
BOARSHURST (pigs)	GATHURST (goats)	ROE CROSS (roebuck)
BOWER FOLD (boars)	GATLEY (goats)	ROE GREEN (roebuck)
BUCKLEY (goats)	GOOSE GREEN (geese)	SNYDALE (snipe)
BUCKLOW (goats)	HARROP (hares)	SWINESHAW (pigs)
BUTTERWORTH (butter)	HARTSHEAD (deer)	SWINLEY (pigs)
CATLEY LANE HEAD (wild cats)	HARWOOD (hares)	SWINTON (pigs)
COCKEY MOOR (cock?)	HATTERSLEY (deer)	THROSTLE NEST (song-thrush)
COMPSTALL (fish)	HAWKLEY (hawks)	UNSWORTH (hounds)
CORNBROOK (cranes)	HINDLEY (deer)	“WEATHERFIELD” (castrated ram)
COWHILL (cows)	HINDSFORD (deer)	WOOLLEY BRIDGE (wolves)
CRONKEYSHAW COMMON (cranes?)	HOOLEY BRIDGE (wolves?)

ANNIE LEE’S playing fields in Gorton are after named after Annie Lee, who was leader of the Openshaw Labour Party from the 1890s and, later, a Manchester alderman. She died in 1945.

ARDEN PARK is a residential area of Stockport, north-east of the town centre and formerly in Cheshire. The name is recorded in 1260 as Arderne, perhaps from the Old English eard-ærn, meaning ‘dwelling place’.

ARDWICK is an area of the City of Manchester about 1.5 kilometres south-east of the city centre. The name is first recorded in 1282 as Atheriswyke, an eponym meaning ‘Eadred or Æthelred’s farm or workplace’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + wīc (‘homestead, farmstead, workplace’).

ARMENTIERES SQUARE is a public retail and leisure area close to the Huddersfield Canal in central Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. Stalybridge was twinned with Armentières in northern France near the border of Belgium in 1995 and the square was named to commemorate this link. Armentières means ‘cattle of ploughing’ from the Gallo-Roman armentum.

ARNDALE CENTRE is a large retail centre close to central Manchester that was opened in 1975. Many Arndale Centres were built across Britain in the 1960s and 1970s, of which Manchester was the largest. The name Arndale was formed from the names of the owners of the company that owned it – Arnold Hagenbach and Sam Chippindale.

ASH BROOK, ASHBROOK HEY Ashbrook Hey is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, north-east of Rochdale town centre, which takes its name from Ash Brook, a tributary of the River Roch. There are several streams named Ash Brook in Britain, and all mean either ‘the east brook’, from Old English ēast + brōc ‘, or ’brook beside ash trees’, from Old English æsc + brōc. The village of Ashbrook Hey grew up around a farmhouse of that name dating from 1673, which adds Hey, from Old English hecge (‘a hedge’), to the name of the stream to indicate that it was enclosed with a hedge.

ASHBURYS is a railway station in Openshaw, about 5 kilometres east of Manchester city centre. Ashburys takes its name not from a location but from the Ashbury Railway Carriage & Iron Company of Openshaw which originally paid for it to be built by the Sheffield Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Railway in July 1855. company was founded in 1837 by John Ashbury (1806-1866) and moved to Openshaw in 1847. It was closed down in 1928 and the works were demolished in the early 1930s.

ASHLEY HEATH is a residential area south-west of Hale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, formerly in Cheshire. The name is recorded in 1746 and comes from the Old English æsc (‘ash’) + lēah (‘clearing; pasture’) + hāth (‘uncultivated land of heather’).

ASHTON-IN-MAKERFIELD is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. There are several places called Ashton in Britain, all originally meaning ‘ash-tree farmstead or village’ and deriving their names from Old English æsc +tūn, but some have defining additions to distinguish them from other Ashtons. The situation was particularly confusing in the north-west as the Assheton family at one time owned what are now known as Ashton-under-Lyne, Ashton-on-Mersey, and Ashton-on-Ribble. The first record of Ashton-in-Makerfield is in 1212 as Eston. Most sources state vaguely that ‘in-Makerfield’ was added at a later date, but it was certainly in use by 1589, when the grammar school was founded. Makerfield is derived from an old Celtic name for a wall or ruin + Old English feld, meaning ‘open land’.

ASHTON MOSS is a residential area west of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is uncertain when the separate name evolved but the moss or bog land of the area was drained and cultivated in the 1830s and the Ashton or New Moss Colliery was opened in 1881. The colliery closed in 1959.

ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. There are several places called Ashton in Britain, all originally meaning ‘ash-tree farmstead or village’ and deriving their names from Old English æsc +tūn, but some have defining additions to distinguish them from other Ashtons. The situation was particularly confusing in the north-west as the Assheton family at one time owned what are now known as Ashton-under-Lyne, Ashton-on-Mersey, and Ashton-on-Ribble. Ashton-under-Lyne is first recorded in about 1160 simply as Haistune but is distinguished as Asshton under Lyme by 1305. Despite the spelling, lyme does not mean ‘lime’ but refers to the ancient Lancashire Forest and is ultimately thought to derive from the Celtic name for ‘elm’. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

ASHTON UPON MERSEY There are many places in England named Ashton, all meaning ‘farm or village near ash trees’, and the situation was particularly confusing in the north-west as the Assheton family at one time owned what are now known as Ashton-under-Lyne, Ashton-on-Mersey, and Ashton-on-Ribble. It is necessary to distinguish them by identifying their location or some other identifying feature. Ashton upon Mersey is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford roughly 8 kilometres south of Manchester city centre. It lies on the south bank of the River Mersey, hence its name. It is first mentioned simply as Ayston in 1260 and Ashton from about 1284. In 1421 it is distinguished as Assheton super Mercy, as Ashton on Mersee Bank in 1577 and as Ashton super Merseybanke in 1584.

ASHWORTH MOOR RESERVOIR is a large reservoir in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale constructed in 1898-1908. It takes its name from the nearby village of Ashworth in Lancashire. The name means ‘ash-tree enclosure’ and is first recorded as Esworde in about 1200 and as Asheworth in 1347. It is derived from the Old English æsc (‘ash tree’) + worth (‘enclosed settlement’).

ASPULL is a village north-east of Wigan. It is first recorded in 1212 as Aspul, meaning ‘hill where aspen-trees grow’, from the Old English æsp (‘aspen tree’) + hyll (‘hill’). The name provides evidence of aspens on high land in the area in mediaeval times, although today there are few trees.

ASTLEY and ASTLEY GREEN are residential areas in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is recorded in about 1210 as Astelegh and with its modern spelling from 1479. It is derived from the Old English ēast (‘east’) + lēah (‘woodland clearing, glade’) and could mean simply ‘eastern wood or clearing’. However, it is located about 5 kilometres east of the town of Leigh and so it is likely that it actually means ‘east of Leigh’. Astley gives its name to Astley Green, a village to the south. See also Westleigh.

ASTLEY BRIDGE is a residential area of northern Bolton that was formerly in Lancashire. As the name suggests, it lies on Astley Brook, which rises near Halliwell and then flows east to meet Eagley Brook to form the River Tonge. Astley Bridge itself seems to have been known by various names, including Ashwood and Lower Sharples, until the second half of the 19^th century, and the name was possibly formalised by the opening of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway’s Astley Bridge station in 1877.

The ATHENAEUM is a building, now part of Manchester Art Gallery, which was originally built in 1837 for the Manchester Athenaeum, ‘an institution for literary, political and scientific uses’ which included Richard Cobden, Frederick Engels, Charles Dickens and Benjamin Disraeli among its members and speakers. It was named after the London Athenaeum, founded in 1824, which in turn took its name from the Athenaeum in Rome built by the Emperor Hadrian (AD78-138), who named it after the temple of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, in Athens.

ATHERLEIGH is a district of Atherton in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. Atherleigh was not an existing place name but was invented for estates that had been developed after World War I by combining the first element of Atherton with nearby Leigh. The name was formalised when the London Midland & Scottish Railway opened a station at Atherleigh in October 1935 to serve these residential areas.

ATHERTON is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, formerly in Lancashire. For much of the 19^th century the town was known as Chowbent, and this name apparently continues in local use. In 1888 the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway called its new station Atherton Central. The name is first recorded as Aderton in 1212 and the modern spelling was first used in 1322. The meaning of the name is generally thought to be ‘a farm or village of a man named Æthelhere’, from the Old English personal name Ǣthelhere + tūn, meaning ‘farmstead or village’.

AUDENSHAW is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, about 8 kilometres east of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in about 1200 as Aldwynshawe, meaning ‘Aldwine’s copse’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Aldwine + sceaga (‘wood, copse’).

AUSTERLANDS is a suburb of Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham which was previously in West Yorkshire. The name is recorded as Osterlands in 1722 and probably means ‘cultivated lands (Old English land) with a sheep-fold (eowestre)’.

AVIVA STUDIOS is a 13,300 square-metre venue for cultural events, exhibitions and concerts close to the centre of Manchester. It was constructed on the site of the former Granada TV studios and took the name Aviva in 2023 following a sponsorship deal. Aviva PLC is a British insurance company whose name is a palindrome based on the Latin word viva, meaning ‘life, alive’.

AVRO HERITAGE MUSEUM is an aeronautical museum in Woodford in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It is built on the site of Woodford aerodrome and the factory of the Avro aircraft company. Avro was established in 1907 and took its name from those of its founders, the brothers Alliott Verdon Roe (1877-1958) and Humphrey Verdon Roe (1878-1949), who were both born in Patricroft. The company remained in production until 2011 and the museum opened on 13 November 2015.

B
BACKBOWER is a residential area of Hyde in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is recorded as Bower Fold in 1831 and as Bank Bower in 1842. Its derivation is from Old English banke (‘river bank, hillside’) + būr (‘cottage, dwelling’), so that Backbower means ‘cottage on a hillside’, referring to its position above Werneth Brook. See also Bower Fold.
BACK O’ TH’ MOSS is a residential area north of Heywood town centre in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is not well documented but is recorded in the mid-19^th century. Moss in this case is said to refer to a large meadow that was used for textile tentering or bleaching rather than the usual bog or swamp, although perhaps it had been a marshy area that had been drained. The higher ground behind Moss became known as Back o’ th’ Moss.
BAG LANE is a small village in Atherton in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is not well documented before 1831, when the Bolton & Leigh Railway opened Bag Lane station to serve the village, which was close to a number of collieries. The origin of the name is obscure – there are no recorded textile or bag factories in the area. One suggestion is that the name is somehow associated with the nail, screw and bolt industry which flourished in the villages surrounding Wigan from mediaeval times until the early years of the 20^th century.
BAGSLATE MOOR is a residential area of Spotland in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in the 13^th century as Bagslade, meaning ‘Bacga’s valley’, from an Anglo Saxon personal name + Old English slœd (‘valley’). Bagslate Moor is 204 metres high and overlooks the valleys of the River Roch to the south and Naden Brook to the west.
BAGULEY is a residential area of Wythenshawe in the City of Manchester. It was formerly in Cheshire and is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bagelei, from bacga or bagga, which may be a personal name or the name of a wild animal, possibly a badger or small pig, + lēah, meaning ‘woodland clearing’ or ‘enclosure’. See Domesday Book box
BAILEY See NEW BAILEY
BALDERSTONE is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, south of Rochdale town centre. The name is recorded in 1323 as Baldreston, meaning ‘Baldere’s village’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + tūn (‘farm, village’). At some time after the 16^th century the second element was rationalised as ‘stone’ to give the modern spelling of the name.
BALDINGSTONE is a village north of Walmsersley in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is not well documented but the village is known to date back to the 12^th century and it may be an eponym derived from an Anglo-Saxon personal name + ingas- (‘people of, family of’) + tūn (‘farm, village’).
BAMFORD is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, west of the main town and north of the River Roch. The name is recorded in 1282 as Baunford and the modern spelling is found from 1284. The meaning is ‘ford with a beam’, referring to a wooden footbridge over a tributary of the Roch, from Old English beam (‘tree, beam’) + ford.
BAMFURLONG is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, south of Wigan town centre. It is recorded in 1442 as Banforthlang, meaning ‘furlong or strip of land where beans are grown’, from Old English bean + furh (‘furrow’) + lang (‘length’). Together, furh + lang gave the modern measure of a furlong (‘the distance an ox could plough without resting’). Bamfurlong is one of the few place names in Greater Manchester that makes reference to a food crop.
BARDSLEY is a suburban area of south Oldham that lies north of the River Medlock. The name is recorded in 1422 as Bardesley and Bardsley, meaning ‘the wood or clearing of someone called Beard or Beornrǣd’, from an Anglo-Saxon personal name + lēah.
BARDSLEY GATE is a village south of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is recorded in 1842 but is almost certainly far older, probably sharing its origin with Bardsley in Oldham.
BARFOOT BRIDGE or BARFOOT AQUEDUCT in Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford was built in 1765 to carry the Bridgewater Canal over the River Mersey. A second bridge was built alongside the first in 1898-1907 to take the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway’s line across the Mersey. The name is recorded in the 12^th century as Barfotehalt, from the Old English baerfot (‘barefoot’) + halh (‘nook, corner of land’).
BARLOW FOLD is an area south of Bury on the River Irwell. Barlow is recorded in 1254 as Barlowe, meaning ‘barley hill’, from Old English bere (‘barley’) + hlāw (‘hill’, usually an artificial mound). Fold may be a later addition, from Old English fald, ‘an enclosure for animals’ or fold, ‘a small group of cottages and farm buildings’.
BARLOW MOOR is a locality in south Manchester that is named after the Barlow family, who came from Derbyshire, where the village of Barlow was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Barleie, meaning ‘boar clearing’ or ‘barley clearing’. The Barlows moved to Lancashire in the 13^th century and their manor house is referred to in 1254 as Barlowe. Their later home, Barlow Hall, was built in 1584 and now belongs to the Chorlton-cum-Hardy Golf Club. Barlow Moor is mentioned in May 1644, when Prince Rupert, the Royalist commander, camped his troops on Barloe More during the Civil War. Barlow Moor is mentioned as a ‘chapelry’ in 1870.
“BARNEY’S STEPS” See COLLYHURST FOOTBRIDGE
BARNSFOLD is a hamlet south-west of Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. Barnsfold Manor Farm dates from 1659 and the name is eponymous: George Barns (died 1699) + Old English fald (‘enclosure for animals’).
BARRACK PARK is 2.2-hectare public park and sports facility in Hulme in the City of Manchester. It takes its name from the Hulme cavalry barracks, which were built in about 1817 and housed the 15^th King’s Hussars, who took part in the infamous ‘Peterloo’ massacre in St Peter’s Field 1819. The barracks were demolished in 1914 and converted into a public park which was initially known as St George’s Park, but was renamed Barrack Park in 1994. See also New Barracks
BARROW BRIDGE is a village in Halliwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, formerly in Lancashire. The land was originally owned by the Barrow family, whose farm was divided by Dean Brook with a bridge connecting the two parts. Some of their land was sold in the late 18^th century to build a cotton mill. In 1830 the rest of the farm was sold, the mill demolished and two steam-powered mills were built. The workers were accommodated in a model village, which eventually became known as Barrow Bridge.
BARROWSHAW is a small residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, north of the town itself. The name is not well documented but is recorded in 1633 as now spelled but divided into Further and Nearer Barrowshaw. Today the area is divided between Higher Barrowshaw in the north and Near Barrowshaw in the south. The derivation is uncertain, but may be Old English bearu (‘grove’) + sceaga (‘copse, small wood’).
BARTON MOSS is a residential area of Eccles in the City of Salford. It is recorded from 1196 simply as Barton, meaning ‘barley farm or village,’ from Old English bere + tūn. Moss, meaning ‘bog or swamp’, was added at a later date.
BARTON-UPON-IRWELL, also called BARTON-ON-IRWELL or simply BARTON, is a suburb of the City of Salford beside the River Irwell and the Manchester Ship Canal. It is recorded in 1196 simply as Barton but by 1277 it is found as Barton on Irrewelle. Barton means ‘barley farm or village,’ from Old English bere + tūn, and adding a reference to its location on the Irwell may distinguish it from Barton Moss or other Bartons in Lancashire.
River BEAL is a short river that rises north-east of Rochdale and flows about 15 kilometres north-west to join the River Roch at Belfield. The name is recorded in 1200 as Bole, which may be an old Celtic river name or a derivation of the Old English bēag, meaning ‘river bend’, which would aptly describe the meandering course of the river. The river gives its name to Belfield.
BEALEY’S GOIT is an artificial waterway east of Radcliffe in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. It was built in about 1760 to take water from the River Irwell to Bealey’s bleaching works. It takes its name from goit (‘channel, stream’) cut to supply the works built by William Bealey (1683-1763). The works were demolished in 1980 but the Bealey family donated their estate to the people of Radcliffe in 1925 and this is now Close Park.
BEDFORD is a suburb of Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The town of Leigh was formed in 1875 from the merger of Pennington, Westleigh and Bedford. Bedford itself is recorded in 1201 as Bedeford, meaning ‘Beda’s ford’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Bēda + ford, probably a ford across Pennington Brook.
BEECH HILL is a suburb of north-west Wigan. The name is not well documented but there was a large house called Beech Hill Hall in the area dating from the late 17^th century, and the area was heavily wooded even in the mid-19^th century. It therefore seems likely that the name can be taken literally to mean ‘beech tree hill’ from the Old English bēce + hyll.
BEESLEY GREEN is or was an area of Worsley in the City of Salford, and it now forms part of the Roe Green/ Beesley Green conservation area. The name seems to date from the late 16^th century, when a Thomas Beesley and his descendants farmed the area.
BEETHAM TOWER is a 47-storey commercial and residential skyscraper at the southern end of Deansgate in central Manchester. It was completed in 2006 and, at 169 metres, was at the time the tallest building in Britain outside London. It is named after its builders and owners, the Beetham Organisation, a property development company based in Liverpool.
BELFIELD is a district of Rochdale about 2 kilometres east-north-east of the town centre at the confluence of the River Beal and the River Roch. The River Beal gives its name to Belfield, which is recorded in 1310 as Belefeld, meaning simply ‘the field by the River Beal’. The derivation of the river name is uncertain but a possibility is the Old English bēag, meaning ‘river bend’, which would aptly describe the meandering course of the river.
BELLE VUE is now a district in eastern Manchester that takes its name from the large zoo and amusement park that stood in the area until November 1987. This was originally opened in 1834 as ‘Belle Vue Tea Gardens’, taking its name from the French for ‘beautiful view’. The site and its facilities were gradually extended but it went into decline in the 1970s and the last speedway event was held in 1987.
BENCHILL is a residential area of Wythenshawe in the City of Manchester, roughly 13 kilometres south of the city centre. Residential development started before World War II but the name dates from the start of the 14^th century. It was recorded then as Baginghull, meaning ‘the hill belonging to Bēage or Bǣga’, from an Old English personal name + -ing- (‘belonging to’) + hyll (‘hill’).
BENTCLIFFE was a mediaeval estate of Salford that is now recalled in Bentcliffe Park, a small neighbourhood in Eccles. Bentcliffe Mill was originally built before 1800 and was later part-owned by Friedrich Engels. The name is recorded from 1550 but was variously spelled Bentcliffe, Bencliffe, Beancliffe and Beaucliffe. The meaning is usually given as ‘the cliff where bent or coarse grass grows’, from the Old English beonet + clif, but clearly the meaning would change if an alternative spelling reflected the true origin.
BESOM HILL is a 357-metre high hill north-east of Oldham that also gives its name to a 9.5-hectare country park and Besom reservoir. The hill is known to be a place of ancient habitation dating back to the Neolithic period 7000-10,000 years ago but the name is not well documented. It is said to be taken from the Old English besom, meaning ‘a broom made from twigs bound together round a handle’, probably because it was a location for the twigs used to make besoms.
BESSES O’ TH’ BARN is a district of Whitefield in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, formerly in Lancashire. The name was originally that of an inn owned by a landlady called Bess that was either near a barn or looked like a barn. The inn was originally called the Dog Inn or Bowling Green but was renamed in 1821 and the name was gradually applied to the surrounding village. The name was formalised by the London Midland & Scottish Railway in 1931 when a station was opened to serve a large new housing estate in the area.
BESWICK is an inner-city area of Manchester on the River Medlock that was formerly in Lancashire. It was recorded as Beaces hlaw in 917. The Old English hlaw meant ‘mound or hill’, and Beac is thought to be a personal name. The name evolved to Bexwik by 1200-1223, with wīc meaning ‘settlement or farm’.
BEXLEY SQUARE is a public space in front of what was originally Salford town hall. It is named after Lord Bexley (1766-1851), who as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1823-1828 laid the foundation stone on 30 August 1825. The town hall was completed in 1827.
BICKERSHAW is part of Abram in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, approximately 5 kilometres south of the town centre. The name is recorded in about 1200 as Bikersah and Bikesah, meaning ‘bee-keepers’ copse or wood’, from Old English bicere + sceaga. It gives its name to the 247-hectare Bickershaw Country Park, which forms part of the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh.
BILLINGE, BILLINGE HIGHER END or HIGHER END Billinge is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside, but Billinge Higher End (or just Higher End) is an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester. Both were formerly in Lancashire but were separated in 1974. The name is recorded in 1202 as Billinḡ, meaning ‘settlement of the people on the pointed hill’, from the Old English billing billa (‘promontory, point of a sword’) + –ing (‘people of’).
BIRCH is an area north-west of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It is recorded in 1246 as Birches, meaning ‘birch trees’, from the Old English birce. This is one of the many landscape names indicating the types of trees growing locally in mediaeval times.
BIRKS is a small residential area north-east of Oldham, formerly in Lancashire. The name is not well documented but is said to derive from the Old Norse birki, meaning ‘birch tree’. This would be one of the many places in Greater Manchester taking its name from a type of tree.
BIRTENSHAW is an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is recorded in 1277 as Byrkenshaw, meaning ‘birch copse’, from Old English bircen (‘birch tree’) + sceaga (‘copse, small wood’), referring to the ancient once-wooded landscape of much of Greater Manchester.
BIRTLE is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, west of the town of Rochdale itself. It is recorded in 1246 as Birkel, meaning ‘birch tree hill’, from Old English birce (‘birch’) + hyll (‘hill’), referring to a 282-metre hill nearby. The name is one of many examples of place names taken from the landscape of pre-Norman Britain.
BLACK CHEW HEAD is a hill in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham and, at 542 metres, the highest point in Greater Manchester. The name is recorded in1468 as Blackchew-hede, meaning ‘black valley head’, from the Old English blaec (‘black’) + cēo (‘valley’) + hēafod (‘head, headland, river source’). The ‘valley’ refers to that of Chew Brook, which rises on its western slopes and flows to Dovestones Reservoir before joining the River Tame at Greenfield.
BLACKFORD BRIDGE is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury that lies on the River Roch just above its confluence with the River Irwell. The name is not well documented but it is thought that Blackford refers to an ancient ford across a Black Brook or dark river, i.e. the Roch, on the road between Manchester and Bury. The first bridge had been built by 1551 and the name Blackford Bridge is recorded in 1667. This bridge was replaced in the mid-18^th century and a new bridge was built in 1903.
BLACKFRIARS is a suburb of the City of Salford on the River Irwell. It takes its name from Blackfriars Bridge over the Irwell and connects Salford with Manchester. The first Blackfriars Bridge was built in 1761 to provide access to a theatre in Salford. There are two related theories about its naming. One is that it was named after Blackfriars Bridge across the Thames in London, which was built in 1760-1769 and was itself named for a 13^th-century Dominican monastery north of the Thamas. The second is that it was named after the old Blackfriars theatres in London, the first of which was built on the site of the Blackfriars monastery in 1576. The original Salford bridge was demolished in 1817 and replaced by the present bridge, which was opened in 1820. Blackfriars is an early example of a transferred name and one which seems to have been intended to gentrify parts of Salford and Manchester.
BLACK LANE is a residential area north of Radcliffe in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is not well documented. It is evidently named after its position on a road going north towards the moors and the name was formalised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire when it opened Black Lane station on 20 November 1848.
BLACKLEACH COUNTRY PARK is a 50-hectare nature reserve just north of Walkden in the City of Salford. The name is recorded in about 1250 as Blakelache, although the location is difficult to verify. The name means ‘black stream or bog’ from Old English blak + lache (‘boggy stream’). Modern Blackleach dates from 1778, when it was developed as an industrial site with chemical works. The polluted site was derelict by 1976 but was transformed into a nature reserve, which was opened in 2004.
BLACKLEY is a residential district on the River Irk in the City of Manchester, about 8 kilometres north of the city centre. Some sources state that Blackley is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the earliest record is usually put at 1282, when it is given as Blakeley, meaning ‘black or dark wood or clearing’, from Old English blæc + lēah.
BLACKMOOR is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is recorded in about 1210 as Blakemore, literally meaning ‘black moor’, from Old English blæc + mōr. Blackmoor is further west than most of the other moors in Greater Manchester and it is likely that the original meaning here would have been ‘marshy land’ rather than ‘barren upland’.
BLACKROD is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, west of the town centre. It is recorded in about 1188 as Blacherode, meaning ‘dark clearing’, from Old English blæc + rodu, referring to the darkness of the clearing rather than the colour of the trees or the soil. A second, less likely theory is that the ‘rod’ might be the Holy Rood, the cross of Christ, from the Old English rod.
BLACKSTONE EDGE is a 472-metre escarpment in the Pennines in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale on the boundary between Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. It is recorded in 1291 as Blackesteyenegge and with its modern spelling from 1551. The name literally means ‘black stone’ from Middle English blak + stān, referring to the colour of the gritstone of which it is composed, + ecg (‘edge’). This appearance struck Celia Fiennes, who rode up Blackstone Edge in 1698 and said that was ‘noted all over England for a dismal high precipice’.
BLATCHINWORTH is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in 1276 as Blackenworthe. It might mean ‘Blaeca’s enclosed settlement’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + -ingas- (‘belonging to’) + worth, or it could mean ‘bleaching area’, from Old English blǣcon (‘bleaching’) + worth.
BLEAK HEY NOOK is a hamlet of former weavers’ cottages on Saddleworth Moor north-east of Delph in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in baptismal records in 1813 and is descriptive, coming from Middle English blæc (‘bleak, dark’) + hæag (‘enclosure’) + nōk (‘nook of land; triangular plot’).
BLUE PITS or BLUE PITS VILLAGE was the original name for Castleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is not well documented until the late 18^th century, when the Rochdale Canal was being constructed and its highest lock was called Blue Pit from the blue clay extracted from a local quarry. The name of the village was changed to Castleton in 1875, when it became an urban district council.
BOARSHAW is residential area in north-east Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale which also gives its name to Boarshaw Clough, a 6-hectare recreational area and nature site. The name is not well documented but, according to local legend, the area was once a forest that was home to wild boar and in the 15^th century Sir Ralph Assheton found a boar attacking Margaret Barton, a local heiress. He killed the boar and the two were later married. The event seems to have been commemorated in the name, derived from bar (‘a boar’) + sceaga (‘copse, small wood’). Clough comes from Old English clōh (‘deep valley’), referring to the valley of Whit Brook.
BOAR’S HEAD is a residential area in Standish in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, north of Wigan town centre. It is said to take its name from a local pub dating from the 13^th century and thought to be one of the oldest in England. Boar’s Head lies close to the River Douglas at a point where the roads to Preston, Chorley and Wigan meet. The name of the district was formalised when the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and the Lancashire Union Railways opened a joint station named Boar’s Head on 1 December 1869.
BOARSHURST is a rural area of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham close to the moors of Saddleworth. The name is not well documented but is recorded in 1583 and presumably means ‘the wooded hill where boars are found’, from the Old English bar (‘a boar’) + hyrst (‘wooded hill’), referring to the local wildlife and landscape.
BOGGART HOLE CLOUGH is a 76-hectare country park in Blackley in the City of Manchester. The name is officially recorded in 1893, when Manchester Corporation purchased the land for health and recreational reasons. However, it is evident that some of its elements may derive from earlier times: a boggart is a dialect word for an evil goblin or sprite dating from 1570 according to the Oxford English Dictionary; Hole may well be the house that was haunted by the boggart rather than a lake; and it is said that in the 17^th century the area was known simply as ‘the clough’, referring to a wooded valley, from Old English clōh. Taken together, the name would mean ‘the wooded valley with a house haunted by an evil goblin’.
BOLHOLT is an area within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury that also gives its name to a 20-hectare country park. The name is not well documented, although Bolholt House is said to date from the early 17^th century. The name means ‘wood on a smooth, rounded hill’, from the Old English bol (‘rounded hill’) + holt (‘wood, thicket’). In 1969 Bolholt House and estate were converted into a country park.
River BOLLIN is a tributary of the Mersey which rises in the Derbyshire Peak District, flows through northern Cheshire and beneath Manchester Airport. It then forms the border between Cheshire and Greater Manchester before joining the Mersey at Rixton. The name is first found as Bolyn in about 1275. The origin of the name is unclear – one suggestion is Old English bōl + hlynn, meaning ‘a noisy river or torrent’. The river lends its name to Bollington in Cheshire: the tūn or ‘farm on the Bollin’.
BOLLINHURST BROOK is a tributary of the Mersey that rises in the Derbyshire Peak District and flows some 15 kilometres to its confluence with the Mersey near Cheadle. Its name changes at various points along the way. At its source it is Bollinhurst Brook, from the Middle English bolling (‘pollarding, the cropping of branches from the trunk for poles or wattles’) + hyrst, ‘a wooded hill’. It then becomes Norbury Brook (see Norbury), Bramhall Brook (see Bramhall), the Ladybrook (probably from ‘our Lady’, the mother of Christ) and finally the Mickerbrook (perhaps Old English micel, ‘big, great’).
BOLTON is a town, formerly in Lancashire, and a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester since 1974. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bodeltun and as Bolton since 1307. Until 1838, the town was divided between Little Bolton and Great Bolton, with the two separated by the River Croal. In that year the two were amalgamated as a single municipality. The name is derived from the Old English bōthl, meaning ‘building’, + tūn, ‘settlement’. The name is quite common in northern England and is generally thought to mean ‘a new place’. See Domesday Book box
BOOTH’S BANK is a residential area to the east of Boothstown in the City of Salford. It lies to the north of the Bridgewater Canal. The name is not well documented but an estate called ‘The Booths’ is recorded in 1323, meaning ‘a place with small huts’, from the Old English both. Booth’s Bank Farm is recorded in 1786, with bank meaning ‘the slope of a hill’.
BOOTHSTOWN is a suburb of the City of Salford that was previously in Lancashire. The name first appears as Bothes man, referring to Booths Manor, in 1500 and seems to become Boothstown only in the late 18^th century with the extension of the Bridgewater Canal through Boothstown and the development of the coal trade. The original name of the Booths is derived from the Old English both, meaning ‘a small hut or enclosure’ used by a herdsman.
BORSDANE WOOD is a 26-hectare nature reserve in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. It was originally part of the great Lancashire forest and is first mentioned in about 1215 as a stream named Ballesdenebroc, meaning ‘Boell’s valley stream’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Bœll + denu (‘long valley’) + brōc (‘stream’). Parts of the forest were acquired over the years but in 1931 a large area was donated to the local authorities and opened as Borsdane (sometimes spelled ‘Borsden’) Wood.
BOSDEN is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport to the east of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1248 as Bosedon, meaning ‘Bōsa’s Hill’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + dūn (‘hill’).
BOTTLING WOOD is a 13-hectare woodland area and residential district in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, about 1 kilometre north-east of Wigan town centre to the east of the River Douglas. The Bottling Wood Colliery had been established by 1800 and a hamlet with the name was recorded in 1827. However, the name seems older and is usually said to be a corruption of Battling Wood. The reference is to the Battle of Wigan Lane, fought on 25 August 1651 during the Civil War on the east bank of the River Douglas.
BOTTOM OF WOODHOUSES See WOODHOUSES
BOUNDARY PARK is a mixed-use sports stadium in Oldham and the home of Oldham Athletic football club. It was originally built in 1896 and named the Athletic Ground, but the name was changed at some point to reflect its position in north-west Oldham close to the town’s boundaries with Royton and Chadderton.
BOWDON is a suburb of Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford that was in Cheshire until 1974. The name is first recorded as Bogedone in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is described as having a church and a mill. The name means ‘rounded hill’ from the Old English boga (‘curved, bow-shaped’) + dūn (‘hill’). See Domesday Book box
BOWER FOLD is residential and recreational area south of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is recorded in 1840 as Boar Fold, meaning enclosure for boars’, from the Old English bār + fald. By the 20^th century, the name was rationalised to Bower Fold, which is perhaps more genteel.
BOWGREEN is a residential and recreational area of south-west Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The name is recorded as Bowgreen in 1647, probably referring to a farm round which the residential area developed in the 19^th century. Bowgreen lies on low-lying ground between Bowdon and the River Bollin and means ‘the green below Bowdon hill’, from Old English boga (‘rounded hill’) + grēne.
BOWKER VALE is a suburban area of Blackley on the River Irk in the City of Manchester. The name is not well documented but is said to date from mediaeval times when cloth was bleached on the banks of the River Irk using sunlight, rain, sour milk and urine from nearby Blackley village. The process was known as bowkering and gave its name both to the village and the surname.
BOWLEE is a village on the outskirts of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. Bowlee is not well documented but was apparently settled in mediaeval times. The name is found elsewhere in England and is probably derived from Bola + –lēah (‘wood, glade’). Bola could be a personal name or the Old English for a tree-trunk or log.
BOYSNOPE is an area of Eccles in the City of Salford on the north bank of the River Irwell and the Manchester Ship Canal with a tradition of waste disposal and, more recently, farming and recreation. The name is recorded in 1277 as Boylsnape and is thought to come from Middle English bole (‘bull’) + snape (‘pasture’).
BRABYNS PARK is a 36-hectare public park beside the River Goyt in Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It is laid out in a former estate that was inherited in 1749 by Elizabeth Brabyn (or Brabin). She and her husband, Dr Henry Brabyn, landscaped the grounds and built Brabyns Hall. Both grounds and hall were eventually purchased by Cheshire County Council in 1941 and the estate was opened as a public park in 1947.
BRADFORD is a district in east Manchester, about 4 kilometres north-east of the city centre. The name was first recorded in 1196 as Bradeford, from the Old English brād + ford meaning ‘broad ford’ across the River Medlock, and distinguishing the place from a narrower ford in neighbouring Beswick. It remained a rural area until industrialised in the 19^th century with collieries, an ironworks and brickworks. These all closed in the 1960s and the area went into decline but it has been regenerated since 2000 as Eastlands and the campus of the Etihad Stadium.
BRADLEY FOLD is a residential and commercial area in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, approximately midway between Bury and Bolton. It is not well documented before the opening of Bradley Fold station by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1849, but the name is probably much older, deriving from the Old English brād (‘broad, wide’) + lēah (‘woodland clearing’).
BRADSHAW is a village in Turton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is first recorded in 1246 as Bradeshawe, meaning ‘broad, extensive wood or copse’ from the Old English brāda + sceaga.
BRADSHAW CHAPEL is an outlying area of the village of Bradshaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is recorded in 1610 but it is likely that the settlement dates back to Norman times as it developed round an older church or chapel uniquely dedicated to St Maxentius, a Norman saint.
BRAMALL HALL is a country house in Bramhall in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, parts of which date from the 14^th century, set in 20 hectares of land known as Bramhall Park. The earliest parts were owned by the Davenport family (who gave their name to neighbouring Davenport) but it was sold in 1877 and acquired in 1935 by the local council, which opened it to the public. The hall takes its name from Bramhall village but Charles Nevill, who owned the hall from 1883 until his death in 1916, claimed that the Bramall spelling without an H was closer to that used in the Domesday Book of 1086. See Domesday Book box
BRAMHALL is a leafy suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport that was formerly in Cheshire. It was included as Bramale in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was said, ‘There is land for 6 ploughs. There is woodland half a league long and as much wide, and half an enclosure and 1 acre of meadow. He found it waste’. The centre of the village was below Bramall Hall at Bramhall Green where the Lady Brook bends but the opening of Bramhall station by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway in 1845 drew development about 1.5 kilometres west. The name means ‘corner of land where broom grows’ from Old English brōm + halh, and the name is recorded as Bromhall as late as 1577. Bramhall lends its name to Bramhall-by-the-Sea in North Carolina, USA, either directly or through the habitational surname of a local inhabitant. See Domesday Book box
BRAMHALL GREEN is an area of Bramhall in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport to the east of what is now the main village, although it is where Bramhall was originally located. The name is recorded from 1831. The green is in a meander (halh) of the Lady Brook, which once provided power for a corn mill close to Womanscroft bridge. The village moved to its current location following the opening of the railway station in 1845.
BRANDLESHOLME is an area in Bury which dates from mediaeval times. The name is recorded as Brandolfholm in 1285 and some sources claim that this is from Brandlesholme, the family name of the landowner from the 12^th to the 16^th centuries. Others suggest that that name may be older – the holm (‘island, raised land’) of Brandulf, a personal name that occurs in the Domesday Book of 1086.
BRANDWOOD is an area of Spotland in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is first recorded in about 1200 as Brendwood, meaning ‘the burnt wood’ or ‘the wood that has been cleared by burning’, from Middle English brend (‘burnt’) + wudu (‘wood’).
BREDBURY is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, about 3 kilometres east of Stockport itself and 13 kilometres south-east of Manchester. It is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bretberie, meaning ‘a stronghold built of boards’, suggesting that it was an Anglo-Saxon fortification. The name comes from the Old English bred-, meaning ‘board, plank’, + byrig (‘fortified place’). See Domesday Book box
BREIGHTMET is a district in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, formerly in Lancashire. It is first recorded in 1257 as Brihtmede, at about the same time as workers from Flanders and the Netherlands moved into the area to establish a textile industry. The name comes from the Old English breorht, ‘bright, beautiful’ + mæd, ‘meadow’.
The BRICK COMMUNITY STADIUM is a mixed-use sports venue in Wigan and home to Wigan Athletic football and Wigan Wanderers rugby clubs. It was built in 1999 and opened as called the JJB Stadium after its original sponsor, which had been founded in Wigan by John Jarvis Broughton as a sportswear supplier in the early 1900s. It was renamed in 2024 after The Brick, a local charity.
BRIDGEWATER CANAL was the first industrial canal in Britain, and was built in 1759-1761 by the 3^rd Duke of Bridgewater (1736-1803) to transport coal from his mines at Worsley to the centre of Manchester at Knott Mill. The canal was later extended from Worsley to Leigh and from Manchester to Runcorn. The dukes of Bridgewater took their title from Bridgwater in Somerset, a name which probably originally meant ‘Walter’s bridge’ rather than ‘the bridge over the water’.
BRIDGEWATER GARDENS are a 62-hectare public garden in the grounds of the former Worsley New Hall in the City of Salford opened by the Royal Horticultural Society in 2021. The name is taken from the Bridgewater Canal, which forms the southern boundary.
BRIDGEWATER HALL is a concert venue in central Manchester, opened in 1996. It is named after the Duke of Bridgewater (1736-1803) who commissioned the nearby Bridgewater Canal.
BRIMROD is a locality in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It is first recorded in the 13^th century as Bromyrode, meaning ‘clearing among broomwood’ from Old English brom + –rod (‘clearing’).
BRINDLE HEATH is a residential area of Pendleton in the City of Salford between the River Irwell and the Manchester Ship Canal. It is recorded in 1324 as Brendlache meaning ‘a brown stream flowing through boggy land’, from Middle English brend-, meaning ‘burnt, brown’, + –lache, meaning ‘a stream flowing through boggy land’. Presumably this was a muddy brown stream or ditch flowing into the Irwell.
BRINKSWAY is an area of Cheadle in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and also a network of caves that date from 1670, perhaps earlier. The name is taken from a road through the area from Cheadle Heath to Stockport meaning ‘road at the edge or boundary’, from the Middle English brink (‘edge, bank, border) + -weg (‘a path or road’). The road runs along the south edge of the Mersey valley, which explains its name.
BRINNINGTON is a suburb of Stockport north-east of the town centre. It is first recorded in 1248 as Bruninton but has its modern spelling by 1290. It means ‘the village of farmstead of Brӯni’s followers’, from the personal name Brӯni + -ing- (followers, people of) + –tūn (‘village, estate, etc’).
BROADBENT is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, north-east of Oldham town centre. The name is not well documented but the surname Broadbent, which is said to be derived from the village near Oldham, is common from the mid-16^th century. The name means ‘reeds that are broad and bent’, from the Old English brād + beonet (‘bent grass’).
BROADBOTTOM is a village on the River Etherow in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is first recorded in 1286 as Brodebothem, meaning ‘wide valley’, from Old English brād + bothm, which aptly describes the location of the village.
BROAD CARR is a rural area of Mossley in Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is not well documented but may take its name from a local farm. The likely meaning is ‘broad, rocky place’, from Old English brād (‘broad, wide’) + carr (‘rocky place’).
BROAD EES DOLE is a wildlife park and nature reserve north-east of Sale Water Park beside the River Mersey in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. It was opened in 1987 and its name echoes its former uses: Old English brād (‘broad, spacious’) + ees (‘wetland’) + dole (‘common land shared out among local people’).
BROADFIELD is an area of Heywood in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, formerly in Lancashire. It had a number of cotton mills in the 19^th century but the district has little early documentation. Its name is derived from the Old English brād, meaning ‘broad, spacious’ + feld, ‘field, area of land cleared of trees’.
BROADHALGH is a suburban area of Spotland in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in the 13^th century as Brodehalgh, meaning ‘the broad nook’, from the Old English brād (‘broad, wide’) + halh (‘nook or corner of land’), aptly describing its position on the meandering River Roch, which runs south of the area.
BROADHEATH is a suburban area of Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The name is first recorded in 1831 and is composed of two modern English words describing its location and landscape. The area developed following the extension of the Bridgewater Canal to Altrincham and Broadheath in 1765 and was initially involved in the supply of vegetables to Manchester. In 1885 Harry Grey, the 8^th Earl of Stamford of Dunham Massey, gave a square kilometre of land to develop an industrial estate at Broadheath to attract engineering companies.
BROADHURST PARK is a recreational area in Moston in the City of Manchester. The land originally formed part of the estate of Moston Hall but in 1920 its owner, Sir Edward Tootal Broadhurst (1858-1922), a Manchester cotton manufacturer, donated 32 hectares to the City of Manchester to commemorate the First World War. United of Manchester built a football stadium in Broadhurst Park in 2015.
BROADLEY is an area of Spotland close to the River Spodden in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is first recorded in 1228 as Brodeleghbrok, meaning ‘a broad clearing by a brook’, from the Old English brād (‘broad, wide’) + lēah (clearing’) + brōc (‘brook, stream’), which describes its position on a small tributary of the Spodden.
BROAD MILLS HERITAGE SITE is a visitors’ attraction in Broadbottom in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It occupies the site of Broadbottom Mills, a large textile mill originally built in 1802-1824. The name was changed to Broad Mills in the early 1900s. Much of the mill was destroyed by fire in 1949 and the site was purchased by the council in the 1980s to develop as a tourist attraction.
BROAD OAK is an area of Worsley in the City of Salford that also gives its name to Broadoak Park. There are several places named Broad Oak in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, all deriving their names from the Old English brād (‘broad, wide’) + āc (‘oak’). The name literally means ‘broad oak’ but may be a reference to a particularly large oak tree that marked a boundary. Broad Oak Park is used as Worsley Golf Course.
BROADWAY is a Metrolink tram stop in Eccles in the Metropolitan Borough of Salford. It was opened on 6 December 1999 and is named after a nearby road. The name of the road is recorded at least as far back as 1871.
BROMLEY CROSS in a village in Bradshaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. This is an eponym, the name coming from the Bromley or Bromiley family, who were landowners in the area since the 16^th century. The village developed in the 19^th century but the name is older as the cross which is included in the name has long since disappeared. The family name would have originated from another Bromley, meaning ‘wood or clearing where broom wood grows’ from the Old English brōm + lēah.
BROOK BOTTOM or BROOKBOTTOM is a residential area to the west of Mossley in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name clearly means ‘the settlement in the bottom of a valley of a brook’ and is recorded in 1755. Today the brook, a tributary of the River Tame, is partially culverted but it is of historical importance as it formerly marked the boundary between Lancashire and Yorkshire, and for this reason it is (or was) sometimes referred to as the County Brook.
BROOKDALE PARK There are several places in Greater Manchester called Brookdale, all meaning ‘stream valley’ from Old English brōc (‘brook, stream’) + dæl (‘valley, hollow’). Brookdale Park in Newton Heath in the City of Manchester was originally developed as a personal estate beside the River Medlock by John Taylor JP in the mid-19^th century. The estate was purchased by Manchester Corporation in 1900 and converted into an 18-hectare public park, opened in 1904.
BROOKLANDS is an area of Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, approximately 9 kilometres south-west of Manchester city centre. Brooklands is an eponym, named after Samuel Brooks (1793-1864), who purchased land in the area in 1856. The name was unofficial at first but was formalised when the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway opened a station named Brooklands on 1 December 1859.
BROUGHTON is a suburb of the City of Salford on the east bank of the River Irwell, approximately 1.5 kilometres north-west of Manchester city centre. There are several places called Broughton in Britain and the origins of the name may be different and hard to distinguish. The name is first recorded at this location in 1177 as Burton, but the spelling Brughton was in use by the 16^th century. The name is usually said to mean ‘fortified village’ from Old English burh (‘fortified place, stronghold’) + tūn (‘village, estate’). (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
BROWNLOW is a rural, wooded area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, south-west of Wigan itself. There are several places called Brownlow in north-west England, none of them well documented. A school was built in Brownlow in Wigan in 1672 but the area was probably named long before that date. It means ‘brown hill’ from the Old English brūn + hlāw (‘hill, mound’). Brownlow is close to Billinge Hill, which is 179 metres high.
BROWNLOW FOLD is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, north-west of Bolton town centre. The name dates from the early 17^thcentury when the land was owned by the Brownlow family, the same family that owned Hall i’ th’ Wood. Fold refers to a small group of cottages and farm buildings. In the 19^th century the name became applied to a broader area as the neighbourhood expanded around a colliery and brickworks.
BRUNSWICK is a district in the City of Manchester, south of the city centre. It takes its name from Brunswick Street (now Brunswick Park), which lies a little to the north and was laid out in the 1880s with the expansion of the campus of the University of Manchester. Brunswick is the anglicised version of the city of Braunschweig (‘Bruno’s settlement’) in northern Germany. German influence in the city and the university was very strong at this time and the first use of this name was Brunswick Mill in Ancoats, which was opened in 1840.
BRUNTWOOD PARK is a 40-hectare public park in Cheadle in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name dates from 1860, when John Douglas, a Bradford wool merchant, purchased land in the area and laid out an estate and hall which he named Bruntwood, apparently celebrating his wife’s Scottish home in Bruntwood in Ayrshire. The local authority purchased the estate in 1944, using the hall as Cheadle and Gatley town hall and opening the grounds to the public as Bruntwood Park.
BRUSHES is a residential area to the east of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside with housing estates developed between 1929 and 1939. It also gives its name to Brushes Reservoir, one of four built locally in the 19^th century. The name is recorded in 1770 as Bruches, meaning ‘lands newly-cleared for cultivation’, from the Old English bryce.
BRYN is a suburb of Ashton-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is recorded in 1212 as Burnal, meaning ‘scorched land’, perhaps land cleared by burning the surrounding forest, from the Old English bryne (‘burning, fire’). Older sources suggest the name may be Celtic or Welsh in origin from bryn meaning ‘hill’.
BRYN GATES is a village and airfield north-east of Ashton-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is not well documented but Bryn Gates sits on the Bolton Road and it has been suggested that the name refers to turnpike gates on the road between Bolton and Bryn.
BUCKLEY is a suburb on the north-eastern edge of Rochdale beside Buckley Brook. The name is recorded in 1246 as Bukele and is usually said to mean ‘the clearing or meadow of the bucks’, from Old English bucca (‘he-goat’) + lēah (‘clearing, meadow’). However, it has also been suggested that the name could be taken from Buckley family, who were resident in the area in the Norman period.
BUCKLOW is a residential area that was split in 1974 between Cheshire and the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester. The name is recorded in 1240 as Boclou and various suggestions have been made for its origin: ‘beech hill’ from Old English bece (‘beech-tree’) + hlāw (‘mound’); ‘buck’s hill’ from bucca (‘he-goat’) + hlāw; or ‘Bucca’s hill’ from an Anglo-Saxon personal name + hlāw.
BUCKTON CASTLE was a Norman castle north-east of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside atop Buckton Hill, overlooking Buckton Moor and the Tame valley. It was probably built and then demolished in the 12^th century, and nothing is visible today but the thick sandstone foundations have been excavated. The name means ‘buck valley’ from Old English bucca (‘buck’) + denu (‘valley’).
BUERSILL is a residential area in eastern Castleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in 1228 as Brideshull, meaning ‘Bridd’s hill’, from an Anglo-Saxon personal name + hyll, referring to its position at the foot of a hill.
BUILE HILL PARK is a 35-hectare public park in Salford. The present park combines several earlier parks and estates: Seedley Park (opened in 1876), Buile Hill Mansion (opened in 1903), Springfield Villa (1927) and Hart Hill House (opened in 1938). The park includes Buile Hill House, originally built in 1827 as the home of Sir Thomas Potter, the first Lord Mayor of Manchester and co-founder of the Manchester Guardian, is now awaiting restoration. The name Buile Hill is not well documented before 1598, but it is likely that it is an eponym. The family name of Buile means ‘dweller among the birch trees’ and originated in France, but no one with this family name has been traced in the Salford area.
BULLOCK SMITHY was the original name for what is now Hazel Grove in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. In 1560 a certain Richard Bullock leased some land from a Richard Torkington to establish a smithy, and the area became known as Bullock’s Smithy. The village acquired a bad reputation and was said to be known for gambling, cock-fighting and dog and bull baiting, so that John Wesley described it as ‘One of the most famous villages in the country for all manner of wickedness’. In 1835 the villagers decided to change the name to the more aspirational Hazel Grove.
BUNKER HILL, Rochdale and BUNKERS HILL, Stockport There are hills across England named Bunker Hill, Bunkers Hill or Bunker’s Hill, all believed to commemorate the costly British victory at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 during the American War of Independence. Bunker Hill in Massachusetts is named after George Bunker, a settler from Bedfordshire who was given the land in 1634.
BURNAGE is a suburb of the City of Manchester roughly 6.5 kilometres south of the city centre. It is first recorded in 1322 as Bronage and Brownegg, thought to mean ‘brown (Old English brūn) hedges (hegge)’, although these may in fact have been brown stone walls. It remained a rural village throughout the 19^th century and in 1894 George Bernard Shaw described Burnage as the prettiest village in Manchester. There was some industrialisation in the early 20^th century and the opening of Burnage station by the London & North Western Railway in 1910 led to suburban development.
BURNDEN is a suburb of Bolton about 2 kilometres south-east of the town centre. It is first recorded in 1285 as Bornden, meaning ‘the valley where the stream flows’ from the Old English burna– (‘brook’) + -denu (‘valley’). The stream is Burnden Brook, a tributary of the River Croal. The Bolton Wanderers’ football stadium was built in Burnden in 1894 but was moved to the Toughsheet Stadium in 1997. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
BURNEDGE is a residential area south-east of Rochdale. The name is recorded as Brynege in 1609 and means ‘burnt edge’, from Old English brende (‘a burnt place, a place destroyed or cleared by burning’) + ecg (‘edge; the edge of a hill, an escarpment’), referring to its position above Sudden Brook.
BURRS COUNTRY PARK is a 36-hectare public park on the River Irwell north of Bury town centre. Textile mills were built at Burrs from 1792 and the last was demolished in 1982. In 1986 the area was purchased by the Metropolitan Borough of Bury and converted into a country park. The name is not well documented but comes from the Old English burh meaning ‘a fortified place’, referring to a late Iron Age fort dating from the 5^th century BC that was occupied by the Romans and, later, the Anglo-Saxons, who gave it its present name.
BURTON ROAD is a Metrolink tram stop in West Didsbury in south Manchester opened on 23 May 2013 and named after the Victorian street it is located on, which probably took its name from the earlier Burton Farm.
BURY is a town, formerly in Lancashire, on a finger of land between the rivers Irwell and Roch about 14.5 kilometres north-north-west of Manchester city centre. It became a metropolitan borough with the creation of Greater Manchester in 1974. The name is first recorded in 1194 as Biri and with its modern spelling in about 1190. It means ‘at the fort’, from the Old English burg, although it is not known which fortification is referred to. Bury gives its name to Bury in Quebec, Canada.	BURY To ward off the Viking threat, the Saxons built fortified settlements. These can be identified by the Old English element, which appears in two forms – bury and borough. A number of these are found in what is now Greater Manchester.
	BREDBURY (board + ~)	LITTLEBOROUGH (little + ~)
	BROUGHTON (~ + ton)	NORBURY (north + ~)
	BURRS COUNTRY PARK (~)	PENDLEBURY (hill + ~)
	DIDSBURY (eponym + ~)
BUSK is a residential area in Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is not well documented before the construction of the Busk cotton mill in 1847, but would seem be much older. It may possibly derive from the Old Norse buskr or the Old English busc, both meaning ‘a bush, a shrub’.
BUTLER GREEN is a residential area of Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, also known as Washbrook. The name is not well documented before 1863, when the Butler Green Cotton Mill was erected by the Butler Green Cotton Spinning Company of Chadderton, suggesting that the village took its name from that of the company.
BUTTERWORTH is a suburb in south-eastern Rochdale. It is first recorded in 1235 as Buterworth, meaning ‘butter or dairy farm’, from Old English butere (‘butter’) + worth (‘homestead, enclosure’).
The BUTTS today is a commercial area in the centre of Rochdale. It is not well-documented but in the 19^th century it was an area on the north bank of the River Roch beside a ford across the river. It is believed to date from mediaeval times, when it was an area set aside for archery practice. The name comes from the middle English butt, which was derived from the Anglo-French bouter, meaning ‘expel’. The term originally meant the archery target itself but the meaning was extended to include an area used for archery, especially after a law of 1252 required every adult male to possess and become proficient in the use of a longbow.

C
CADISHEAD is a village in the City of Salford on the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal near the confluence of the Glazebrook and Irwell. The name is first recorded in 1212 as Cadewalesate. There have been various suggestions as to the origin and meaning of the name, the most common being that it means ‘settlement or pasture (Old English –set) by the stream (-waella-) of someone called Cada’.
CADSHAW BROOK, with Cadshaw Brook waterfall, is a stream running off Turton Moors and flowing into Turton and Entwistle Reservoir. Cadshaw Brook takes its name from the village of Cadshaw in Lancashire. The name is recorded in about 1200 as Cadeshoubroc and evolved into Cadshawe by 1617 – an eponym meaning ‘Cada’s copse’, from an Anglo-Saxon personal name + sceaga (‘small wood, copse’).
CALAMANCO was an industrial area of Flixton in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford that seems to have disappeared from the maps. The name originates from the water-powered Calamanco logging mill, which seems to have been built beside the River Irwell in the late 17^th or early 18^th century. The mill also produced a dye used in the production of calamanco, a woollen fabric that was produced from the late 16^th century. The Mersey & Irwell Navigation built a lock at Calamanco in about 1721 and this remained in use until the Manchester Ship Canal was completed in 1893. The origin of the word calamanco is obscure: it first appears in English in 1598 and may come from the Spanish calamaco, meaning ‘worsted wool’.
CALDERBROOK is a village on the River Roch in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name of the village is first recorded in 1843 but it is found much earlier as the name of two rivers in Lancashire, and it has even been suggested that it is an older Celtic name for the River Roch. The origin is Celtic caled, meaning ‘rapid stream’ + the later Old English –brōc, meaning ‘brook, stream’. There are several examples of reduplication in the names in Greater Manchester, where a tautologous Old English element is added to an earlier Welsh or Celtic name, perhaps as an explanation for the original but forgotten meaning.
CALDERMOOR is a residential area in Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is not well documented but the original hamlet of Caldermoor is known to have grown up in the 18^th century around the Caldermoor inn, which was built in 1755. Caldermoor is in the valley of the River Roch and takes its name from the Celtic caled, meaning ‘rapid stream’, which is thought to be the ancient name for the Roch. The addition of moor refers to its position on the edge of the moors north-east of Greater Manchester.
CALDERSHAW is a residential area on the north-western edge of Rochdale on the River Spodden before its confluence with the River Roch. The name is not well documented but would seem to mean ‘copse in the valley’ referring to its position close to the Spodden. The Spodden is a tributary of the Roch, which is believed to have been called the Calder, from the Celtic caled, meaning ‘rapid stream’. Shaw comes from the Old English sceaga, meaning ‘a small wood’.
CALE GREEN is a residential area in the south Stockport. At the beginning of the 19^th century the area was occupied by Cale Green Farm, although little is known about the owner, John Cale. There appears to have been some industrial development as it is known that William Carrington & Co., hat manufacturers, were operating in the area by 1800. The farm was purchased in 1883 and this, combined with the opening of the nearby station at Davenport in 1858, appears to have led to more urban development. Lacrosse and cricket grounds were created in the 1880s and Cale Green Park was opened to the public in 1894 (or 1902 – sources differ) as the second public park in Stockport.
CAPTAIN FOLD or CAPTAIN’S FOLD is an urban district of Hopwood in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is not well documented but seems to be from the Captain Fold Colliery, which was owned by the Heywood Coal Company and operated between 1842 and 1854. The premises had been acquired by the Atkinson rope manufacturers by 1880. It is unlikely that it refers to a naval or military man with the personal name of Fold. It is more likely that ‘fold’ refers to part of a farm or a small community. Local records suggest that Captain Fold was once called Captain Hardman’s Fold, but it is not known who Captain Hardman was.
CARR BROOK and CARR WOOD, Bramhall. Carr Brook is a short stream that rises in Bramhall in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It flows north-east through Carr Wood and joins Lady Brook in Bramall Park. The name is recorded in 1842 and is usually said to derive from the Old Norse kjarr or Middle English ker, meaning ‘marsh overgrown with brushwood’.
CARRBROOK is a village east of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The development of Carrbrook as a village began with the building of Carr Mill in 1799, both mill and village taking their names from Carr Brook beside which they sit. The name is likely to have come from the Old English carr, meaning ‘rock’, hence ‘the rocky stream’.
CARRINGTON is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The name is first recorded in 1154 as Carrintona but it is found with its modern spelling from the early 13^th century. The derivation is uncertain. It is usually said to mean ‘the estate of someone called Cara’, from the Old English personal name + -inga- (‘belonging to’) + –tūn (‘estate’). Other suggestions are that the name may come from the Old English caring, meaning ‘tending, caring’, cǣring, meaning ‘river bend’, or carr, ‘rocky place’.
CASTLEFIELD is an inner-city urban-heritage site in the City of Manchester. It was the site of the Roman fort of Mancunium from about 79 AD but acquired its English name of Castle-in-the-field by the Middle Ages. It developed into the industrial area of Castlefield when it became the terminus for the Bridgewater Canal in 1764 and the Liverpool Road terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1830.
CASTLESHAW is a small village in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham which was formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is recorded as Castlyshaw in 1544 and with its modern spelling in 1581. The name means ‘the fort or castle near a copse’ from the Old English castel + sceaga. The fort refers to a Roman fortress built in about 79 AD on the Roman road from Chester and Manchester to York.
CASTLETON is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale on the River Roch. The name is recorded in 1246 as Castelton, literally meaning ‘settlement by a castle’. This is believed to refer to a Saxon castle beside the River Roch. The settlement was originally Blue Pits Village and the name ‘Castleton’ was not adopted until 1875, when it became an urban district council.
CATLEY LANE HEAD is a village in Spotland in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, north-west of Rochdale itself. The name is recorded in 1418 as Catcloghgate, apparently meaning ‘wild-cat valley road’, from Old English catt + clōh (‘valley’) + Old Norse gate (‘street, road’), referring to a mediaeval route between Rochdale and Whalley Abbey in Lancashire, also known as Rooley Moor Road. The name had been rationalised to Catley Lane by 1597.
CHADDERTON is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham about 10 kilometres north-east of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in about 1200 as Chaderton and is said to mean ‘farm by the hill called Cadeir’. Cader is a Celtic word meaning ‘chair or hill’, with the Old English -tūn (‘farmstead, village’). This may be a reference to the nearby hill Hanging Chadder, which is about 250 metres high.
CHADKIRK is an area on the River Goyt in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport that also gives its name to a 24-hectare country park and nature reserve. The name is recorded in 1534 as Chadkyrke in reference to the current Chadkirk chapel, but the settlement probably dates from the Anglo-Saxon period and there is reference to the de Chaddekyrke family in 1347. The name means ‘St Chad’s church’, referring to the 7^th-century Bishop of Lichfield in Mercia.
CHADWICK is a village about 3 kilometres west of Rochdale. The name is first recorded in about 1180 as Chaddewyk, meaning ‘the wīc (village) of Ceadda, who is thought to be St Chad’. Chad was a 7^th-century Anglo-Saxon monk and Bishop of Lichfield in Mercia, and it is claimed that the original church on this site was dedicated to St Chad in AD 673, the year after his death.
CHARLESTOWN is a residential area of the City of Salford close to the River Irwell. The name is not well documented and is said to be a 19^th-century name for an area that had various names. It is believed that it is named after someone called Charles, but it is not known who this was.
CHASSEN PARK is a small public park with a miniature railway in Flixton in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. It is officially known as Abbotsfield Park but is also known as Chassen Park. It takes this name from the adjacent Chassen Road. The road was originally called Abbots Lane, from a local family, but was changed to Penny Lane in about 1846. In about 1865 it was changed to Chassen Road, apparently from a local family, although no details can be traced.
CHAT MOSS is a very large peat bog extending over some 28 square kilometres across the City of Salford and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Wigan and Trafford. It is first recorded as catemosse in 1277 and Daniel Defoe was astounded when he first saw it in about 1727: ‘the great bog or waste call’d Chatmos…. The nature of these mosses, for we found there are many of them in this country… is indeed frightful to think of.’ Moss is an Old English word meaning ‘a bog, a swamp’ and is widely used across the region. Chat is usually explained as the Celtic ced, meaning ‘wood’, and Defoe noted that ‘under this moss, or rather in the very body of it, … those antient fir trees are found’. Alternatively, the root could be Old English ceat meaning ‘a piece of wet ground’ and, again, Defoe’s description might support such a derivation: ‘The surface … will bear neither horse or man, unless in an exceeding dry season.’ Other explanations are that Chat is a personal name, either Old English Ceatta or even St Chad, the 7^th-century Bishop of Lichfield in Mercia.
CHEADLE is a suburb or ‘village’ in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport that was previously part of Cheshire. Cheadle is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Cedde, where there is ‘woodland 1 league long and half wide, and an enclosure and a hawk’s eyrie’. The name comes from the Celtic cēd, meaning ‘wood’. Chedele is recorded from 1197, with the Old English lēah (‘clearing’) added to the Celtic element. This may describe the clearing in the forest or it may be an explanation of the older Celtic element. It has also been suggested that the name may have been derived from St Chad, the 7^th-century Bishop of Lichfield in Mercia, but this suggestion is usually discounted. See Domesday Book box
CHEADLE HEATH is a suburb of the Borough of Stockport, about 3 kilometres west of the town centre. Originally part of Cheadle, it seems to have developed a separate name by 1367, when it was recorded as Schedleheth, from a distorted rendering of Cheadle + Old English hǣth (‘uncultivated land’). The modern spelling is found from 1831.
CHEADLE HULME is a village suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, formerly part of Cheshire. Cheadle Hulme was originally part of Cheadle, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. In the early 14^th century, Cheadle seems to have split into two: the northern part remained as Cheadle and the southern part became Cheadle Moseley or Cheadle Hulme. The separate name is recorded in 1345 as Chedle Hulm, with the modern spelling found from 1669. Cheadle comes from the Celtic cēd, meaning ‘wood’, + Old English lēah (‘clearing’). Hulme comes from Old Norse holmr, meaning ‘raised ground in a marsh’. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
CHEADLE ROYAL is a locality west of Cheadle town centre in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It takes its name from Cheadle Royal Hospital, which was originally founded as the Manchester Lunatic Hospital in what is now Piccadilly Gardens in 1766. It received royal sponsorship from King William IV in 1830 as part of Manchester Royal Infirmary, but was moved to Cheadle in 1850 and renamed Cheadle Royal Hospital in 1902.
CHEADLE SQUARE is a small public space close to the town hall in central Bolton. It was laid out in 1947 and named in honour of Frank Cheadle (1885-1940), who, as mayor of Bolton in 1928-1929, campaigned for the area to be set aside as a public space rather than being given over to industrial use.
CHEESDEN is a moorland hamlet in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded as Chesden in 1543 and is taken from the valley of the nearby Cheesden Brook, meaning ‘gravel valley’, from the Old English cis (‘gravel’) + denu (‘valley’). Cheesden Brook meanders south to meet Naden Brook, which flows into the River Roch near Heywood.
CHEETHAM and CHEETHAM HILL are neighbouring residential and light-industrial areas in the City of Manchester, north of the city centre. The name is recorded in the late 12^th century as Chetham, meaning ‘village by the wood called Chet’, from the Celtic cēd (‘wood’) + Old English hām (‘village, homestead’).
CHEETHAM PARK is a 12-hectare public park in Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The land was formerly the estates of John Frederick Cheetham (1835-1916), a mill owner and Stalybridge MP, and a relative, a Mrs Wimbush. The two estates were donated to the town of Stalybridge in 1931 and opened as a public park named after J F Cheetham in 1932.
CHEETWOOD is a locality in Cheetham in the City of Manchester, north of the city centre, that was first recorded as Chetewood in 1489. It shares part of its name with Cheetham but wudu (‘wood’) has been added to the Celtic cēd- or cēto-, meaning ‘forest’, by way of explanation.
CHELBURN RESERVOIRS There are two reservoirs – Upper and Lower Chelburn – in Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The Upper Chelburn was built in 1799-1801 and the Lower Chelburn in 1816 by damming Chelburn Brook to supply water for the Rochdale Canal but they were purchased in 1923 by Rochdale and Oldham Corporation to provide drinking water. The derivation of Chelburn is uncertain – it could mean ‘cool stream’ or ‘gravelly stream’, either from Old English col (‘cool’) or cisel (‘gravel’) + burna (‘stream’). Chelburn is one of the few streams in Greater Manchester originally formed from burna rather than brōc.
CHEQUERBENT is a village east of Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is not well documented before 1782, when reference is made to a coal mine in Chequerbent. The village is probably far older as the name is usually said to mean ‘Ceacca’s moorland grass’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + beonet (‘bent grass’), referring to the coarse moorland grass found in the vicinity. An alternative possibility is that the first element comes from Old English ceacce (‘a lump, applied to a hill’). The name of the village was formalised by the Bolton & Leigh Railway, which opened a station called Chequerbent for Hulton Park on 11 June 1831.
CHERRY CLOUGH is a rural area north-west of Denshaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded from 1750 and means ‘cherry valley’, from Middle English chery or chiri + clough.
CHESHAM is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. It is recorded in 1429 as Chesum, meaning ‘gravelly place’, from the Old English cis (‘gravel, heap of stones’) + hām (‘village, homestead’). Another possibility is that it derives from the Celtic cēd, meaning ‘wood’. See also Freetown.
CHESHIRE is the county to the south of Greater Manchester. The name is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 980 as Legeceasterscir, meaning ‘shire of the fort of the legions’, but by the time of the Domesday Book of 1086 it had been reduced to Cestrescir (‘Chester-shire’). Chester itself is derived from the Latin castra, meaning ‘camp or fort’. The border between the counties of Cheshire and Lancashire was the River Mersey but the creation of Greater Manchester in 1974 moved the boundary south and parts of north-east Cheshire were moved into Greater Manchester – Altrincham, Dukinfield, Hyde, Stalybridge and Stockport.
CHETHAM’S LIBRARY is a free public reference library in central Manchester. The library, as well as a school, were established in 1653 through the will of Humphrey Chetham (1580-1653), making it the oldest public reference in the English-speaking world. In 1698 Celia Fiennes described it as ‘a large Library 2 long walls full of books on each side; there is also the globes at the end and maps’. Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx worked together in the library in 1845 and published ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848. The desk they worked at is exhibited in the library. The school became Chetham’s School of Music in 1969.
CHEW BROOK is a tributary of the River Calder in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1325 as Choo, meaning ‘valley’, from ‘gap, fissure, cleft’ and hence ‘valley’, from Old English cēo (‘valley’) + broc’. Chew Brook rises on the western slopes of Black Chew Head and then empties into Chew Reservoir, which was built in 1912.
CHEW MOOR is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton that is first recorded as Chow More in the 16^th century. The name is said to derive either from the Old English cēo, meaning ‘fissure’ and hence ‘valley’, or the Chew or Chow family, who lived in the area in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, or perhaps the Cholle family, who can be traced back to 1322.
‘CHINA TOWN’ is an area of central Manchester around Faulkner Street with many Chinese restaurants, shops and supermarkets. The term is widely used in cities across the world and dates back as far as 1606. Manchester’s Chinatown was a post-war development dating from the opening of the first Chinese restaurant, the Ping Hong, in 1948 and immigration mostly from Hong Kong in the 1950s.
CHORLTON-CUM-HARDY is a suburb of south Manchester that was originally two settlements (see separately for Hardy) – Chorlton in the north and Hardy in the south, separated by Chorlton Brook. Chorlton is recorded in 1258 as Cholreton, but with the modern spelling in 1551. The name is an eponym – ‘Ceolferth’s farm or village’ from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Cēolferth (modern Charlton). The combined name of Chorlton-cum-Hardy – literally Chorlton with Hardy – is first recorded in 1700 but seems to have become more widely used in about 1880, when property developers used the term to distinguish it from Chorlton-upon-Medlock; the opening of the Midland Railway’s Chorlton-cum-Hardy station in that year formalised the name.
CHORLTON FOLD is a suburban area of Eccles in the City of Salford. Chorlton was a common name in northern Cheshire and south Lancashire, and it was necessary to distinguish various places with this name. Chorlton Fold is not well documented but would seem to come from the Old English ceorl (‘a freeman of the lower class, a peasant’) + tūn (‘enclosure, village’) + fold (‘small group of cottages and farm buildings’).
CHORLTON-UPON-MEDLOCK or CHORLTON-ON-MEDLOCK is an inner-city suburb of the City of Manchester. It is recorded as Cherleton in 1177, meaning ‘farmstead of the freemen or peasants’, from the Old English ceorl (‘a freeman of the lower class, a peasant’) + tūn (‘enclosure, village’). In mediaeval times, the village was known as Chorlton Roe, i.e. Chorlton Road, as it was beside the Roman road from Manchester to Buxton. The modern name of Chorlton-upon-Medlock is recorded from 1843, indicated the area’s position on the south bank of the River Medlock. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
CHORLTONVILLE is a residential area within Chorlton-cum-Hardy in the City of Manchester. It was built as a private venture in 1910-11, inspired by the garden city movement. The name is aspirational, combining Chorlton with the French ville.
CHOWBENT is an area of Atherton in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan or an old, alternative name for Atherton which is still used locally. The name is first recorded in about 1350 as Chollebynt and Shollebent, and may be derived from an Old English personal name Cēola or ceole meaning ‘gorge’ + bent, ‘crooked land’, or beonet, meaning ‘coarse moorland grass’.
CINDER HILL There are many places called Cinder Hill across England, including at least two in Greater Manchester: Cinder Hill near Holcombe in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, first recorded in 1688, and Cinder Hill in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, first recorded in 1722. The name means ‘hill where cinder or slag is spread or found’, from the Old English sinder + hyll. As the names suggest, they are sites of mediaeval metal-working, probably iron.
CLAMMERCLOUGH is an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton that is especially known for Clammerclough (or Farnworth) tunnel, built by the Manchester & Bolton Railway in 1838. The area is not well documented before the construction of the tunnel but the name is possibly derived from Old English claeme + clōh, meaning ‘clayey or muddy ravine or valley’. The valley refers to that of the Rivers Croal and Irwell, which join in Clammerclough.
CLARENCE PARK is a 20-hectare public park in Bury. It was opened in 1883 as Walmersley Road Recreation Ground but renamed Clarence Park in 1888 when it was officially opened by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), who was also known as the Duke of Clarence.
CLARKSFIELD is a suburban district of Oldham. The name is not well documented before 1821 and, as its name suggests, was an agricultural area. Presumably the name is an eponym, but it has not been possible to identify the Clark for whom it is named.
CLAYTON is a suburb of the City of Manchester in Droylsden, situated some 5 kilometres east of the city centre. The name is first recorded in about 1250 as Cleyton but its modern spelling is recorded as early as 1439. There are two versions of the origin of the place name. It could be from Old English clǣg + tūn, meaning ‘homestead on clayey ground`. Another, perhaps more likely suggestion, is that it is named after the Clayton family, who lived in this area and for whom the Clayton Hall was built in the 12^th century. This was replaced in the 15th century by the present Clayton Hall, which is now a museum.
CLEGG HALL is a rural area north of Milnrow in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in about 1200 as Clegg, probably from the Old Norse kleggi, meaning ‘haystack’ and hence ‘hill’, probably in reference to the 175-metre high Owl Hill, at the foot of which Clegg stands. The original hall was built in the 13^th century. A new hall was built in 1610-1618 and still stands as the centre of this sparsely-populated community.
The CLIFF is a residential and recreational area in the City of Salford. The name is not well documented before 1817, when Cliff House was erected on the heights above the River Irwell, giving the area its name. The area developed as a commuter suburb in the 19^th century and was also home to Manchester race course. Today, areas of the Cliff have been turned over to sports fields and a country park adjoining Kersal Dale.
CLIFTON is a suburb of Swinton in the City of Salford, about 8 kilometres north-west of Manchester. It is recorded as Clifton in 1184 and its name transparently means ‘settlement near a cliff or hillside’, from the Old English clif + -tūn, which describes its position along the steeply-sloping bank of the River Irwell. Clifton gives its name to the 48-hectare Clifton Country Park, which now occupies the site of the Wet Earth Colliery. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
CLOSE PARK is an 11.2-hectare public park in Radcliffe in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The park is sited in the grounds of Close House, the estate of the Bealey family, a local family of textile bleachers. The estate was donated to the people of Radcliffe in 1925 and the grounds converted into a public park.
CLOUGH is a rural area north-west of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is not well documented but is one of many derived from the Old English clōh, meaning ‘ravine, deep valley’, referring to Long Clough Brook and Stony Brook, which meet in Clough.	CLOUGH Clough comes from the Old English element clōh, meaning ‘deep valley, ravine’ and is found only in the north of England. It applies particularly to the valleys of the numerous streams or brooks that run off the moors to the east of what is now Greater Manchester.
	BOARSHAW CLOUGH (boar + copse + ~)	HOPWOOD CLOUGH (wooded + valley + ~)
	BOGGART HOLE CLOUGH (goblin + hole + ~)	OLIVER CLOUGH (eponym + ~)
	CHERRY CLOUGH (cherry + ~)	RAVEDEN CLOUGH (eponym + valley + ~)
	CLAMMER CLOUGH (muddy ~)	SHAWCLOUGH (copse + ~)
	DEADWENCLOUGH (dead wench ~)	STONECLOUGH (stony + ~)
	HATHERSHAW CLOUGH (heather + copse + ~)
CLOUGH is a rural area east of Shaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is not well documented but comes from the Old English clōh, meaning ‘ravine, deep valley’.
CLOVER HALL is a village north-west of Milnrow in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is not well documented but seems to mean ‘clover nook’, from the Old English claefre (‘clover’) + halh (‘nook or corner of land’), referring to the sharp meander in the River Beal to the east of Clover Hall.
COCKBROOK is a residential area of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It takes its name from Cock Brook, a tributary of the River Tame, which flows just south of Cockbrook. The name is not well documented before 1891, when Cockbrook Mill was opened, powered by water from Cock Brook. The origin of the name is also uncertain. Judging by other places with ‘cock’ as a first element, the origin could be Old English cocc meaning ‘a rooster‘, or cocc meaning ‘a hillock’.
COCKEY MOOR is an area on the eastern side of Ainsworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is recorded in 1545 as Cokkaye Chapel Moor. The origin is uncertain: either Old English cocc, meaning ‘rooster’, or Anglo-Saxon personal name Cocca + hege (‘enclosure’). Taken together, the meaning could be ‘an enclosure for breeding birds or for cock-fighting’ or ‘Cocca’s settlement’. An alternative derivation is suggested by the Old Celtic kokka (‘red earth’) + Old English lēah (‘woodland clearing’).
COLDHURST is a residential area in central Oldham. The name is not well documented before 1844, when an ecclesiastical parish was established. The origin of the name is uncertain but it is unlikely to be ‘cold, cool’. The first element is more likely to be Old English col, meaning ‘coal, especially charcoal’. The second element is Old English hyrst, (‘wooded hill’), so that the combined meaning would be ‘wooded hill suitable for charcoal-making’.
COLLYHURST is an inner-city district of the City of Manchester, about 2.5 kilometres north-east of the city centre. The name is first recorded in 1322 with its modern spelling and means ‘wooded hill grimy with coal dust or soot’, from Old English colig (‘grimy, coal-like’) + hyrst (‘wooded hill’). There seems to be no history of coal-working in the Middle Ages but coal was found nearby in the 19^th century, leading to the sinking of St George’s colliery in 1866.
COLLYHURST FOOTBRIDGE is a disused footbridge over the River Irk and the former sidings of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway connecting Collyhurst with Cheetham Hill. It was built in the 1890s and is also known as ‘Barney’s Steps’, as it overlooked a 1950s council dump called Barney’s Tip, the ‘Impossible Bridge’, or ‘Lowry’s Footbridge’ as it was painted by Lowry in 1938 (see Appendix 1).
COMPSTALL is a village on the River Etherow in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is first recorded in 1608 as Compstall Bridge, referring to a crossing over the Etherow. The derivation is uncertain but it is usually said to mean ‘valley fishing place’ from Old English cumb (‘valley’) + stall (‘a place for catching fish, fishery’). The Etherow is still known for its trout fishing.
COPLEY is a district of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, about 13 kilometres east of Manchester. The name is first recorded in 1345 as Coppelegh, probably meaning ‘clearing beneath a peaked hill’, from Middle English coppa (‘peaked’) + lēah (‘a clearing’). This would fit with Copley’s position at the foot of the Pennines. It is also possible that it means ‘Coppa’s place’, from an Anglo-Saxon personal name.
COPSTER HILL is a district in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham which takes its name from the nearby hill. It is first recorded in 1422 as Coppedhyrst, from copped, meaning ‘peaked’, and hyrst, meaning ‘wooded hill’.
CORNBROOK is a district in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford which takes its name from the Corn Brook, a tributary of the Medlock. The name means ‘stream with cranes’ rather than ‘stream with corn’, and is derived from the Old English cran, cron or corn. The use of the name was perhaps formalised by a station with that name opened in 1856 by the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway.
CORONATION STREET is a street on the New Barracks estate of the City of Salford. The estate was built in 1900-1904 and the street was named for the coronation of King Edward VII on 9 August 1902. The street gives its name to the long-running ITV soap-opera of that name. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
CORRIDOR MANCHESTER See OXFORD ROAD
COTE GREEN is a residential area of Marple Bridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is recorded from 1842. The origin of the name is uncertain but one possibility is Old or Middle English cot, meaning ‘cottage or hut’.
‘COTTONOPOLIS’ is a nickname for Manchester and the surrounding industrial areas of Lancashire. It is first recorded in 1851 but seems to have been coined somewhat earlier, although no one seems to know when or by whom. The name is derived from cotton and metropolis.
The COUNTY BROOK See BROOK BOTTOM
COUNTY END is an area on the eastern side of Lees in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The area is at the point where the previous county of Lancashire met the former West Riding of Yorkshire, explaining the name.
COWHILL is a residential area of Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1200 as Kuhill, literally meaning ‘cow’s hill’, from Middle English cou + hyll.
COWLISHAW is a residential area in the west of Shaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded as Cowleshawe in 1558. The derivation is uncertain but it could mean ‘charcoal hill’ from Old English colig (‘charcoal; full of, or marked by, charcoal’) + sceaga (‘copse’).
COX GREEN is a residential area in the Egerton district of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It is recorded as Cosse 1108 but by 1248 it had become Cokksgrene, from the Old English cocc (‘hillock, hilltop’) + grene (‘grassy spot, village green’). However, over time the name was rationalised to ‘Cox’ as if it were an eponym referring to someone named Cox who owned or worked the land.
CRANKWOOD is a hamlet north-east of Golborne in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The place is not well documented before the first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps in the first half of the 19^th century. It takes its name from nearby Crank Wood but the origin is uncertain: possibilities are Old English cranus (‘crane’) + sceaga (‘copse’) or crumb (‘crooked, twisted’) + wudu (‘wood, forest’), so that the meaning might be ‘wood of the cranes’ or ‘crooked wood’.
CRIMBLE or CRIMBLES is a rural area on the River Roch north of Heywood in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Crumles, from the Old English crӯmel meaning ‘a small piece (crumb) of land’. See Domesday Book box
CRIME LAKE is a small lake in Daisy Nook Country Park in Oldham. The lake was formed in 1794 or 1795 when a blocked culvert under the Hollinwood Canal resulted in flooding. The name is said to be derived from chrime, a dialect word for a meadow, or perhaps an eponym referring to someone who owned the meadow. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
River CROAL is a tributary of the River Irwell. It rises west of Bolton and then flows east for about 16 kilometres to meet the Irwell at Nob End in Kearsley. The name means ‘winding stream’ and is derived from the Old English croh (‘a nook of land in a river bend’; hence ‘winding’) + wella (‘stream’), referring to its meandering course.
CROFTS BANK is a residential area of the City of Salford. The name is not well documented but it is likely that it is derived from the Old English croft, meaning ‘small enclosed field’.
CROMPTON is part of the district of Shaw and Crompton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is first recorded in 1246 as Crumpton, meaning ‘settlement in a bend’ referring to Crompton’s position in a meander of the River Beal. The origin is the Old English crumb (‘crooked, twisted, bent’) + tūn (‘homestead, settlement, village’).
CROMPTON PLACE is a retail centre in Bolton. It was opened in 1971 as an Arndale Centre but was renamed in 1989 after the Bolton-born industrialist and inventor, Samuel Crompton (1753-1827), who invented his spinning mule for the manufacture of cotton and other fibres in in about 1779 while living in Hall I’ th’ Wood.
CROMWELL BRIDGE, originally CROMWELL ROAD BRIDGE, was built in 1880-1882 and crosses the River Irwell to connect Broughton with Pendleton in the City of Salford. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) had many associations with what is now Greater Manchester during and after the civil war, but it is not known precisely when or why Cromwell Road was named after him.
CRONKEYSHAW COMMON is a 16.3-hectare area of public open space with trees in northern Rochdale. The name is recorded in 1470 as Crankshaw and there are various suggestions for its derivation. It may come from Old English cranus (‘crane’) + sceaga (‘copse’) or crumb (‘crooked, twisted’) + sceaga (‘copse’), so that the meaning might be ‘copse of the cranes’ or ‘crooked copse’.
CROOKE is a village on the River Douglas and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is recorded in 1324 as Crok, probably from the Old Norse krokr, meaning ‘a crook, a bend’, usually referring land in the bend of a river, which aptly describes the village’s location in a meander in the River Douglas.
CROSSACRES is a residential area of Wythenshawe in the City of Manchester. The name is first recorded in 1290 as Crosacres, meaning ‘fields or ploughlands (Old English æcer) near a cross (cros)’. As the name suggests, this was sparsely-populated farmland noted for its flax, although the location of the cross is not recorded. In the 1930s the area was incorporated into the Wythenshawe development around Crossacres Road.
CROSSBANK is a village in the south of Oldham on the River Medlock. The village is thought to have been part of the lands granted to the Knights Templar in England in the 13^th century. The Knights Templar marked ownership of their territory by placing crosses in earth banks, which explains the name of Crossbank.
CROSSFORD BRIDGE today carries the old Roman road from Manchester to Chester (the A56) across the River Mersey between Stretford and Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The name is recorded in 1295 as Crosford, meaning simply ‘the ford by the cross’. It is thought that the cross originally stood on the north bank of the Mersey. The ford became unusable in the Middle Ages and the original wooden bridge is said to have been built by 1367, but this was replaced by a stone bridge in 1578.
CROWCROFT PARK is a public park in Longsight and Levenshulme, south of the city centre of Manchester. In the 19^th century, the area was an industrial area engaged in cotton manufacture, but in 1900 Manchester Corporation took over the lease and laid the area out as a park. The first cotton mill had been started in Crowcroft by Thomas Knight in 1815 but it is likely that the name is older, meaning ‘small field where crows are found’ from the Middle English croue + croft.
CROWHILL is a residential area west of Waterloo in Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The residential development dates from the 1950s but it is assumed that the local area, commonly known as ‘The Moss’, was at some time named Crow Hill, from Old English cran (‘crane, heron or similar bird’) + hyll (‘hill’).
CROWN POINT is an area in Denton in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside which gives its name to the Crown Point retail shopping park, built in 2003 on the site of the Victoria Hat Works. The name goes back at least as far as 1817 and commemorates a battle in the northern part of what is now the American state of New York in 1759, when the British destroyed a French garrison known as Fort St Frédéric, which the British then renamed Fort Crown Point, a translation of the French Pointe à la Chevelure.
CROWTHER STREET or CROWTHER STEPS is a steep cobbled street in the Underbanks district of Stockport made famous by two paintings by L S Lowry (see Appendix 1). The street is named after the Crowther family, who had silk works in both Stockport and Heaton Norris in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. The original houses on Crowther Street were demolished in the 1960s but restored early in the 2000s to approximate to those in Lowry’s paintings.
CRUMPSALL is a suburb of the City of Manchester on the River Irk approximately 5 kilometres north of the city centre. The name is first recorded in 1235 as Corneshal and its modern spelling is recorded since 1552. It is usually said to be an eponym meaning ‘Crumb’s nook’, although it has also been suggested that it could mean ‘crooked piece of land’, from Old English crumb (‘crooked, bent’) + halh (‘nook of land’), from the large bend in the River Irk at this point.
CULCHETH is a suburb of the City of Manchester close to Newton Heath. This Culcheth is not to be confused with Culcheth on the Metropolitan Borough of Warrington in Cheshire. Culcheth Hall in Manchester was the mediaeval seat of the Culcheth family, but they died out in the early 17^th century. It is assumed that these two places named Culcheth both originally meant ‘narrow wood’ or ‘nook of a wood’ from Celtic cūl (‘narrow’) + coed (‘wood’).
‘CURRY MILE’ is the nickname given to the stretch of Wilmslow Road passing through Rusholme, south of Manchester city centre. The area became a meeting place for the many people from the Asian subcontinent who settled in Manchester in the late 1950s and 1960s, and ‘Curry Mile’ became the nickname in the mid-1980s for the many restaurants that were opened. In January 2008 the name was formalised when Manchester City Council erected signs with the title. Curry comes from the Tamil kari.
CUTACRE COUNTRY PARK is a 226-hectare nature reserve across parts of Salford, Wigan and Bolton. It was opened in 2020 on the site of a massive slag heap formed in the early 20^th century when waste from Brackley and Mossley Common collieries was dumped in the valley of Cutacre Clough. Opencast mining ended in 2011 and the site was then landscaped and transformed into the country park. The name is not well-documented but is possibly an eponym, from an Anglo-Saxon personal name such as Cutha + æcer, meaning ‘plot of land’.
CUTGATE is a residential area of Rochdale about 1.5 kilometres west of the town centre. It was recorded as Cut-Hays in 1562 and ‘gate’ is thought to derive from Old Norse gata, meaning ‘road’. It has been suggested that the first element is either a personal name or that it refers to the road being cut across the hillside.
CUTLER HILL is an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham on the disused Hollinwood Branch of the Ashton Canal. The name is not well documented before 1797, when Cutler Bridge was built over the newly-completed canal. The name would seem to come from cutler, either literally as being the site of a workshop where someone made or sold knives, or as an eponym from Cutler’s Hill.

D
DACRES is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, south-west of Greenfield. The name is an eponym, taking its name from Dacre’s, the vicarage of Bartholomew Dacre (1785-1831), the vicar of St George’s Church in Mossley, which was built in 1819. It was enlarged in 1858 as Dacre Hall, a house which still stands. In 1928 the owner built a small housing estate adjacent to Dacres Hall.
DAISY HILL is a residential area of Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The origins of the name are uncertain and undocumented. In 1824 it was referred to as Daisey Hillock and it is assumed that the name was taken literally from a hill covered with daisies. The name was formalised with the opening of Daisy Hill station by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway on 1 October 1888. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
DAISY NOOK is a village (also known as Waterhouses) and country park belonging to the National Trust in Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is taken from a book of ‘Lancashire Sketches’ by the Manchester weaver-turned-dialect writer, Ben Brierley (1825-96), originally written in 1867. In it he depicts an imaginary village called Daisy Nook where ‘Two Banks seemed to have opened to receive a group of neat whitewashed cottages and after filling them with happiness, surrounded them with a curtain of trees, to shelter them from the outside world’. Brierley’s description was based on the village of Waterhouses and the area has been known by this name ever since.
DAKIN’S BROOK is a tributary of Dean Brook and, ultimately, of the River Tonge, north of Barrow Bridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is not well documented but it may well be an eponym, so that the meaning would literally be ‘the stream named after a relative of David’. Dakin as a name is derived from a shortening of David + Old English cynn (‘family, relative’).
DALE is a village in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, although in the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. The name is recorded in 1732 and means ‘valley’, from the Old English dæl.	DALE Dale means valley and it is found mostly north of the River Mersey. It comes from the Old English dæl but may be influenced by the Old Norse dalr. Unlike clough, it generally refers to a relatively shallow valley.
	BROOKDALE (stream + ~)	ROCHDALE (building + ~)
	DEBDALE (deep + ~)	STRINE DALE (stream + ~)
	LONGDENDALE (long + valley + ~)	TIVIOT DALE (dark river + ~)
DANE BANK is a residential area of Denton in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, west of the town centre, known as Dane Shot (or Shott or Shutt) Bank before the 20^th century. According to local legend, it takes its name from a Danish chieftain who was shot by a Saxon archer and was then beheaded, but this is almost certainly folk etymology: the original name means ‘narrow field is derived on a hill overlooking a valley’, from Middle English denu (‘valley’) + shote (‘narrow strip of land’) + banke (‘bank, hillside’).
The DANELAW was originally just that – the law that was applied by the Danes or, more widely, the Vikings in the parts of England that they controlled between the late 9^th or early 10^th century and the Norman conquest in 1066. At a later date, the term came to be applied to the areas where the Danelaw was applied. Whether what is now Greater Manchester was included in the Danelaw is a matter of some disagreement: some modern maps include all of Greater Manchester in the Danelaw but place-name evidence suggests that the Viking influence was limited to isolated settlements rather than widespread occupation.
DARBISHIRE or DERBYSHIRE PARK is an 8.9-hectare park north-west of Bolton town centre. The land was donated to the town in 1868 by Charles James Darbishire (1797-1874), who had been mayor of Bolton in 1838-1839, and his brother, Samuel Dukinfield Darbishire (c.1796-1870), a local solicitor. The park is popularly known as “Bobby Legs Park” after a tall park keeper named Robert.
DARCY LEVER is part of the area named Lever which consists of several settlements – Darcy Lever, Great Lever, Lever Edge and Little Lever – south of Bolton. The name Lever is recorded in 1212 as Lefre, from the Old English lefer (‘rush, reed’), so that the entire area would mean ‘where the rushes or reeds grow’ on the banks of the Irwell and Croal. Darcy Lever is recorded from 1509 as Darcye Lever, showing that was now in the possession of the D’Arcy family. The family originated in Arcy in Normandy in France.
DARNHILL is a residential area of Heywood in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It was a farming area centred around Darn Hill farm, but in the early 1960s it became the site for the construction of large-scale municipal housing for families from Manchester. The name is not well documented. The Darnhill family website suggests that the name means ‘a grower of darnel’, a type of ryegrass. Darnel is originally French but is found in English from the early 14^th century.
DAUBHILL is a south-western suburb of Bolton. The name is not well documented but is referred to as Daub Hill in 1815. It is derived from Middle English daube, meaning clay used in mediaeval building, as in ‘wattle and daub’, which was obtained locally.
DAVENPORT is a suburb of Stockport that takes its name from the Davenport family, who had owned Bramall Hall since the 14^th century and whose name came from their estate in Cheshire, which was recorded as Deneport in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is said to derive from the River Dane (thought to come from the Celtic dafn meaning ‘a drop, trickle’) + Old English port meaning ‘market town’. Davenport in Stockport is much later: in the mid-19^th century a member of the family, Colonel William Davenport, persuaded the Stockport Disley & Whaley Bridge Railway to build a station to serve land owned by him. The station was opened on 1 March 1858, was closed in September 1859 and re-opened on 1 January 1862. The station led to the development of Davenport and the neighbouring area of Cale Green.
DAVID LEWIS RECREATIONAL GROUND is an area of Peel Park in the City of Salford. The land was gifted to Salford in 1897 as a recreational area by merchant and philanthropist, David Lewis (1823-1885). He made his money from the Lewis’s chain of departmental stores, the first of which was opened in Liverpool in 1856 and the second in Manchester in 1877. On his death, he left money to promote health and welfare in Lancashire and the north-west.
DAVYHULME is a residential area of Urmston in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The original Davyhulme Hall was built by John de Hulme in 1154 but it seems that it was only in 1434 that it was known as Defehulme. There are several Hulmes in Greater Manchester, all derived from the Old Norse holm, meaning ‘raised ground in a marshy place’, and they needed to be distinguished, hence Cheadle Hulme, Levenshulme, etc). The origin of Davyhulme is uncertain and the usual suggestion is that it is Middle English deaf, meaning ‘deaf’ or ‘lonely’, perhaps the nickname of one of its residents that gradually became associated with the personal name Davy.
DEAN BROOK is a tributary of the River Tonge that rises on Smithills Moor in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It flows south, joining other streams to form the Tonge at Meeting of the Waters in western Bolton. The name Dean comes from the Old English denu, meaning ‘valley’.	DEAN Old English denu* means ‘valley’, particularly long valleys (Longdendale) which are gentle enough to permit settlements (e.g. Denton) or paths.*
	BORSDANE WOOD (eponym + ~ + wood)		LONGDENDALE (long + ~ + dale)
	BURNDEN (brook + ~)		NADEN BROOK (peak + ~ + brook)
	CHEESDEN (gravel + ~)		NORDEN (north + ~)
	DENSHAW ( ̴ + copse)		OGDEN (peak + ~)
	DENTON (~ + village)		SUDDEN (south + ~)
	DROYLESDEN (dried-up stream + ~)		WALKDEN (eponym + ~)
River DEAN rises at Longclough in Cheshire on the edge of the Peak District and joins the Bollin between Wilmslow and Styal. It then flows some 16 kilometres and meets the Mersey near Lymm. It is usually said that the name is shortened from ‘Dean Water’ and is derived from the Old English denu, meaning ‘a valley, especially a long valley’ + wæter.
DEAN CHURCH BROOK, also known as KIRK BROOK, is a small stream that rises in Deane in south-west Bolton. The addition of Church distinguishes it from other brooks named Dean (all derived from the Old English denu, meaning ‘valley’) and is taken from the Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin in Deane.
DEANE is a residential area in south-west Bolton, south of the River Croal beside Deane Clough. Dean and Deane are common place names found across Britain, all meaning a place ‘in a valley’ from Old English denu. Deane in Bolton is recorded in 1292 as Dene.
DEANSGATE is the main shopping and commercial thoroughfare through the City of Manchester. It is first recorded in 1389 as Denes-gate and is said to be Manchester’s oldest street. The second element is Old Norse gata, meaning ‘a road or street’, but the origin of the first element is uncertain. It has been suggested that it is a) named after the lost River Dene; b) the ‘Danes’ gate; and c) most likely, named for the dean of an early church in the area.
DEARNLEY is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, north-east of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1324 as Dernylegh, meaning ‘hidden or solitary clearing’, from Old English derne + lēah (‘a wood, glade, clearing’). It is unclear why the clearing was hidden or solitary.
DEBDALE PARK is an 18-hectare public park in Gorton in the City of Manchester. The name is not well documented but it is said that the area was originally known as Deepdale, from the Old English dēop (‘deep’) + dæl (‘dale, valley’), and at some point it was reduced to Debdale. The area was originally the estate of a local hatter but was purchased by the local water company in the 1820s for two reservoirs. It was developed as a recreational area and park after World War I.
DEADWENCLOUGH See POLEFIELD
DELPH is a village in Saddleworth in West Yorkshire administered by the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1544 as Delf and the modern spelling is not found until 1817. The name means ‘the quarry’ and comes from the Old English delf, referring to the bakestone quarries north of the village.
DENSHAW is a village in Saddleworth in West Yorkshire administered from the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester. The name is recorded in 1635 as Denshaw, meaning ‘the valley copse’, from Old English denu (‘valley’) + sceaga (‘copse, small wood’), referring to the village’s position close to the source of the River Tame.
DENTON is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, 8 kilometres east of Manchester city centre. It was formerly in Lancashire. The name is first recorded in 1255 as Denton and literally means ‘valley village’ from Old English denu (‘valley’) + –tūn (‘farmstead, village’), describing its position in the valley of the River Tame. It is sometimes said that Denton means ‘Dane town’, but there seems to be no evidence for this.
DERBYSHIRE is a county to the east of Greater Manchester. The name is first recorded in the 11^th century and is derived from the city of Derby (‘village where deer are found’) + scīr (‘district’). In 1974 a few places – Marple Bridge, Strines and Swineshaw – were transferred from Derbyshire to Greater Manchester.
DERKER is a residential area in the north of Oldham. The name is not well documented before 1604 and its origin is unknown. At that time, it was spelled Dirtcar, but this is not thought to be related to a small rail wagon for carrying soil or other material, a word that originated in the USA in 1870.
“DICKY BIRD” ESTATE is a residential area east of Bury that was built in the 1930s. It was given the name because many of the roads have bird names – Linnet Drive, Chaffinch Drive, etc. ‘Dicky bird’ has been a colloquial or children’s term for a bird since 1744 and was popularised by the nursery rhyme ‘Two little dicky birds sat on a wall, One named Peter, one named Paul’. This was originally ‘There were two blackbirds sat on a hill, One named Peter, one named Gill’, but the wording was changed early in the 19^th century.
DIDSBURY is a suburb of the City of Manchester lying on the north bank of the River Mersey approximately 8 kilometres south of the city centre. It is first recorded in 1246 as Dedesbiry, meaning ‘Dyddi’s stronghold’, probably referring to an Anglo-Saxon leader who had a burh (‘fortified place’) overlooking a ford across the Mersey. Didsbury gives its name to Didsbury, Alberta, Canada.
DIGGLE is a village in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, although in the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. The name is recorded in the late 12^th century as Diggel and there are two theories about the derivation. One is that it is from the Old English degle, meaning ‘valley’. The other is that it means ‘ditch hill’ from Old English dīc + hyll.
DIMPLE is a village in the Ribble valley north of Egerton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is not well documented but is thought to come from Old English dumpel or dympel, meaning ‘a pit or a hollow’ and therefore ‘a pool’. The Old English word gives us modern ‘dimple’ and ‘dump’.
DIVISION BRIDGE See ROYAL GEORGE AQUEDUCT
DIXON FOLD is a residential area in Clifton in the City of Salford. The name is not well documented before 1841, when the Manchester & Bolton Railway opened its Dixon Fold station. The name would seem to be an eponym: Dixon may refer to a farming family who were involved in the textile industry in the 18^th century; Fold is taken from Old English fald, ‘an enclosure for animals or a small group of cottages’. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
DOBCROSS is one of the villages of Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham that was in the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. The name is recorded in 1662. One suggestion is that it is an eponym and that Dob is the name of an unknown person. Another is that it means ‘the place where horses cross’ from dob, a now obsolete word meaning ‘a muddy or stagnant pool, a deep pool in a river’. This might refer to an ancient crossing point over a local river on a packhorse route across the Pennines between Lancashire and Yorkshire.
DOFFCOCKER is a residential and recreational area in north-west Bolton. The name is not well documented before 1874, when Doffcocker Lodge was built as a reservoir for local mills. There are two theories about the origin of the name. One is that it means ‘dark winding stream’, from the Celtic dubh (‘dark, black’) + cocr (‘winding stream’). More fancifully, it may recall a Scotsman who had to doff (‘remove’) his cockers (Scottish and Lancashire word for ‘stockings’ or ‘boots’) in order to cross the stream that flowed into Doffcocker Lodge. Doffcocker Lodge was created as a nature reserve in 1992.

DOMESDAY BOOK

Following the conquest of 1066, William I ordered a survey of the whole of England to record all settlements and properties to determine what taxes would be due. This was completed as the Domesday Book in 1086-1087 and recorded 13,418 places in total. Approximately 600 were in what are now Cheshire and Lancashire, but only 23 were in Greater Manchester. It is sometimes said that William’s surveyors were less than diligent when it came to the north of England, but it is more likely that the genocidal ‘harrying of the north’ of 1069-1070, in which William’s armies killed up to 150,000 people, left much of the north west ‘waste’ – uninhabited and of little value – as can be seen from many of the entries below.

The overall picture is of sparsely-populated woodland and ploughed arable land, with details of the dimensions and taxable value. The reduced values are another indication of the effects of the harrying. There are several mentions of hawks’ nests – a sign of the earls’ love of hunting.

BAGULEY (Bagelei) Ranulph and Hamo hold Sinderland Green and Baguley. Aleard and Sucga and Wudumannm and Pat held it as 4 manors and were free men. There is 1 hide paying geld. There is land for 1½ ploughs. The whole is waste. [Before 1066] it was worth 3s.

BOLTON (Bodeltun) 6 carucates

BOWDON (Bogedone) The same Hamo holds Bowdon. Alweard held it and was a free man. There is land for 2 ploughs. There 2 Frenchman have 1 plough. There is priest and a church to which half of his hide belongs. There is a mill rendering 16s. it is worth 3s. It was waste and he found it so.

BRAMHALL (Bramale) The same Hamo holds Bramhall. Brun and Hakun held it as 2 manors and were free men. There is 1 hide paying geld. There is land for 6 ploughs. There 1 radman and 2 villans and 2 bordars have 1 plough. There is woodland half a league long and as much wide, and half an enclosure, and 1 acre of meadow. It was worth 32s; now 5s. He found it waste.

BREDBURY (Bretberie) The same Richard de Vernon holds Bredbury, and Wulfric holds of him, who is also a free man. There is one hide paying geld. There is land for 3 ploughs. There 1 radman and 6 villans and 2 bordars have 1 plough. There is woodland 1 league long and half a league wide and 3 enclosures and 1 hawk eyrie. [Before 1066] it was worth 10s; now the same.

CHEADLE (Cedde) Gamal holds Cheadle of the earl. His father held it as a free man. There are 2 hides paying geld. There is land for 6 ploughs. In desmesne is 1 plough and 2 oxmen; and 4 villans and 3 bordars with 2 ploughs. There is woodland 1 league long and half wide, and an enclosure and a hawk’s eyrie, and 1 acre of meadow. It was and is worth 10s. The whole manor is 2 leagues long and 1 wide.

CRIMBLES (Crimeles) In Preston …. Crimbles 1 carucate

DUNHAM (MASSEY) (Doneham) The same Hamo holds Dunham. Alweard held it and was a free man. There is 1 hide paying geld. There is land for 3 ploughs. In demesne is 1 plough and 2 oxmen, and 2 villans and 1 bordar, and 1 acre of woodland, and in the city 1 house. It was worth 12s; 10s. It was waste.

GREENHALGH (> GREENMOUNT) (Greneholf) In Preston … Greenhalgh 3 carucates

HALE (Hale) The same Hamo holds Hale. Alweard held it. There is 1 hide paying geld. There is land for 2½ ploughs. There 3 villans with 1 radman have 2 ploughs. There is woodland 1 league long and a half wide, and an enclosure, and a hawk’s eyrie, and half an acre of meadow. [Before 1066] it was worth 15s; now 12s. He found it waste.

HOLLINGWORTH (Holisurde) The earl himself holds … Hollingworth at 1 virgate.

LONGDENDALE (Langedenedale) In Longdendale … had 4 bovates of land to the geld. … The whole of Longdendale is waste. There is woodland, not for pasture but suitable for hunting. The whole is 8 leagues long and 4 leagues broad. [Before 1066] it was worth 40s.

LUDWORTH (Lodeuorde) In Ludworth Brun had 4 bovates of land.

MANCHESTER The Church of St Mary and the Church of St Michael held in Manchester 1 carucate of land quit of every customary due except geld.

NEWTON (Neweton) In Newton Leofric and Leofnoth had 3 carucates of land to the geld. There is land for 5 ploughs. There is now 1 plough in demesne, and 13 villans and 4 bordars having 5 ploughs. There is a priest having 1 bordar, and 7 acres of meadow. There is woodland pasture 1 league long and a half broad. [Before 1066] worth £4; now 30s. Ralph holds it.

NORBURY (Nordberie) The same Bigod holds Norbury. Brun held it and was a free man. There is 1 hide paying geld. There is land for 4 ploughs. There is one radman with 3 bordars has 1 plough. There is 1 acre of meadow, woodland 5 leagues long and 3 leagues wide, and 5 enclosures there. It was worth 10s; now 3s. He found it waste.

NORTHENDEN (Norwordine) Ranulph and Bigod hold of the earl Northenden. Wulfgeat held it as 1 manor and was a free man. There is 1 hide paying geld. There is land for 2 ploughs. It is waste. There is a church and 2 furlongs of woodland. It is worth 3s. [Before 1066] it was worth 10s.

RADCLIFFE (Radeclive) King Edward held Radcliffe as a manor. There is 1 hide and another hide belonging to Salford.

ROCHDALE (Recedham) Gamal, holdiomg 2 hides in Rochdale, was quit of his customs except these 6: housebreaking, highway robbery, breach of the king’s peace, breach of a due date set by the reeve, continuance of fighting after the oath was made. For these he paid a fine of 40s.

ROMILEY (Rumelie) The earl himself holds …Romiley at 1 virgate …. The whole was and is waste.

SALFORD King Edward held Salford. There are 3 hides and 12 carucates of waste land and forest 3 leagues long and as much broad and there are several enclosures and a hawk’s eyrie…. The whole manor of Salford with the hundred rendered £37.4s.

SINDERLAND (Sundreland) See Baguley above.

WARBURTON (Wareburgetune) Rawn held it and was a free man. There is half a hide paying geld. There is land for 1 plough. There is 1 radman and 2 villans and 1 bordar with half a plough. It was worth 5s [before 1066]; now 2s. It was waste.

River DOUGLAS rises on Winter Hill, joins the River Yarrow and meanders to meet the River Ribble. It is first recorded in 1220 as the Douglis and takes its name from the Celtic Dubo-glais, meaning ‘black or dark stream’.

DOUGLAS GREEN is a former industrial area of Pendleton where William Douglas (1745-1810) established one of the first, if not the first, and largest cotton mill in Salford in 1781-1782.

DOVE STONE RESERVOIR lies above the village of Greenfield on Saddleworth Moor in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The reservoir was completed in 1968 but takes its name from a local landmark, Dove Stone, which is recorded in 1771. The stone acquired its name from its shape, which was originally similar to a dove, but years of erosion have flattened the top and it is now sometimes referred to as “Duck Stone”.

DRINKWATER PARK is a 62-hectare park on the River Irwell in Prestwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. It was originally a country estate dating back to 1389 and was purchased in 1788 by Peter Drinkwater (1742-1801), a cotton manufacturer and textile merchant of Northwich. The estate became known as Drinkwater Park and was sold to Salford and Prestwich councils in 1902 for a smallpox isolation hospital. The hospital was closed in 1943 and the land was eventually converted into a public park, which is now administered by the Forestry Commission.

DROYLSDEN is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside on the River Tame, about 6.5 kilometres east of Manchester city centre. The name is first recorded in about 1250 as Drilisden and the modern spelling is found from 1619-1620. It may mean ‘valley of the dry stream or stream’, from Old English drӯge (‘dry, dried up’) + welles (‘stream, well’) + –denu (‘valley’) but it has also been suggested that it could mean ‘Drygel’s valley’ from an Anglo-Saxon personal name. Old English drӯgel means ‘a small person of dried-up appearance’.

DUCIE BRIDGE There are two bridges in central Manchester called Ducie Bridge: Ducie road bridge over the River Irk built in 1814-16 and a Great Ducie Street railway bridge over Great Ducie Street built by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1842 as it extended its line to Victoria station. Both are named after the Ducie family of landowners who inherited Strangeways Hall in the early 18^th century. Apart from owning land, the family seem to have had little to do with Manchester, although the 3^rd Baron Ducie (1739-1808) was an MP for Lancaster in 1784-1785. The family name originated in the 13^th century as an Anglicised version of the Gaelic O’Dubhghusa, a personal name meaning ‘black vigour’.

DUKINFIELD is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, although included in Cheshire until 1974. It lies on the south bank of the River Tame, east of Manchester city centre. The name was recorded in the 12^th century as Dokenfeld, meaning ’field of ducks’, from Old English dūcena (‘of ducks’) + feld (‘open space, field’). Presumably the ducks were on the River Tame but they could also mean domesticated ducks.

DUMPLINGTON is a locality in Urmston in the City of Salford, about 9 kilometres south-west of Manchester city centre. The name is first recorded in 1229 as Dumplinton and its modern spelling is found from 1623. The meaning is usually given as ‘the village or enclosure by a pool’, from the Old English dympel- (‘a dip, pool’) + -ing- (‘associated with’) + –tūn (‘enclosure, village’). An alternative is that it means ‘the village or enclosure of the followers of Dumola’, from the personal name + -inga– (‘followers of, named after’) + –tūn.

DUNHAM MASSEY is a 17th-century stately home and 120-hectare estate with deer and other wildlife such as herons. It is located on the River Bollin south-west of Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The nearby village of Dunham is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and means ‘homestead on a hill’ from the Old English dūn-, ‘hill’ + –hām, ‘village, homestead’. Massey was added as the name of the Anglo-Norman de Masci barons and is first recorded in 1362. The Massey line died out in the 14^th century but the house remained in private ownership until 1976. It is now owned and administered by the National Trust. See Domesday Book box

DUNSCAR is an area close to Egerton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, that was formerly in Lancashire. It is also the site of Dunscar Wood. The name was first recorded in the 12^th century as Dungecarre and means ‘dung marsh’ from the Old English dynge (‘dung’) + carr (‘swamp’).

DUNWOOD PARK is a 12-hectare public park in Crompton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The land was donated to Crompton council by Captain Abram Crompton, a local landowner, in 1911 and the park was opened in 1912. At the time the land was described as ‘a high hill, wooded in parts’, which fits its Old English derivation – dūn (‘hill’) + wudu (‘wood, forest’). In 1926 a fountain was erected in the park ‘as a mark of appreciation of the self-sacrifice and devotion of women of Crompton during the Great War’.

EAGLEY is a village in Turton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, formerly in Lancashire. The name is recorded only as Eagley Bridge until the early 19^th century, but the stream was harnessed to power cotton mills from 1796. The owners built a model village named simply Eagley for the workers. The mills were closed in the 1970s but have been converted into a residential complex. The name may derive from the Old English āc, meaning ‘oak’ + lēah, ‘woodland clearing’. Given its position on Eagley Brook, it is perhaps more likely that it comes from Old English ēa, meaning ‘river’, + lēah.

EALEES is a rural area south-east of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. Ealees Hall is recorded in 1561 and the name means ‘clearings beside a brook or river’, from the Old English ēa (‘river’) + lēah (woodland clearing’). The reference is to Hollingworth Brook, which flows down the Ealees Valley, merges with Ealees Brook and flows into the River Roch at Littleborough.

EASTLANDS is a regenerated area 1.5 kilometres east of Manchester city centre that was formerly known as Bradford. The name seems to have been first used in the early 1990s when, following the closure of Bradford colliery in 1969, the area was transformed for the hosting of the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The centrepiece was the stadium that is now known as the Etihad Stadium.

EATOCK LODGE is a 1.21–hectare nature reserve in Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It was designated as a local nature reserve in 2004 and occupies part of the site of Eatock Colliery, which opened in 1890 but was shut down in 1936. The colliery was built on and took its name from Eatock Farm, which is recorded in 1739 as probably belonging in John Eatock. The origin of the family name Eatock is uncertain but it has been suggested that it may be Old English ēast (‘east’) + stoc (‘outlying settlement or farmstead’).

ECCLES is a town in the City of Salford, approximately 6.5 kilometres west of the centre of Manchester, previously in Lancashire. It is first recorded in about 1200 as Eccles and is thought to be derived from the ancient British word eclēs or eglēs, meaning ‘a church’, which may be related to the Latin ecclesia and the Greek ekklesia. Both mean ‘gathering’ and hence came to be related to ecclesiastical gatherings. However, there is no record of a church in the area before the 13^th century, and it has been suggested that the Anglo-Saxons, who invaded the area in the early 7^th century, understood the concept of the church and perpetuated the name, despite not being Christians. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

ECKERSLEY MILL is a retail centre in Wigan that is being developed as part of the Wigan Pier conservation area. It takes its name from Eckersley Mills, a complex of cotton mills built between 1883 and 1920 for Nathaniel ffarington Eckersley and Co.. Many of the buildings were demolished in the 1960s.

EDGELEY is a district in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is first recorded in 1287 as Edisheleg and is derived from the Old English edisc, meaning ‘enclosure’ and + lēah, ‘wood clearing’. Edgeley Park Stadium was built in 1891 for Stockport Rugby Club but since 1903 it has been the home of Stockport County Football Club. Edgeley gives its name to Edgeley, North Dakota, USA.

EGERTON is a commuter village about 5 kilometres north of Bolton town centre in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It was originally known as Walmesley after the family that owned the land. In 1663 the step-daughter of James Walmesley married Ralph Egerton and the area was then given his family name.

ELIZABETH GASKELL HOUSE is a museum on Plymouth Grove in the Chorlton-on-Medlock area of the City of Manchester dedicated to the life and work of the Victorian novelist, Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865). The house was built in 1835-1841 and Elizabeth Gaskell lived there from 1850 to 1865. It was auctioned off in 1913 on the death of Elizabth Gaskell’s daughter, Margaret Emily “Meta” Gaskell. It was purchased by the University of Manchester in 1969 and used for the university’s International Society. The university gave up the building in 2000 and it was acquired by the Manchester Historic Buildings Trust as a museum to commemorate Elizabeth Gaskell. (For the Valette picture of Plymouth Grove, see Appendix 2)

ELK MILL today is a shopping centre in Royton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It was built on the site of Elk Mill, the last cotton mill built in Lancashire or what is now Greater Manchester, which was completed in 1926. It was built by the Shiloh Spinning Company, which was formed in 1874 and took its name from Shiloh in Tennessee in the USA, from where the first shipment of raw cotton to Lancashire had come in the late 18^th century. The company named their Royton mill after the Elk River in Tennessee. Elk Mill was closed in 1998 and demolished.

ELLENBROOK is a suburb of Worsley in the City of Salford, about 11 kilometres west of Manchester city centre. Ellenbrook is first recorded in 1544 as Elynbroke and is named after the nearby Ellen Brook. Broke clearly means ‘brook, stream’ but sources often state that the first element is unknown. However, it has been suggested that it is the Old English ellern (‘elder tree’) or elri (‘alder tree’), describing the vegetation along the banks.

ELLESMERE PARK is a residential area of Eccles in the City of Salford. It dates from the late 19^th and early 20th centuries, when fields were laid out for spacious housing. The name is taken from the owner of the land, Francis Charles Egerton, 3^rd Earl of Ellesmere (1847–1914). The family took their title from Ellesmere in Shropshire, an eponym that dates from 1172 and means ‘Elli’s lake’.

ELTON is a suburb of Bury that lies on the River Irwell. It is first recorded in 1246 as Elleton and is said to mean ‘Ella’s village or farmstead’, from an Anglo-Saxon personal name + -tūn.

ERNOCROFT is a rural area of Compstall in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, and Ernocroft Wood forms part of Etherow Country Park. The name is recorded in 1226 as Arnwicroft and with its modern spelling in 1767. This is said to be an eponym derived from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Earnwīg + croft (‘small enclosed field’).

ETCHELLS is a historical area of north-east Cheshire. The name is recorded in 1154 as Hecheles and with its modern spelling from 1302. It is derived from the Old English ēcels, meaning ‘addition’, in the sense that this was land added to another place. From 1860 it was divided between Stockport Etchells and Northen (or Northern) Etchells, meaning land attached to Northenden. In 1931, Northen Etchells was shifted to the City of Manchester and became part of Wythenshawe. Stockport Etchells became what are now Gatley and Heald Green.

River ETHEROW is a tributary of the River Goyt that rises on Pikenaze Moor in the Derbyshire Peak District and flows through Longdendale to meet the Goyt north of Marple. The name is recorded in about 1226 as Ederhou, the name of a hill, meaning ‘stream hill-spur’, from ēdre (‘stream’) + hōh (‘hill-spur, slightly higher piece of ground’). Etherow is found with its modern spelling from 1767. The river gives its name to Etherow Country Park in the Borough of Stockport.

ETHROP GREEN was a farm and hamlet in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford close to Manchester International Airport. It is recorded in 1535 as Athrop, from Old English throp or Old Norse thorp, both meaning ‘outlying farm’. However, the name was given as Aplethropp in 1558, suggesting it could mean ‘apple farm’, from Old English æppel. The farm was demolished when the airport was extended in 1989.

ETIHAD STADIUM was built as the City of Manchester Stadium for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in the area now known as Eastlands (formerly Bradford). In 2003, Manchester City Football Club moved to the stadium from their Maine Road ground and in 2011 a sponsorship agreement with Etihad (Arabic for ‘union, unity’) Airways led to a change of name for the stadium.

EXCHANGE was the Manchester trading centre for the exchange of cotton and other commodities. The first was built in 1727 and rebuilt in 1806-1809. This was enlarged in 1847-1849 and its name was changed to the Royal Exchange after a visit by Queen Victoria in 1851. The third Exchange was completed in 1874. It was vast and lavishly decorated but was finally closed in 1968 with the decline of Manchester’s cotton industry and was converted into the Royal Exchange Theatre.

EXCHANGE STATION was opened by the London & North Western Railway on 30 June 1884 and was closed by British Railways on 5 May 1969. It took its name from the nearby Manchester Cotton Exchange. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

FAILSWORTH is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham approximately 6.5 kilometres north-east of Manchester city centre. The name is first recorded in 1212 as Fayleswrthe as is thought to possibly mean ‘fenced enclosure’ from Old English fegels (possibly ‘a hurdle, a fence’) + –worth (‘enclosure’). (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

FAIRFIELD is a suburb of Droylsden in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside that was part of Lancashire until 1974. Although there are other places in Britain with this name, Fairfield in Tameside dates only from 1783, when Moravian refugees established a church and 22-hectare settlement with the aspirational name of Fairfield. The area subsequently became an important centre of cotton manufacturing. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

FALINGE is a location in Rochdale on the River Spodden that also gives its name to Falinge Park. The name is recorded in 1323 as Falynge, meaning ‘fallow land’, from the Old English fælging, meaning ‘fallow land’ or ‘newly-ploughed land’. Falinge Park was opened in 1906.

FALLOWFIELD is a suburb of Manchester some 5 kilometres south of the city centre. It is first recorded in 1317 as Fallafeld and is said to mean either literally ‘fallow field’ from the Old English faelh (‘fallow or newly-ploughed land that has not been planted’) or ‘fallow-coloured field’ from fealu (‘pale brown, yellowish’) + –feld.

FARNWORTH is a town on the River Irwell and River Croal in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, 3.2 kilometres south-east of Bolton itself and 13 kilometres north-west of Manchester. The name is first recorded in 1185 as Farnewurd but the modern spelling is found from 1278. The name means ‘fern enclosure’ from Old English fearn (‘fern’) + worth (‘enclosure’).

FEATHERSTALL is a locality in Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale that takes its name from Featherstall Brook, a tributary of the River Roch. The name is not well documented and there is little agreement as to its origin or meaning. One suggestion is that it could mean ‘place of feathers’ from Old English fether, another that it is an Old Norse personal name, and another that it could be Old English fodor (‘fodder, cattle feed’) + -stall (‘stable, cattle stall’). However, there is little evidence for any of these suggestions and none is thought particularly likely.

FERNHILL or FERN HILL is an area of northern Bury. There are many places named Fern Hill or Fernhill in England, all meaning ‘fern-covered hill’ from the Old English fearn + hyll. Fern Hill in Bury is recorded in 1851.

FIRSWOOD is a residential area of Stretford in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The name is recorded on Ordnance Survey maps at the beginning of the 19^th century and would seem to take its name from Fir Farm.

FIRWOOD PARK is a residential area of Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name seems to originate in 1844, when James Cheetham built Firwood Mill beside the Rochdale Canal, but may have been the name of the area at an earlier date which had taken its name from the local vegetation. In 1990 the area was developed into a large housing estate which perpetuated the name of Firwood. Firwood Mill was demolished in 1960.

FISHPOOL is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury south of the town centre. The name is first recorded in 1843 as an agricultural area and was adopted for the residential district that developed in the late 19^th century. The name may refer to a local fish pond or to a landowner or farmer by the name of Fishpool.

FITTON HILL is a residential area of Oldham, about 3 kilometres south of the town centre. The area was developed for residential purposes in the 1950s and 1960s on the land of Fitton Hill Farm, which had been occupied by the Fitton family since the early 17^th century.

The FLASHES OF WIGAN AND LEIGH is an 800-hectare nature reserve in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan composed of a chain of 8 sites, including Abram Flash, Amberswood, Bickershaw country park, Lightshaw Meadows, Pennington Flash country park, Three Sisters, Wigan Flashes and Viridor Wood. It takes its name from the towns of Wigan and Leigh + flash, a lake formed by the subsidence of disused mine workings.

FLETCHER MOSS PARK is a 36-hectare botanical garden in Didsbury in the City of Manchester. It is named after Fletcher Moss (1865-1919), the son of a wealthy corn merchant, who purchased the area in 1912 and donated it to the City of Manchester in 1915.

FLIXTON is a town in the Borough of Trafford, about 10 kilometres south-west of Manchester city centre. The name is first recorded in 1177 with its modern spelling and means ‘Flik’s village or estate’, from the Norse personal name + -tūn, suggesting Danish settlement in the area at an earlier period.

FLOWERY FIELD is an area of Hyde in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is aspirational and is first recorded in 1845. It is said to have been chosen by factory owner Thomas Ashton (1808-75), who provided good working and housing conditions for his employees.

FOGGBROOK is an area of Offerton in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is only recorded in 1849 when it referred to a village and a bridge over Poise Brook, but must date from mediaeval times as the suggested meaning is ‘grassy stream’, from Old English fogga- (‘long grass left standing in winter’) + brōc (‘stream’).

FOG LANE PARK is a 19-hectare public park in East Didsbury. The land was purchased by the local authority in 1926 and the park takes its name from Yorkshire Fog, a strain of grass that grows in the area. The name of the grass is first recorded in 1874 and is said to come from its appearance, which resembles that of the smoke billowing from the chimneys of Yorkshire factories. However, this may be folk etymology – fogga is an Old English word meaning ‘grass’.

FREEHOLD is a residential area in Werneth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name dates from the 1860s when John Platt, the mayor of Oldham and the owner of Platt textile machinery factory, purchased some freehold land and built houses for the company’s employees which enabled them to vote under the franchise laws of the time.

FREETOWN is a suburb of Bury that was previously known as Chesham. The name dates from the 1820s, when one Thomas Greenhalgh bought some land that included Chesham Mill and renamed it Freetown Mill because it was outside the parish boundaries and therefore free from tithes. The mill was demolished late in the 20^th century and the land is now occupied by Freetown Business Park.

FREE TRADE HALL was a concert hall in central Manchester close to St Peter’s Square built in 1853-1856 on the site of the Peterloo massacre. The Manchester historian A J P Taylor described it as the only building in the world named after an idea – that there should be free trade between nations without restrictions on imports or exports. It was built on land donated by Richard Cobden (1804-1865), a leader of the Free Trade movement, to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 – one of the central demands of the movement. The Free Trade Hall was badly damaged in the Manchester blitz of December 1940, rebuilt after the war, closed in 1997 and again rebuilt as a hotel, retaining the original façade.

FRENCHES is an area of Greenfield south of Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It includes Frenches Wharf Marina, a waterside facility opened in 2013 as part of the restored Huddersfield Narrow Canal. The area is recorded in 1673 as Frenches Farm, thought to be named from the nickname (Frenchy) of Thomas Marralew, one of the French Huguenot Mallalieu family that had settled in Saddleworth in the 16^th century. Frenches Fulling Mill was built in 1715 or 1719, and Frenches Wharf dates from the construction of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 1794-1811.

FRIARMERE or FRIAR MERE is a hamlet in Delph in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. A church was built in 1765 on a hillside overlooking Delph but the name is recorded in 1468 as Friar Mere from Old English frere (‘friar’) + mǣre (‘boundary’), probably referring to an outlying house belonging to the Black Friars’ from Roche Abbey in Rotherham that is said to have been built in Delph.

FRIEZLAND is a village south-west of Greenfield in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, about 6.5 kilometres east of the town of Oldham and part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. The name is recorded as Freesland in 1765 and with its modern spelling in 1783. It clearly relates to the northern Dutch province of Friesland but the nature of this relationship is uncertain and three different suggestions have been put forward. The first suggests that it is derived from Fresa, a Frisian descended from one of the original tribes who invaded England along with the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the 5^th and 6^th centuries. The second is that it was applied to an area of Greenfield in the early 19^th century because many Dutch or Frisian immigrants had come to work at the Royal George Mills, but this is later than the first record of ‘Friezland’. The third and perhaps the most likely possibility is that the name comes from Friezland or Dutch Oats, which were introduced into Yorkshire in about 1740 and became popular with upland farmers because of good yield.

FUR LANE or FURLANE is a residential area of Greenfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. Fur Lane farmhouse and cottage are said to date back to 1645 and are found beside an old packhorse route across the moors to the east. The name in all probability means ‘boundary road’, deriving from the Middle English marfur, ‘a boundary furrow’, and lane. The village itself lies on the boundary of Saddleworth parish.

GALE is a village north of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It is recorded in 1225 as Gail, from the Old Norse geil, meaning ‘a ravine’, referring to its position in the valley of the River Roch.

GALLIPOLI GARDENS is a 0.07-hectare public park and war memorial in Bury. The memorial commemorating those killed in the First World War was originally erected in 1922 at the Wellington Barracks in Bury but, following the closure of the barracks, was moved in 2009 to Sparrow Park in central Bury. The park was renamed Gallipoli Gardens in memory of the heavy losses incurred by the Lancashire Fusiliers during the Gallipoli campaign of 1915-1916. Gallipoli in Turkey is derived from the Greek Kallipolis, meaning ‘beautiful town’.

GARDEN SUBURB is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, approximately 3 kilometres south of the town centre. The area was built in 1909 as an experimental development with low-density housing, tree-lined roads and public gardens, all inspired by the ‘garden city’ movement of Ebenezer Howard. It was named after Hampstead Garden Suburb, which had been built in north London in 1907.

GARRET or GARRATT was an inner-city area of Manchester beside the River Medlock. According to Elizabeth Gaskell, ‘It derives its former name from an old black and white hall of the time of Richard IIII.’ Garret Hall had tall towers or turrets that gave it its name, from the Middle English garret meaning ‘watch tower’, as it overlooked and perhaps defended the confluence of the Medlock and Shooters Brook. The last parts of the hall were not demolished until 1910 but much of the area was industrialised by the end of the 18^th century and Garret Mill, believed to have been built in about 1760, is said to be the first water-powered cotton mill in Manchester.

GARRICK THEATRE, Stockport See STOCKPORT GARRICK THEATRE

GATHURST is a village in Shevington, west of Wigan on the north bank of the River Douglas. The name is recorded in 1547 as Gateshurst. This is usually said to mean ‘wooded hill of the goats’ from Old English gāt + hyrst, but it has also been suggested it could mean ‘gate or pass by the wooded hill’, from Old English geat + hyrst because of its position beside the River Douglas.

GATLEY is a suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, 5 kilometres north-east of Manchester Airport. The name is first recorded in 1290 as Gateclyve, meaning ‘a cliff or bank where goats are kept’, from Old English gāta + clife. The current spelling is found from 1602. It was formerly part of Cheshire. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

GAYTHORN is an inner-city area of the City of Manchester, south of the city centre. Its origin is obscure but it is known that the Gaythorn Tunnel, which carries the Rochdale Canal beneath Deansgate, dates from 1794, and the Gaythorn Gas Works were built in the area in 1825 and operated for over 100 years. The Gaythorn family website suggests that the name may be a corruption of Heythorn, which itself is a corruption of Hawthorn, from the Old English haga + thorn. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

‘GAY VILLAGE’ is an area of central Manchester ‘with a significant gay population and a high concentration of businesses catering primarily to this community’ (OED). The first recorded use of the term is from 1975, referring to Coconut Grove, Miami. It seems to have been used in Manchester from the early 1990s.

GEE CROSS is a village or suburb of Hyde in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside that was formerly part of Cheshire. It is said that the village centre dates back to the 11^th century, although it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name first appears as Gee Crose in 1629 and takes its name from a cross erected by the Gee family, who lived in the area as far back as 1494.

GIANT’S SEAT is a wooded hill near Ringley in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, overlooking the River Irwell. Although thought to be the site of a prehistoric hill fort, the name is not recorded until the building of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal in 1791-1808, when two locks were called Giant’s Seat and the lock-keeper’s cottage was named Giant’s Seat House. Since 1954 the hill has been a Scout camp site.

GIDLOW is a residential area north of Wigan, formerly in Lancashire. The name is recorded in 1246 as Guddelawe, meaning ‘Gidda’s hill’ from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + hlāw (‘hill’). There is also evidence that it is named after the Gyudelowe or Goodlaw family from nearby Aspull, who are known to have lived in the area in the 13^th century.

GIGG is a suburban area in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury that is home to Gigg Lane, Bury Football Club’s ground, originally built in 1885. The name Gigg comes from gigge, a hole in the ground with a fire used for drying flax in the linen-making process. Flax growing and linen making were common in Lancashire and are commemorated by Flax Moss near Haslingden and Gigg Road in Thelwall near Warrington.

GILDA BROOK is a tributary of the River Irwell that runs from north to south through Eccles in the City of Salford. It is first recorded in the 13^th century as le Guldenaleford. The derivation is uncertain but it may come from Old English gylden (‘covered with golden flowers such as marigolds’) + –halh (‘nook or corner of land’). Today the stream is mostly culverted but its name is retained in Gilda Brook Road in Eccles and Hope (meaning ‘remote valley’) probably refers to Gilda Brook.

GILLBENT is a residential area of Cheadle in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is recorded in 1661 as Gilbent but the origin is uncertain. It has been suggested that it may be Old English cild (‘child, young person’) + beonet (‘bent-grass’) indicating that this was a grassy area (i.e. a common) belonging to or frequented by young people.

GILNOW is a residential area to the west of Bolton. The name is not well-documented before the 18^th century, when it was generally spelled Gilnough. Its origin is usually said to be unknown, but it has been suggested that the first element may be from the Old Norse gil, meaning ‘valley, ravine’, in reference to Gilnow Brook, a tributary of the nearby River Croal.

GIN PIT is a village near Astley in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan which takes its name from the Gin Pit Colliery in the Lancashire coalfield. The colliery began production in the 1840s and the village developed a few decades later. Gin is short for engine and describes the horse-powered winding gear in use in many British coalfields since the 18^th century. The first houses in the village were built in 1881. The colliery closed in 1958.

GLAZE BROOK is a minor tributary of the River Mersey. It rises south-east of Leigh and flows 35 kilometres into the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Cadishead. For much of its length it forms the boundary between Greater Manchester and Cheshire. The name is first recorded in about 1195 as Glasebroc and gives its name to the village of Glazebrook in Cheshire. The name means ‘grey-green stream’, and probably derives from the Celtic glas, meaning ‘grey-green or blue’ + Old English brōc (‘stream’).

GLODWICK is a residential area of Oldham to the south-east of the town centre. It is first recorded in the 1190s as Glodic and the derivation is uncertain. Its meaning may involve reduplication – the first element may be related to the Celtic clawdd, meaning ‘ditch’, and the second element may be the Old English dic, also meaning ‘ditch or dyke’. This sometimes happened when the second element is added at a later date to explain the meaning of the first element. Glodwick is close to an old Roman road and the ditch may be a fosse beside the road.

GMEX or the Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre is an exhibition, concert and conference centre in central Manchester. It started life as Manchester Central terminus, which was built by the Midland Railway and Cheshire Lines Committee in 1880 with the second largest span of any railway station in Britain. It closed in May 1969 and was converted into GMEX, which opened in 1982. Since 2007 it has been known simply as Manchester Central. (For Valette pictures, see Appendix 2)

GODLEY is a suburb of Hyde in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is first recorded in 1285 as Godel and Godeleigh, and with its modern spelling in 1577. It is derived from the personal name Gōda and Old English –lēah, meaning ‘woodland clearing, pasture’.

GOLBORNE is a town in the Borough of Wigan, 22.5 kilometres west of Manchester city centre. The name is first recorded in 1187 as Goldeburn, meaning ‘stream where marsh-marigolds grow’, from Old English golde (‘marsh marigold’) + burna (‘stream’). The town now stands on Millingford Brook and it is assumed that the name changed to Golborne at some point.

GOOSE GREEN is a former hamlet in Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, approximately 13 kilometres south-west of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in 1799 and is assumed to mean ‘village green where geese were grazed’.

GOOSE GREEN is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is not well documented but is assumed to have once been a village green where people grazed their geese.

GORE BROOK is a tributary of the Mersey that rises in Droylesden and flows west to Gorton Reservoir and Platt Fields Park, where it becomes Chorlton Brook, which then joins the Mersey close to Sale Water Park. Gore Brook gives its name to Gorton. In 1971, Manchester City Council approved an outline planning strategy for Gorton to develop the Gore Brook Valley Park into a conservation area linking Sunny Brow Park in the west with Debdale Park in the east, along the line of the Gore Brook. This was finally designated on 22 December 1993. The name was recorded in about 1250 as Gorbroke, from the Old English gor, meaning ‘dirt or mud’, + brōc, meaning ‘stream’.

GORSE HILL is a residential area of Stretford in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The name originates from Gorse Hill Farm, which was built in the 18^th century and presumably named because of the local vegetation. The farm was purchased in 1934 to make way for residential development and was demolished in 1937.

GORSEY BANK today is an industrial and recreational area west of Stockport on the south bank of the Mersey. The name is recorded in 1844, when it was the site of cotton mills powered by the river. These had been demolished by 1935, when the large Gorsey Bank housing estate was built. This was cleared in the mid-1990s and the Aurora business park was established on the site from 2007. The name means ‘river bank where gorse grows, from the Old English gorst.

GORTON is a suburb of Manchester, south-east of the city centre. It takes its name from Gore Brook, meaning ‘dirty stream’, which flows through the area. The name is first recorded in 1282 as Gorton, from the Old English gor, meaning ‘dirt or mud’, + tūn, meaning ‘settlement or farmstead’. Gor can also mean ‘gore, clotted blood’, and this has led to an alternative suggestion that it means ‘Gore Town’ from a bloody battle between the Saxons and the Danes, but this can be dismissed as folk etymology.

River GOYT is a tributary of the River Mersey which rises on the moors west of Buxton in Derbyshire and flows north-west to join the River Tame at Stockport to form the Mersey. The name is first recorded in 1208 as the Guit and comes from the Celtic gwyth or, more likely, Old English gӯte or gota meaning ‘channel’.

GRAINS BAR is a residential area north-east of Shaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name means ‘toll gate on the road to/from Grains’, which is or was a village east of Diggle. Grains is derived from the Old English grein, meaning ‘a river fork or confluence’. The turnpike to/from Grains was built at the end of the 18^th century but the name Grains Bar can be dated to the 17^th century and refers to a toll bar erected on the road at the border between Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.

GRANGE is a moorland hamlet in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, north east of Oldham itself. A grange was an outlying farm belonging to a monastery, from the Old French graunge, originally meaning ‘granary’. The present hamlet was originally recorded in 1452 as Castleshaw Grange. Like Friarmere, it was linked to Roche Abbey near Rotherham until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538.

GRASSCROFT is a village in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham that was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. The name is first recorded in 1728 with its current spelling and means simply ‘grass field’ from modern English grass + croft (‘small field’).

GRAVEL HOLE is an area of Thornham in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. There are several places called Gravel Hole or Gravelhole across Britain and all derive their names from gravel pits or quarries that were once found there. Most date from the 19^th century and Gravel Hole in Oldham is first recorded on the early Ordnance Survey maps of 1805-1845.

GREAT BOLTON See BOLTON

GREAT LEVER is part of the area named Lever which consists of several settlements – Darcy Lever, Great Lever, Lever Edge and Little Lever – south of Bolton. The name Lever is recorded in 1212 as Lefre, from the Old English lefer (‘rush, reed’), so that the entire area would mean ‘where the rushes or reeds grow’ on the banks of the Irwell and Croal. Great Lever is a suburb of Bolton, lying about 4 kilometres south of Bolton town centre. The name is recorded in Latin as Magna Leure in 1285 and in English as Great Leure in 1326.

GREAT MOOR is a suburb of Stockport, which was formerly in Cheshire. As far back as 1348, this area of southern Stockport was referred to as del Mor, from the Old English mor, meaning ‘a marsh or barren upland’. By the 19^th century it was divided into Great Moor and Little Moor.

GREATER MANCHESTER was formed as a county on 1 April 1974 from parts of south-east Lancashire, north-east Cheshire and a few parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Prior to 1974, governance the area was divided between the three counties and there had long been demands for a unified authority to coordinate political and social affairs. The term Greater Manchester was invented in April 1935 by the Manchester Evening Chronicle. Under the headline ‘Greater Manchester – The Ratepayers’ Solution’, it noted the ‘increasing demands for the exploration of the possibilities of a greater merger of public services throughout Manchester and the surrounding municipalities’. It took until 1974 for Greater Manchester to be formed into a county with ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. Eight of these names – Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport and Wigan – were taken from the largest towns in the new boroughs, but Trafford was selected because of its sporting venues and historical associations, and Tameside was a newly-invented name taken from the river that flows through the borough.

GREAVE is an area of Spotland in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It would seem that it takes its name from the Greave family, who are recorded as owning land in the area, beginning with Ottiwell Greave, who purchased a ‘messuage’ in 1569.

GREENACRES, GREENACRES HILL and GREENACRES MOOR are all residential areas in north Oldham, about 11.25 kilometres north-east of Manchester city centre. The names are not well documented before 1620, when a stone cross was noted on the edge of Greenacres Moor. The name literally means ‘green fields’, from the Old English grene + aecer (‘plot of cultivated land; measure of land which a yoke of oxen could plough in a day’).

GREENFIELD is a small residential area north-east of Mossley on the edge of Saddleworth Moor. It shares its name with Greenfield Brook, which meets Chew Brook above the village of Greenfield. The name is recorded in 1323 as Grenefeld and literally means ‘green field’, or ‘green open land’.

GREENGATE is an inner-city suburb in the east of the City of Salford that is often said to be the heart or core of the city. Salford received its Borough Charter in 1230 and was at that time formed around three streets, one of which was Greengate, although it is not clear when the term came into use as early records call it Back Salford. The name evidently dates from mediaeval times as its name comes from the Old English grene (‘a grassy spot, a village green’) + Old Norse gata (‘a road, a street’), and would therefore mean ‘the street by or leading to the green’. Henry III gave Salford the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair in 1228 and it is believed that these were held on a rectangular green on Greengate. The area is currently undergoing major regeneration.

GREENHEYS is an area south of Manchester city centre. It was formerly a residential area but it is now largely occupied by the Manchester Science Park. It takes its name from Greenheys, a house built it 1791 by Thomas Quincey, father of the famous Manchester author, Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859). The house was originally named ‘Greenhay Hall’ by Mary Quincy to reflect its rural surroundings at the end of the 18^th century. Elizabeth Gaskell opened her 1848 novel ‘Mary Barton’ by contrasting rural Green Heys Fields with the ‘bustling manufacturing town’ of Manchester: ‘Here in their seasons may be seen the country business of haymaking, ploughing, etc., which are such pleasant mysteries for townspeople to watch: and here the artisan, deafened with noise of tongues and engines, may come to listen awhile to the delicious sounds of rural life: the lowing of cattle, the milkmaid’s call, the clatter and cackle of poultry in the farmyards’. The Quincy house was demolished in 1852 and the area deteriorated until it was cleared in the 1960s and 1970s.

GREEN HILL Green Hill is a common place name in England and it clearly derived from being on or nearby a green hill. Green Hill in Wigan is a small residential area 2.3 kilometres north of the town centre. It dates from the mid-19^th century when there were just a few cottages on a green hill, one of them named Green Hill Cottage. The current urban development, which takes its name from the area surrounding the cottage, mainly dates from the 1930s.

GREENLOW CROSS, GREENLOW MARSH and GREENLOW HEATH were all at one time part of land named simply as Greenlow or Grindlelow in an area south and east of Manchester in what are now Chorlton-on-Medlock and Gorton. The name seems to date from the early 14^th century but was divided in 1609 into Greenlow Heath in what is now Chorlton-on-Medlock and Greenlow Marsh or Cross in Gorton. The name simply means ‘green hill’ from Old English grēne + hlāw. The alternative spelling, Grindlelow, seems to be merely a corruption of Greenlow.

GREENMOUNT is a village in Tottington in the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is modern, dating from 1843, and is a re-spelling of Green Mount, which is thought to be a rationalisation of the older Greenhalgh. Greenhalgh gets a passing mention in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Greneholf, meaning ‘green hollow’, from Old English grene (‘a grassy spot’) + holh (‘hollow’). The area was also formerly known as Nailer’s Green. See Domesday Book box

GRINDLOW MARSH See LONGSIGHT

GRISTLEHURST is an area and a forest in Heywood on the River Roch in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, formerly in Lancashire. It is recorded in 1336 as Gristelyhyrst but the meaning is unclear. Old English hyrst means ‘a wooded hill’ and Old English gristle meant the same as modern English ‘gristle’, but why this was appropriate for the name of the settlement is uncertain.

GROSVENOR SQUARE, also known as All Saints Park, is a public garden in Chorlton-on-Medlock, south of Manchester city centre. Grosvenor Square and Grosvenor Street were laid out in about 1794 and named after Grosvenor Square in London as part of the gentrification process of the area, in which fashionable and aristocratic names were given to new streets. Grosvenor Street in London was developed in 1725-31 by Sir Richard Grosvenor (1689-1732), whose family name comes from the French meaning ‘large or fat hunter’. All Saints Church was built beside Grosvenor Square in 1820 and the churchyard and cemetery occupied much of Grosvenor Square until the 1930s. (For Valette pictures, see Appendix 2)

GROTTON is a suburb of Oldham to the east of Oldham town itself. The name can be traced back at least as far as the 15^th century and means ‘gravelly place’, from Old English groten (‘sandy or gravelly soil’).

GUIDE BRIDGE is an area of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is said that its name comes from a bridge over the newly-built Ashton Canal in 1796. This bridge had a ‘guide post’ or sign post on it and this became the name of the surrounding village. The name was formalised in 1845 when the Sheffield Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Railway adopted it for a station that was originally named Ashton & Hooley Hill.

H
HAG FOLD is a residential area of Atherton in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan built on the site of Hag Fold Farm in the 1930s. The name has been the source of much speculation and amusement but its origin has not been determined with any certainty. It is almost certain that it has nothing to do with witches and it seems likely, based on the names of other locations in Lancashire, that it comes from the Old Norse hǫgg or Old English hagga meaning ‘an area of trees to be felled or a clearing’ + Old English fald, ‘an enclosure for animals’.
HAGGATE is residential area of Royton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It shares its name with Haggate in Lancashire but is otherwise not well documented and its meaning is uncertain. Folk etymology suggests that the name comes from an old woman who sat on a gate, but it is more likely to be Old English hæc (‘hatch’) + geat (‘gate, gap, pass’), meaning a barred-gate that was the entrance to an estate or parish, or haga (‘hawthorn’) + Old Norse gata (‘a road, a street’).
The HAÇIENDA was a nightclub in Gaythorn in central Manchester which opened in 1982 and influenced what became the ‘Madchester’ music scene. The name was inspired by a slogan of the Situationist International, a radical social movement of the 1950s, 60s and 70s – ‘The Hacienda Must be Built’, a cry for social and urban change. The name was popularised by Tony Wilson, a music promoter and co-founder of Factory Records, which owned the club. The club was closed in 1997, demolished in 2002 and a block of flats called ‘The Haçienda Apartments’ built on the site.
The HAGUE is a hamlet south-east of Mottram in Longdendale in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is recorded as Haghe in 1339, Haigh in 1638 and The Hague in 1831. It is related in meaning and etymology to Haigh in Wigan and The Hague, the capital of the Netherlands – haga, meaning ‘a hedged enclosure’.
HAIGH is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is first recorded in 1194 as Hage but the modern spelling of Haigh is found from 1581. The name is derived from the Old English haga, meaning ‘a hedge’ and therefore ‘an enclosure’. The village gives its name to the 100-hectare Haigh Woodland Park, which was originally a mediaeval estate which was laid out as gardens and woodland in the 1860s to hide mining activities. These were purchased by Wigan Corporation in 1945 and opened to the public in 1947.
HALE is a suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford which was formerly part of Cheshire. It is recorded as Hale in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was said, ‘There is woodland 1 league long and a half wide, and an enclosure, and a hawk’s eyrie, and half an acre of meadow’. At that time, it also included Hale Barns. The name Hale is from the Old English halh meaning ‘nook or corner of land’, referring to areas of higher dry ground in the marshy areas along the River Bollin. See Domesday Book box				HALE & HAUGH Old English hale, halh or haugh means ‘nook’, especially one in a hollow or within the meander of a river, where there may be higher ground rising above a marshy or flooded area. Place names with this origin in Greater Manchester are listed here.
				BRAMHALL (broom + ~)				HAUGHTON (~ + ton)
				BROADHALGH (broad + ~)				HAULGH (~)
				CLOVER HALL (clover + ~)				KERSAL (watercress + ~)
				CRUMPSALL (bent + ~)				PRIESTNALL (priest + ~)
				HALSHAW MOOR (~ + copse)				REDVALES (eponym + ~)
				HAUGH (~)				WESTHoUGHTON (west + ~ + ton)
HALE BARNS is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford about 11 kilometres south-west of Manchester city centre. Hale Barns was included within Hale in mediaeval times but was sufficiently prosperous by the late 16^th century to be regarded as a separate settlement. The separate name is first recorded in 1616 as Halebarnes. The barns refer to the tithe barn that had been built to store the villagers’ tithes – a tenth of all farm produce that was donated to the local church. Tithes made in kind were legally abolished in 1836 and the original tithe barn was demolished in 1848.
HALE MOSS today is a residential and recreational area north of Hale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. While Hale itself is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, Hale Moss is not recorded on maps of the area until 1790, where it appears as a flood plain formed by Timperley Brook. The name is formed from Hale (Old English halh meaning ‘nook or corner of land’) + Moss (mos, ‘marsh, bog’).
HALLAM CORONATION GARDEN is a small park in Davenport in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It is named after Ephraim Hallam (1812-1897), who built a cotton mill in Heaviley in 1859. He died in 1897 and bequeathed a small area adjacent to the mill to Stockport Council, which was laid out as Hallam Park in 1902. In 1953 the park was renamed Hallam Coronation Garden to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
HALL I’ TH’ WOOD is a museum in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It was originally a manor house built in the 16^th century by the Brownlow family and known as the Hall in the Wood, which was rendered as Hall i’ th’ Wood in the local dialect. The building was used as a house of multiple occupancy by industrial families. The most famous occupant was Samuel Crompton (1753-1827) who invented his spinning mule for the manufacture of muslin in about 1779 while living in the hall, and this was known as the Hall i’ th’ Wood wheel at the time. The house was purchased by William Lever (later Lord Leverhulme) in 1899 and donated to Bolton Corporation in 1902.
HALLIWELL is a residential district of Bolton, originally included in Lancashire. The name is first recorded in about 1200 as Haliwalle, from the Old English halig + wella, meaning ‘holy well’. This refers to an ancient spring which was found in the northern part of what is now Halliwell.
HALL LEE BROOK is a tributary of the River Mersey that rises west of Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It flows through Hall Lee Bank Park and eventually joins the Mersey as the Glaze Brook. It takes its name from Lee Hall, the mediaeval home of the Leigh (or Lee, Leghe, Lighe) family.
HALO WEST is a 2.4-hectare logistics and industrial estate off Liverpool Road in Eccles in the City of Salford that was given planning approval in 2025. It is one of several such developments across the UK that have been given the name Halo, a term was first used in Kilmarnock in 2021. The name is taken from the Halo effect, a term coined in 1920 by Edward Thorndike, and defined by him as ’a marked tendency to think of the person in general as rather good or rather inferior and to colour the judgments of the qualities by this general feeling’. The term was initially used in educational psychology but it is now applied to regeneration initiatives where brownfield sites rise from the ashes of industrial waste and pollution.
HALSHAW MOOR is a residential area of Farnworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is not well documented but it is thought that by 1604 the land belonged to Robtus de Halsall, who gave his name to the village. The family took their name from Halsall, some 15 kilometres north-west of Halshaw, and the name may have been changed to Halshaw over time. A perhaps more straightforward derivation is that the name comes from the Old English halh (‘flat piece of land beside a river’) + shagh (‘woodland’).
HAMER is an area of Wardleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is first recorded in 1572 as Hamer, from the Old English hamor or Old Norse hamarr, meaning ‘steep rock, cliff’, which describes the location of the original village near a hill.
HAMPSON GREEN is a hamlet north-west of Haigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The place is not well documented but it shares its name with Hampson Green, a village south of Lancaster, whose meaning is thought to be ‘the village of Pson, the son of Pusan’, from Old English hām + Anglo-Saxon personal name Pson.
HANGING BRIDGE is an ancient sandstone bridge across Hanging Ditch, which used to connect the Irwell and the Irk south of Manchester Cathedral. It is recorded as Hengand Brigge in 1343 although references to Hanging Ditch go back to 1316. The present bridge was built in 1421 on the site of an earlier bridge but the present bridge was covered over in 1682 and only uncovered in 1880. There are several theories for the origin of the name: that the original bridge was a Roman drawbridge hung from ropes; that it was an ancient public execution site (Old English hengen means ‘gallows’); or that it is sited on a slope (Old English hangende). Other suggestions are that the name could refer to the curved shape of the ditch, or to hens found nearby.
HANGING CHADDER is a hilly area north of Royton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It is recorded in 1324 as Hengandechadre, meaning ‘steep hill’, from the Old English hangende (‘hanging; steep’) + the Celtic cader (‘chair, hill’). Nearby Chadderton probably takes its name from Hanging Chadder.
HANKINSON and ‘HANKY PARK’ was a residential area of Pendleton in the City of Salford. The area developed in the second quarter of the 19^th century and took its name from the local Hankinson family. Robert Hankinson was listed as a calico manufacturer in 1825 and other members of the family later established businesses in the area around what became Hankinson Street, which was known as “Hanky Park”. The area was flattened in the 1960s and high-rise blocks of flats built in place of the old terraced houses. Today only a street called Hankinson Way remains.
HAPPY VALLEY is a 17-hectare nature reserve along the Ladybrook valley between Norbury and Womanscroft Bridge in Bramhall in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. Happy Valley was a term applied to several areas Britain in Victorian times as places where industrial workers could enjoy fresh air and a natural landscape. The name is thought to have been applied to the Ladybrook valley in the late 19^th century or early 20^th.
HARBOUR CITY is an office and residential area in the regeneration area of Salford Quays alongside Erie Basin (formerly Wharf 9). It was originally planned in the 1980s but was not developed until the 1990s to be ready for the Harbour City Metrolink stop at Harbour City, which opened on 6 December 1999.
HARCLES HILL is a 371-metre flat-topped hill west of Ramsbottom in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. It is also known as Holcombe Hill and is capped by the Peel Monument. The name is recorded in 1236 as Arkilis or Arkeles hou, from the Old Norse personal name, Arnkell, + haugr, meaning ‘hill’.
HARDY was a hamlet in south Manchester that was combined with nearby Chorlton to form Chorlton-cum-Hardy, i.e. Chorlton-with-Hardy. Hardy is recorded separately in 1555 as Hardey and is said to mean either ‘Hearda’s island’ from the Old English personal name Hearda + ēg (‘island, river meadow’) or ‘hard island’ from Old English heard + ēg. Although some claim that the combined name occurs as early as 1700, the date is usually given as 1842 and is said to have been promoted by Victorian residential property developers to distinguish Chorlton from Chorlton-on-Medlock.
HARPER GREEN is a neighbourhood of Farnworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, about 20 kilometres north-west of Manchester city centre. The name is taken from the landowning Harper or Harpur family, who lived in the area in the 18^th century and earlier. It is said that Green comes not from the Old English grēne, meaning ‘field, village green’, but a bleaching green, a field used in textile manufacture where cloth was laid out to be bleached by the sun.
HARPURHEY is an inner-city suburb of the City of Manchester, about 5 kilometres north-east of the city centre. The name is recorded in 1320 as Harpourley and means ‘Harpour’s enclosure’ from William Harpour, who owned the area in the 14^th century, + Old English hege or hæg, meaning ‘enclosure, hedge or hay’. The area remained rural until the second quarter of the 19^th century, when intensive cotton manufacture developed.
HARRIDGE PIKE is a 395-metre hill above the River Tame in Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is recorded with its modern spelling in 1840 but may be older – perhaps a corruption of highridge, from Old English hēah (‘high’) + hrycg (‘ridge’) + pike (‘pointed hill’).
HARROP DALE, HARROP EDGE, HARROP GREEN and HARROP RIDGE are all rural localities to the north of Diggle in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. Harrop is recorded with its modern spelling in 1274 and probably means ‘hare’s valley’ from Old English hara (‘hare’) + hop (‘small valley’).
HARROP EDGE is a rural area west of Mottram in Longdendale in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is recorded in 1360 as Harop, as Harroppe Edge in 1631 and with its modern spelling in 1831. It may mean ‘ridge in hare’s valley’ from Old English hara (‘hare’) + hop (‘small valley’) + ecg (‘ridge, escarpment’).
HART COMMON is a village in Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is recorded in 1541 and would seem to refer to the local Hart family, who lived in the area from the mid-15^th century. The family name is almost certainly taken from Old English heorot (‘hart, stag’) and indeed Hart Common golf club has a stag as its logo.
HARTSHEAD GREEN, originally HARTSHEAD, is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is first recorded in 1200 as Hertesheud, meaning ‘hart’s or deer’s hill’ from Old English heorot (‘hart’) + hēafod (‘hill’). The hill referred to is Hartshead Pike, which comes from the Old English pike (‘pointed hill’). The hill is thought to have been used as a beacon in mediaeval times and a tower was built near the top in 1751. The tower, or monument, was replaced in 1863 and now has a height of 290 metres.
HARWOOD is a suburb in northern Bolton. The name is recorded from 1212 as Harewode, meaning ‘grey wood’, from Old English hār (‘grey, old’) + wudu (‘wood, forest, timber’), or possibly ‘wood where hares are found’, from Old English hara + wudu.
HASLAM PARK is a 2.2-hectare public park and nature reserve in Deane in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It lies on part of a large estate donated to the borough in 1908 by Mary Haslam in memory of her father, John Haslam (1823-1899), and his brother, Joseph, who had been born in Bolton in 1821. The Haslam brothers owned a cotton-manufacturing business in Preston.
HATHERLOW is a hamlet between Romiley and Bredbury in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The settlement dates from 1705, when non-conformists were evicted from Chadkirk and bought land in Hatherlow, opening their new chapel in 1706. The name means ‘heather hill’ from Old English hǣddre (‘heather’) + hlāw (‘hill’).
HATHERSHAW is a residential area in Oldham, just south of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1280 as Halselinechaw Clugh, meaning ‘heather-wood valley’, from Old English hǣddre (‘heather’) + sceaga (‘small wood, copse’) + clōh (‘ravine, valley’).
HATTERSLEY is a residential area south of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, 16 kilometres east of Manchester. The name is recorded in 1248 as Hattirsleg, meaning ‘wood of the stags’, from Old English hēah-dēor (‘high deer’ i.e. ‘antlered-stag, hart’) + lēah (‘woodland, clearing’).
HAUGH is a small residential area east of Newhey in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in 1549 as le Halcht, meaning ‘enclosure’, from the Old English halh or haga.
HAUGHTON is a residential area of eastern Denton, often divided into Haughton Green in the north and Haughton Dale in the south, in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is recorded in 1307 as Halghton, meaning ‘settlement in a nook’, from Old English halh (‘corner, nook’, often in reference to a hollow in a river bend) + tūn (‘village, enclosure’), referring to the bend in the River Tame, which Haughton overlooks.
HAULGH is a residential area in Bolton, often linked administratively and politically with Tonge. The name is recorded in 1332 as Halgh, from the Old English English halh (‘corner, nook’, often in reference to a hollow in a river bend), referring to the tongue (hence Tonge) of land between the Rivers Tonge and Croal on which both Tonge and Haulgh lie.
HAWK GREEN is a village south of Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. A map of 1817 records the name as Half Green and this name survives in the street name Half Acre Terrace, presumably referring to a mediaeval farm or field. By 1840 the name was recorded as Hawk Green from the Old English hafoc (‘hawk’) + grēne, recalling an older name of Hawk Field and suggesting an area where hawks were found or kept.
HAWKLEY is a residential area on the southern edge of Wigan. It is recorded in 1512 as Hawkley, meaning ‘hawk’s glade’, from Old English hafoc (‘hawk’) + lēah (‘woodland, clearing’).
HAWKSHAW is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is recorded in 1218 as Hauekesheghe, meaning ‘hawk wood’, from the Old English hafoc (‘hawk’) + sceaga (‘small wood, copse’).
HAZEL GROVE is a suburb in the south of Stockport. The village was originally called Bullock Smithy, but it got a reputation for unruly behaviour and in 1836 the name was changed to the more aspirational Hazel Grove. There is disagreement as to whether the name literally means ‘a grove where hazels grow’ or whether it is a revival of an older name. The older name was Hesselgrove or Hesselgrave, which is recorded in 1690, a name meaning ‘the gravel pit belonging to someone called Hessel’. The name Hazel Grove was formalised in 1857 when the London & North Western Railway adopted it for the station built there.
HAZELHURST is a residential area of Swinton in the City of Salford. It is recorded in 1325 as Haselhirst, meaning ‘hill covered with hazel trees’, from Old English haesel (‘hazel-tree’) + hyrst (‘wooded hill’).
HEADY HILL is a village west of Heywood in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name appears on a map of 1785 and is said to derive from the old English heafod, referring to a promontory or headland, or a piece of land that is the source (‘head’) of a stream.
HEALD GREEN is a suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, formerly in Cheshire. The name appears only in 1841 and was formalised when the London & North Western Railway opened a station there in 1909. The origins of the name are uncertain. One possibility is that it takes its name from Leuk del Helde, who was living in the area in 1289 and whose family name may be derived from the Middle English helde, meaning ‘slope’. Another theory is that the name comes from a heald or heddle, a weaving device that is first recorded in 1483. This theory is supported by the fact that there were known to be weavers’ cottages in the area from the late 18^th century.
HEALDS GREEN is a small village north of Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded from 1789, when a Methodist chapel was built there. The origin of the name is uncertain, but, given the terrain, may be from Old English helde, meaning ‘a steep slope’. It has also been suggested that it could be an eponym: the village green belonging to someone called Heald.
HEALEY, HEALEY DELL NATURE RESERVE and HEALEY NAB. Healey is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale which was formerly in Lancashire. The name is first recorded as Helei in 1215 and means ‘the high lea’, from the Old English heah (‘a high place, a height’) + lēah (‘a glade, clearing’). Nearby are the Healey Dell Nature Reserve, through which the River Spodden flows, and Healey Nab, a 208-metre hill that takes its name from the Old Norse nabbi (‘a peak, a knoll, a hill’).
HEAP BRIDGE is an area in Heywood in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, formerly part of Lancashire. Heap was a township on the south bank of the River Roch and is first recorded in 1278 as Hep in 1226 and Hepe in 1278. The name is taken from Old English hēap meaning ‘heap or pile’ and, by extension, ‘hill’. Heap itself was absorbed into Heywood in 1894 but Heap Bridge survives as a locality. It is documented as Heipp brige in 1551 and the original bridge was replaced by a stone bridge in 1884.
HEATON There are several Heatons in Greater Manchester, all meaning ‘place on high land’ and taking their names from the Old English hēah, ‘high’ + tūn, ‘settlement’. The name is first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Hietun, but this seems to refer to what is now Heaton-with-Oxcliffe in the Lune Valley in what is still Lancashire.
HEATON or HEATON-UNDER-HORWICH is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The township was created in the 12^th century and is recorded as Heton in 1227 and Heton under Horewich in 1332. The latter name was and is used to distinguish it from other Heatons in the region.
HEATON CHAPEL is an area in Heaton Norris in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It received its name following the construction of St Thomas’s Anglican church in 1765.
HEATON MERSEY is the most western of the four Heatons, which are found in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, north of the town itself. Heaton Mersey means ‘farm or enclosure on the high land overlooking the River Mersey’, which rises in Stockport and formerly separated Lancashire from Cheshire.
HEATON MOOR is one of the four Heatons in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. Heaton Moor Road was part of Heaton Norris that still runs north-east towards the moors to the east of Stockport.
HEATON NORRIS is a northern suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and the first of the four Heatons. It is recorded as Hetton in 1196 and as Heton Norays in 1282. Heaton is derived from the Old English hēah (‘high’) and –tūn (farmstead), and Norris was a Norman landowner named William le Norreys, who owned the land overlooking the River Mersey in 1162-1180. Heaton Norris originally covered all four of the Heatons, but three evolved with separate names – Heaton Chapel, Heaton Mersey and Heaton Moor – in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, and the separate names were formalised by their separate railway stations.
HEATON PARK is a 262-hectare public park – the largest in Greater Manchester and one of the largest in Britain. The park formerly formed the estate of Heaton Hall but was taken over by the City of Manchester and opened to the public in 1902. The park takes its name from the local township of Great Heaton, a name meaning ‘place on high land’, dating from about 1200, and is now a suburb of Bolton usually known simply as Heaton.
HEAVILEY is a suburb of eastern Stockport. It is first recorded in about 1300 as Hethylegh, meaning ‘heathy clearing’, from the Old English hǣthig (‘heathy’) + –lēah (‘clearing’). The meaning of the name suggests the origin of the settlement.
HEMPSHAW BROOK is a tributary of the River Goyt that was historically also known as Stockport Brook. It is thought to rise in Hazel Grove and to join the Goyt in Stockport. The name is recorded in 1362 as Impeshagh and with its modern spelling from 1842. It means ‘sapling copse’, from Old English impa (‘young shoot, sapling’) + sceaga (‘copse’).
HESKETH PARK is a small park in Cheadle Hulme in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It is sited on land donated by William Bamford Hesketh, who built the Hesketh Arms Hotel (originally called ‘The Horse and Jockey’) in Cheadle Hulme in 1864. The hotel later became a pub.
HEYHEADS is in eastern Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is not well documented but means ‘the top of an enclosure’, from Old English hæg (‘enclosure’) + hēafod (‘head, headland, end of a ridge’), presumably referring to its position overlooking the valley of the River Tame.		HEY The Old English hæg meant ‘enclosure’, often a ‘hedged enclosure’, and gave us modern English hedge. There are a number of places across greater Manchester formed from this element, in either first or second position:
		ABBEY HEY (abbey + ̴)				HARPURHEY (eponym + ̴)
		ASHBROOK HEY (east or ash + brook + + ̴)				HEYHEADS ( ̴ + headland)
		BURNAGE (brown + ̴)				HEYWOOD ( ̴ + wood)
		GREENHEYS (green + ̴)				NEWHEY (new + ̴)
		HAIGH ( ̴)				RINGWAY (ringed + ̴)
HEYROD is a village in the Stalybridge area of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is first recorded in 1246 as Heyerode, meaning ‘high clearing’, from Old English heah (‘high’) + rodu (‘clearing’), describing the village’s position in a forested area.
HEYWOOD is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale and was formerly in Lancashire. It is first recorded in 1246 as Heghwode. This name has been variously interpreted: the second element is clearly from the Old English wudu ‘wood’, but the first element might be Old English hēah, ‘high’ or hege, hæg, ‘hedge’, so that the name would mean either ‘high woods’ or ‘enclosed or fenced wood’.
HIGGINSHAW is an industrial area of north Oldham. The name is not well documented but it has been suggested that it means ‘Richard’s wood’, from Higg (a mediaeval diminutive of Richard) + sceaga (‘wood’).
HIGHER END See BILLINGE
HIGH LANE is a village on the Macclesfield Canal 8 kilometres south-east of Stockport and in Cheshire until 1974. The name is first recorded in 1690 as Ho Lane and with its modern spelling in 1842. Its original meaning was ‘the lane leading to the hill spur’, from the Old English hōh (‘a heel; a slightly projecting piece of ground’) + lane (‘secondary road’). The ‘hoe’ is the small hill on which Disley in Cheshire stands and this element was gradually rationalised to ‘high’. The ‘lane’ is now the A6 Buxton Road.
HILTON HOUSE is a hamlet south of Horwich near Blackrod in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is first recorded in 1838, although the country house itself is said to have been built in the late 18^th century. The name was formalised when it was adopted as for a station by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1858. The house was originally owned by the Hilton family, who had been prominent landowners in the area since the Middle Ages. The house was extended and converted into a hotel in 2006 and renamed ‘The Georgian House’.
HINDLEY is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, about 5 kilometres east of Wigan town centre. It is recorded in 1212 as Hindele and with its modern spelling in 1479. The name means ‘wood or clearing of the hinds’ from Old English hind (‘hind, doe’) + lēah (‘clearing, meadow’).
HINDSFORD is a small residential area on the south-eastern edge of Atherton in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is not well documented before the 1820s, when Hindsford House was built. Hindsford lies west of Hindsford Brook, a tributary of Glaze Brook and the River Mersey, and presumably takes its name from the stream. Hindsford Book was formerly known Goderic Brook after a Saxon saint, but it cannot be confirmed when the name was changed. The name means ‘ford of the hinds or does’ from Old English hind + ford.
HODGE FOLD and HODGE LANE DYE VATS Hodge Fold is a rural area on the River Etherow in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is recorded in 1655 as Hodge Hall and the Hodge Lane Dye Vats date from the late 18^th century, when they were used for bleaching cloth at the Hodge Textile Works beside the Etherow. The origin of Hodge is uncertain but may be an eponym: Hodge was a mediaeval shortening of Roger that was originally used as a nickname for an agricultural labourer.
HOLCOMBE and HOLCOMBE BROOK are neighbouring villages in Ramsbottom in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. Both are situated on Holcombe Moor but take their name from the valley of the brook – Old English hol (‘hollow’) + cumb (‘valley’) – found in 1236 as Holecumbam, referring to the valley at the foot of nearby Holcombe Hill. On top of Holcombe Hill (also known as Harcles Hill) is Holcombe Tower, a monument to Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), prime minister and founder of the modern police (the ‘peelers’), who was born in Bury.
HOLLINS is a residential area in north-west Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in 1843 and is derived from Old English holegn, meaning ‘holly trees’.
HOLLINS and HOLLINS GREEN are localities south and south-west of the town of Oldham. They share their name with other places that are or were in Lancashire, all derived from Old English holegn, meaning ‘holly trees’.
HOLLINWOOD is a residential area of Oldham, south-west of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1713, when Hollinwood Moor was divided between Oldham and Chadderton. The name means ‘holly wood’, from the Old English holegn (‘holly’) + wudu (‘wood, forest’).
HOLLINGWORTH is a village north-east of Hyde in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, about 20 kilometres east of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Holisurde and with its modern spelling by the end of the 13^th century. It means ‘an enclosure or homestead surrounded by holly trees’, from Old English holegn + worth. See Domesday Book box
HOLLINGWORTH LAKE is a reservoir and country park in Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in 1278 as Holyenworth and with its modern spelling in 1843. The 53-hectare reservoir was originally built in 1800 to supply the Rochdale Canal, but was later developed as a recreational and tourist facility. It means ‘an enclosure or homestead surrounded by holly trees’, from Old English holegn + worth.
HOLT TOWN is an inner-city area of eastern Manchester within a bend on the River Medlock. It takes its name from David Holt (c.1764-1846), who established a complex of mills and workers’ housing in 1785 in what was then a rural area. Holt went bankrupt but the name Holt Town persisted. Holt Town is now planned as a regeneration area by the City of Manchester
HOME is an arts centre with cinemas and theatres close to Manchester city centre, opened in 2015. Before the opening, a survey was carried out to choose a name and the results showed that ‘Home was a word which recurred often when people were asked what the new organisation should be – a second home, somewhere you feel at home, the home of great work’. Outside is a statue of Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) to commemorate his contribution to exposing ‘The Condition of the Working Class in England’, a book he wrote in Manchester in 1842-1844.
HOOLEY BRIDGE is a small village on the banks of the River Roch near Heywood in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is not well documented but it is clear that the village takes its name from a bridge over the Roch that dates back at least as far as 1718. However, an earlier document refers to Wooley Bridge, which was repaired in about 1635. There are several places named Wooley or Woolley and it is said that the name usually means ‘wolves’ wood or clearing’, from Old English wulfa (‘of wolves’) + –lēah (‘wood or clearing’). Wolves are generally thought to have become extinct in England by about the start of the 16^th century, and the last were found in the forests of Lancashire and the Derbyshire Peak District, so that wolves might well have been found in the Roch valley in mediaeval times.
HOOLEY HILL is a locality in Audenshaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is not well documented but it is recorded in 1795 as a village where several people were employed in hat manufacture, and various mills and factories were established in the 19^th century. The origin of the name is not clear but it is possible that it is an eponym as the family name Hooley was quite common in Lancashire and Derbyshire.
HOPE is a locality in Eccles in the City of Salford. The name is first recorded as Le Hope in the 13^th century. It is taken from the Old English hop, meaning ‘a remote valley’ and indeed Gilda Brook, a tributary of the Irwell, flows through the area.
HOPE MILL THEATRE is located in the Ancoats area of the City of Manchester. It is situated in Hope Mill, a cotton and fustian mill originally built in 1824 by Joseph Clarke and said to have been named after his wife, Anne Hope Ames. The mill was derelict by the mid-20^th century but was then redeveloped as a heritage site and reopened as Hope Mill Theatre in November 2015.
HOPWOOD is a suburb of Heywood in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is first recorded in 1278 as Hopwode and is thought to mean ‘wooded valley’ or ‘wood in a valley’, derived from Old English hop (‘remote valley’) + wudu (‘wood, forest’). Hopwood is located in Hopwood Clough, which is just such a wooded valley.
HORROCKS FOLD is a hamlet in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, north of Sharples and on the edge of the Pennine moors. It takes its name from Horrocks Fold Farm, which probably dates from the early 17^th century, which comes from the Old English hurrock, meaning ‘a heap of stones’, probably referring to the sandstone found in the quarries nearby. The name is shared with Horrocks Wood on the slopes of Winter Hill, and Horrocks Scout, a promontory on Smithills Moor. Scout comes from the old Norse skiitt, meaning ‘jutting rock’.
HORWICH is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, some 24 kilometres north-west of Manchester city centre. The name is found in 1221 as Horewic, from the Old English hār (‘grey, hoary’) + wice (‘wych elm’). The area was forested in mediaeval times, so that Horwich would mean ‘the place of the grey wych elms’. An alternative derivation is the Old English horu + wīc, meaning ‘dirty farm’, perhaps because of the dark, peaty streams coming off the moors.
HOSKER’S NOOK is a residential area of Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is recorded in 1841 as Hoscars Nook farm and is said to be named after the Hosker family – Richard Hosker and Nicholas Hosker were both resident in the area in 1664 and 1678 respectively.
HOULDSWORTH MODEL VILLAGE was an industrial housing estate in Reddish in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It was built in 1863-1865 and named after by Sir William Henry Houldsworth (1834-1917) for the workers at his Houldsworth mill, at the time the largest cotton mill in the world. The area is now undergoing regeneration, retaining the Houldsworth name.
HOWARTH CROSS is a residential area of Rochdale north-east of the town centre, west of the River Roch. The name is recorded as Howord and Haword in about 1200 and is believed to be either an eponym derived an Old English or Old Norse personal name, or a topographical name derived from the Old English hōh (‘hill spur, heel of land’) + worth (‘enclosure’). The original cross is believed to have been on the old road between Rochdale and Todmorden, but it has long since been built over.
HOWE BRIDGE is a residential area of Atherton in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. It takes its name from the Howe railway bridge, which was opened by the London & North Western Railway on 1 September 1864. The settlement was developed in 1873-1875 when the Fletcher coal mining company built a model village near the bridge. The name was formalised in 1901 when the LNWR changed the name of the local station from Chowbent to Howe Bridge. There are two suggestions for the origin on the name. One is that it is an older settlement named Howe, from the Old English hōh meaning ‘heel or spit of land’ or Old Scandinavian haugr (‘hill, mound’). The second, less likely, refers to the construction method of the bridge, which may be a Howe truss, invented by William Howe of Massachusetts in 1840.
HULL BROOK is a tributary of the River Tame that flows out of Castleshaw Lower Reservoir and then flows south-west to join the Tame in Delph in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is not well documented before 1843, although the settlement of Hull and Hull Mill, which was presumably powered by water from Hull Brook, are recorded in 1787. Like the city of Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull is derived from the Old English hyll, meaning ‘hill’.
HULME is an inner-city residential area just south of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in 1246 as Hulm, meaning ‘an island’, from the Old Norse holmr. This refers to its position as an area of raised ground amid the marshes formed by the waters of the rivers Irk, Medlock and Corn Brook that surround it.			HULME The Norse name of Hulme, which is also found in other places to the south (Davyhulme, Cheadle Hulme, Levenshulme), is often seen as evidence of a Danish colony in south Lancashire north of the Mersey.
			BRANDLESHOLME (eponym + ~)				LEVENSHULME (eponym + ~)
			CHEADLE HULME (wood + clearing + ~)				OLDHAM (old + ~)¹
			DAVYHULME (deaf, lonely + ~)				RUSHOLME (rushes + ~?)²
			KIRKMANSHULME (churchman + ~)				WOLSTENHOLME (eponym + ~)
HULTON was a district of the City of Salford consisting of three ancient townships – Great or Over Hulton, Middle Hulton and Little or Nether Hulton. The name was recorded as Helghton and Hulton in 1235 but only Little Hulton remains today. The spelling Hilton was also used from an early date and this spelling reveals the meaning of the name – ‘settlement on a hill’ from Old English hyll + tūn.
HUMPHREY PARK is a residential area of Urmston in Manchester built in 1937-38. It was built off Humphrey Lane, which is said to have been named after Sir Humphrey de Trafford (1808-1886) of Trafford Hall.
HUNDERSFIELD is an area east of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale that does not usually appear on modern maps. It is recorded in 1202 as Hunnordesfeld, meaning ‘the field of Hunworth’. Hunworth is thought to be the name of an old but now lost place in the area, the name of which was formed by the Anglo-Saxon personal name Huna + worth (‘enclosure, enclosed settlement’). Feld (‘field, tract of land’) was later added to signify it was ‘the area surrounding Hunsworth’.
HUNGER HILL There are several Hunger Hills in England and Scotland. In some cases, the name seems to derive from the Old English hungor, meaning ‘hunger, famine’ in reference to a place where animals went hungry because of poor pasture. In other cases, it means ‘a sloping wood’ from Old English hangra. Hunger Hill in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton is a hill and residential area. The origin of the name in this case is disputed, but most sources suggest that the original name was Hanger Hill and that the ‘sloping wood’ meaning is more likely.
HUNT’S BANK today is a short street beside Victoria Station in Manchester – all that remains of a district that dates back to the Middle Ages. The origin of the name is uncertain. It is certain that a Hunt family lived in the area from the 16^th century and built Hunt Hall. The area may also have been the location of older hunting grounds, which could be the original derivation. The ‘Bank’ refers to the steep banks of the River Irwell at this point, and it was here that the Mersey and Irwell Navigation terminated in 1724. In 1843, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway extended its line into central Manchester and built a new terminus that was to have been called Hunt’s Bank, but the name was changed to Victoria in honour of the Queen.
HURST is a suburb and parliamentary constituency in Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside which was formerly in Cheshire. Hurst here is derived from the Old English hyrst, meaning ‘wooded hill’. Hurst in Ashton-under-Lyne lies on high ground above the River Medlock.	HURST The Old English hyrst means ‘wooded hill’, although sometimes the emphasis is ‘wood’ and sometimes ‘hill’. Places named Hurst are found all over England, either simply as Hurst or, more usually, in combination with other elements. Examples and brief meanings of places in Greater Manchester are listed in the box.
	BOARSHURST (boars + ~)				HAZELHURST (hazel + ~)
	BOLLINHURST (pollard + ~)				HURSTHEAD ( ̴ + headland)
	COLDHURST (charcoal + ~)				LIMEHURST (Lyme + ~)
	COLLYHURST (coal-like + ~)				MICKLEHURST (large + ~)
	GATHURST (goat + ~)				WINDLEHURST (coarse grass + ~)
	GRISTLEHURST (gristle + ̴)
HURST CROSS is a small area of Hurst in Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside and also the home of Ashton United football club’s stadium since 1879. A large stone cross was erected there 1868 but the name apparently pre-dates this and probably comes from its position around a crossroad.
HURSTEAD is a residential area of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It is recorded from the 13^th century as Housetedes, meaning ‘a homestead, the site of a building’, from the Old English hūs (‘house’) + stede (‘place, site’).
HURSTHEAD is a residential area of Cheadle Hulme in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is recorded in 1831 as Hirsthead, but the name is probably older, coming from the Old English hyrst (‘wooded hill’) + hēafod (‘headland’).
HYDE is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, 10 kilometres east of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in the early 13^th century and comes from the Old English hīd, meaning ‘one hide of land’, i.e. the amount of ploughed land that could support one family or household (estimated at about 50 hectares).

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal is the northern branch of the Imperial War Museum. The museum was originally opened in London in 1920 and the name ‘Imperial’ was chosen to reflect the contribution to World War I of all countries of what was then the British Empire. Imperial War Museum North opened in July 2002 in a building designed by the Polish-Jewish architect Daniel Libeskind, who envisaged it as a ‘constellation of three interlocking shards’ representing a shattered globe.

“IMPOSSIBLE BRIDGE” See COLLYHURST FOOTBRIDGE

INCE-IN-MAKERFIELD There are several places call Ince in Britain, all derived from the Celtic ynys meaning ‘dry land, island’. In order to distinguish them, some have been given a second name. Ince-in-Makerfield is a suburb of Wigan in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and the name simply means that this Ince is part of neighbouring Makerfield. The name is first recorded as Ines in 1202 and Ins in Makerfield in 1332. The ‘dry land’ refers to its position above the surrounding swamp.

River IRK is a tributary of the Irwell that rises east of Royton and then flows west to Rawtenstall, before flowing south to join the Irwell in the centre of Manchester. The name is recorded as the Irk in 1322. The origin of the name is unclear but it may be related to the Irwell and mean ‘the angry or winding little river’ from the Old English irre (‘angry, wandering, winding’) + –uc (‘little’). An alternative suggestion is that it comes from the Celtic iwrch meaning ‘roebuck’.

IRLAM is a suburb of the City of Salford that lies on the north bank of the River Irwell at its confluence with the River Mersey. The name is first recorded in about 1190 as Urwelham or Irwellham, meaning ’village by the River Irwell’, from the Old English irre (‘angry, wandering’) + wella (‘stream’) + hām (‘village, homestead’). This original form of the name makes its location by the river clear, but some transparency was lost by 1574, when the name had been reduced to Irelam.

IRLAMS 0′ TH’ HEIGHT is a suburb of the City of Salford. The name seems to have developed in two stages. A village called the Height (Old English hēah + th) is recorded in 1180 in the parish of Eccles on high ground above Pendleton. Then, in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, the Pack Horse Inn in the village was run by members of the Irlam family, so that the area became known as Irlams o’ th’ Height, i.e. Irlams on the Height. The name was maintained during the 19^th century as the village was occupied by handloom weavers and formalised when the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway opened Irlam o’ th’ Heights station in 1888.

River IRWELL is the most important tributary of the River Mersey. It rises near Bacup in Lancashire and meanders 63 kilometres south-west to join the Mersey at Irlam. It flows through the cities of Manchester and Salford, forming the boundary between them. The name is first recorded in 1190 as the Urewel, meaning ‘winding stream’, from the Old English irre (‘angry, wandering’) + wella (‘stream’).

ISLINGTON See NEW ISLINGTON

JACKSON See NEW JACKSON

JACKSON’S BRIDGE is a footbridge over the River Mersey in Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. A timber bridge was built in 1816 and this was replaced by a wrought-iron one in 1881. The bridge, and a nearby pub called Jackson’s Boat Inn, take their names from a local farmer called Jackson who, in the late 18^th century, started a ferry service across the Mersey at this point.

JERICHO is a residential area of Bury that is said to be named after the Biblical city of Jericho (‘scented, fragrant place’) on the West Bank of the Jordan when John Wesley (1703-1791) preached in Birtle in 1778. There seems to be no documentary of evidence for this, but the local Methodists gave the name to their new chapel in 2003.

JJB STADIUM See The BRICK COMMUNITY STADIUM

JOHN LEIGH PARK is a 5-hectare area of parkland in the Broadheath district of Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. Oldfield House and the land on which it stood were purchased in 1916 by John Leigh and initially used as a military hospital. In 1917 he donated the land to Altrincham District Council for use as a park in memory of his father.

JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY is a research institute and library on Deansgate in the City of Manchester. It was established in 1900 by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands (1843-1908) in memory of her husband, John Rylands (1801-1888), who was the largest textile manufacturer in Britain and a great philanthropist. In 1972 it became part of the University of Manchester.

JOHNSON FOLD is a residential area of western Bolton. The name is taken from Johnson Fold Farm, which dates back to the 17^th century, when the Earl of Derby gifted land to the Johnson family. Bolton Corporation bought the farm in the early 1930s and built a housing estate, originally called the Montserrat estate, which was expanded in the early 1950s.

JUBILEE is a village in Shaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham which claims to be the only settlement with this name in the UK. The name is not well documented before the 19^th century – the Jubilee pub was built in 1810 and the Jubilee Colliery was opened in 1845. It is unclear which jubilee is commemorated in the village’s name – George III was the first monarch to celebrate a jubilee when there were festivities for the 50^th year of his reign in 1809, but the term was used more generally before that date and perhaps the village is named for another anniversary. The mine was closed in 1932 and the site has been converted into the Jubilee Colliery Nature Reserve.

JUBILEE MARKET and JUBILEE PARK, Oldham. The original Jubilee Market or Jubilee Fountain Market was built by the Oldham Industrial Co-operative Society in 1888 and named to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. It was announced in 2023 that it would be demolished and the space used to form park of a new 2.2-hectare linear park named Jubilee Park in honour of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in that year.

JUBILEE PARK is a 4.7-hectare public park in the centre of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It was opened in 1889 and named to celebrate the Golden (i.e. 50 years) Jubilee of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1887.

JUMBLES COUNTRY PARK is a large country park surrounding Jumbles Reservoir in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name for the area outside Bolton seems to have been in use since at least the mid 19^th century, but a reservoir was built and opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1971. The surrounding area was declared a country park in 1973. The name is a corruption of the Old English dumbel, meaning ‘a deep hollow, a ravine’ and describes the valley of Bradshaw Brook, which flows into and out of Jumbles Reservoir.

JUMBO is an area of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is first recorded in 1781 and it has been suggested that it may have an exotic origin related to mumbo-jumbo or even Jumbo the elephant. It actually comes from the Old English jumb, meaning ‘a deep pool in a stream’ and jumbel or dumbel, meaning ‘a deep hollow, a ravine’, describing Wince Brook, which flows through the area.

JUNCTION See MIDDLETON JUNCTION

KAY GARDENS is a small public park in central Bury, originally opened in 1908. It commemorates John Kay (1704-c.1780-81), the inventor of the flying shuttle which transformed the textile industry, who was born in Walmersley, north of Bury. The park includes a monument to Kay, ‘whose invention in the year 1733 of the fly shuttle
quadrupled human power in weaving’.

KEARSLEY is a town on the River Croal where it meets the Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, formerly in Lancashire. The name is recorded in 1187 as Cherselawe but the modern spelling can be seen in Kersleie, found in about 1220. It means ‘place where watercress grows’ from cærse (‘watercress’) + hlǣw (‘mound’) or lēah (‘clearing, water meadow’).

KENYON is a village, partly in Cheshire and partly in Greater Manchester in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is first recorded in 1212 as Kenien, meaning ‘Enion’s mound’ from the Celtic crūg (‘hill, mound’) + the personal name Eniōn, and referring to a Bronze Age barrow that may have been erected there.

KERSAL is a suburb of the City of Salford, about 5 kilometres north-west of Manchester city centre. It is first recorded in 1142 as Kereshala, meaning ‘the nook where cress grows’, from Old English cerse (‘watercress’) + halh (‘nook or corner of land’). The nook would seem to refer to the bend in the River Irwell where Kersal is located.

KILN GREEN is a village to the east of Diggle, formerly in Saddleworth in West Yorkshire but now administered as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is not well documented before 1785 and its origin is also undocumented, but it could literally mean ‘a kiln on or beside the village green’. Cyln was an old English word for a furnace that could be used for making many things – bread, lime, bricks, flax, etc.

KINGSWAY RETAIL PARK and KINGSWAY BUSINESS PARK are commercial developments south-east of Rochdale town centre. Both take their names from Kingsway, a nearby major road that, together with Queensway, was built in the early 1930s and named after the reigning monarch – King George V. Kingsway Business Park is one of the sites of Atom Valley.

KIRKMANSHULME is an area of eastern Manchester close to the city centre that was once part of Newton Heath. It is first recorded in 1292 as Kyrdmannesholm, but this is thought to be a misspelling for something like Kyrkmannesholm, meaning ‘raised land belonging to a churchman’, from Old Norse kirkja (‘a church’) + Old English mann (‘person, man’) + Norse holmr (‘island, raised land in marsh’).

KITT’S MOSS is a residential area of Bramhall in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is recorded in 1777 and by 1831 it is shown as Kits Moss, an area inhabited by textile workers. The name is presumably an eponym – Kit is short for Christopher, but nothing is known of him. Moss is an Old English word for ‘bog, swamp’.

KNOLL HILL is a 420-metre hill near Naden in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It is recorded in 1771 as Knowle Top and is derived from Old English cnoll, meaning ‘knoll, hillock’. The addition of Hill is reduplication as the meaning would be ‘hill hill’.

KNOTT MILL is an area of central Manchester that is currently scheduled for regeneration. It is first recorded in 1509 when a miller by the name of Knott built a water-powered corn mill on the site. The area became the Manchester terminus of the Bridgewater Canal in 1764 and industrial development followed. Knott Mill had been converted to a textile mill by 1809.

KNOWL MOOR is a hill on the moors outside Rochdale that is popular for hiking and walking. The name is not well documented but is said to come from Old English cnoll, meaning ‘knoll, hillock’.

KNUTSHAW BRIDGE is a small residential area south-west of Deane in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It is recorded in 1285 as Noteschaw but the spelling Knutshaw with a K seems to be much later, even as late as the 20^th century. The bridge carries the road north-west from Manchester over Knutshaw Brook, a tributary of the River Croal. The straightforward meaning would seem to be ‘copse of nut-bearing trees’, from Old English hnutu (‘nut; nut-bearing tree’) + sceaga (‘copse’), but it has also been suggested that the first element may be an eponym from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Hnotta. The spelling with K has given rise to the suggestion that the personal name may have been Knut, i.e. Cnut or Canute, although it is not claimed that there is any connection with King Canute himself.

LADYBARN is a suburb of south Manchester, east of Withington. The name is recorded early in the 19^th century as a farm with buildings but urban development had begun by the middle of the century and an independent school was established with the name in 1873. It is likely that Ladybarn refers to a barn where tithes were collected on Lady Day (25 March).

LADYBROOK or LADY BROOK is the name given to a tributary of the Mersey as it passes through Happy Valley in Bramhall in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It rises as Bollinhurst Brook near Disley in the Derbyshire Peak District, becoming Norbury Brook, Lady Brook, then Micker Brook before joining the Mersey in Cheadle Hulme. The name is recorded in 1637 as Lady Brook, but the origin is uncertain. It has been suggested that it is named after a Lady Davenport of Bramall Hall, who owned about 2.4 hectares of land the Ladybrook valley. However, the occurrence of other Catholic names in the area – Ladybarn Crescent (the barn where tithes were collected on Lady Day) and Ladythorn Road (Our Lady of the Thorns, celebrated on 16 February) – makes a religious origin more likely.

LADYHOUSE is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale south of Milnrow. The name is taken from Lady House Farm, which previously occupied the area. A painting by Benjamin Charles Brierley (1857-1920) of Lady House shows a stone building, perhaps the farmhouse, with the date 1631 above the door. It is thought that it may be derived from the Old Norse hlatha, meaning ‘storehouse, barn’, rather than any aristocratic or religious use of lady. Over the years, hlatha was rationalised to lady.

LADYWELL is a Metrolink tram stop that takes its name from a hospital in the Weaste area of the City of Salford. It started in 1851-1852 as a workhouse but was rebuilt in 1890 as a hospital and training school for nurses. Today it forms part of Salford Royal hospital. The original hospital was endowed by the local de Trafford family and named after the Ladywell shrine, a 17^th century house and chapel with the Holy Well of our Lady in the grounds.

LAITHWAITE is a residential area of west Wigan. It is recorded in about 1200 as Leikeththeit and Leikestheith, meaning ‘barn on or near a forest clearing’, from the Old Norse hlatha (’barn’) + thwaite (‘meadow, forest clearing’).

LAMBERHEAD GREEN is a residential and recreational area of Orrell in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan on the border between Orrell and Pemberton and between Upholland in Lancashire and Wigan in Greater Manchester. It is recorded in 1519 as Londmerhede, from the Old English land-gemaere (‘boundary’) + heafod (‘hill’).

LANCASHIRE is a county in north-western England that until 1974 included much of what is now Greater Manchester. The name is recorded in 1140 as honor de Lancastre and as Lancastre-shire in the 14^th century. The name combines the city of Lancaster (Roman cæster or fort on the River Lune) with Old English scīr (‘shire, district’).

LANCASHIRE HILL is a residential and commercial area of Reddish, north of Stockport town centre. It is named because it is a hill on the Lancashire side of the River Mersey, traditionally the boundary between Cheshire and Lancashire. The name is not well documented and it is not clear when the name was first used. Its modern development dates from the building in 1793-1797 of Stockport Canal, which branched south from the Ashton Canal at Clayton and terminated at the top of Lancashire Hill. This led to the building of factories, mills and housing in the early 19^th century. It was developed further in the late 1960s as a high-rise housing estate.

LANGLEY is a suburb of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, approximately 9 kilometres north-east of Manchester city centre. There are many places named Langley in Britain but Langley in what was then Lancashire is first recorded in 1246 as Langele, meaning ‘a long wood or clearing’ from Old English lang (‘long’) + lēah (‘wood, clearing’). Langley was developed as a residential area for about 25,000 people by Manchester City Council in the 1950s.

LANGTREE is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan that forms the northern portion of Standish-with-Langtree. Although originally separate, they have long been seen as a single settlement. Langtree is recorded in about 1190 as Lonetre, meaning ‘tall or high tree’, from the Old English lang + trēo.

LANGWORTHY is a residential area of the City of Salford. The area developed in the last quarter of the 19^th century around Langworthy Road, which was built in the 1870s and named in honour of Edward Langworthy (1797-1874), a businessman who, with his brothers, owned a cotton mill in Greengate and who also became mayor of Salford and, briefly, a Salford MP.

LARK HILL is a common place name in England and there have been several places with this name in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire. Lark Hill in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a 21^st-century housing development south-west of Astley. It takes its name from Lark Hill House, a large house built in 1878 that is now a nursery. Assuming that the name goes back no further than 1878, it would seem to be aspirational, evoking birdsong on a hillside. Places elsewhere which date back to mediaeval times are derived Old English lawerce (‘lark.’) + hyll.

LAST DROP VILLAGE is a retail and hotel complex in Bromley Cross in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It is clustered around a number of 17^th century farm buildings originally called Orrell Fold in the Manor of Turton. These were purchased in 1963 and given the name ‘Last Drop’. The name has given rise to some fanciful suggestions – that the last drop refers to execution by hanging or punishment by ducking – but the reality is more prosaic: friends offered the new owner the last drop from a bottle of wine when he bought the farm and the name was applied to the development.

LECTURERS CLOSES is a residential and industrial in central Bolton, close to the site of the parish church, where there has been a church since Anglo-Saxon times. The name is not well documented but seems to have religious connotations derived from words with meanings which are now largely obsolete: from the 16^th century a lecturer was an assistant Anglican preacher, and a close was a precinct or cloister of a religious building, a term dating from the mid-15^th century.

LEES is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is first recorded in 1604 as the Leese, which is usually said to mean ‘woods or woodland clearings’, from the plural of Old English lēah (‘wood, clearing’). However, another theory is that it is named after John de Leghes, the 14^th-century Lord of the Manor.

LEIGH is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. Until 1974 it was part of Lancashire and it shares its name with other towns in England as well as numerous places ending in –leigh, –ley, –ly or –le. The name is first recorded in 1276 as Legch and is derived from the Old English lēah, meaning ‘wood, clearing or meadow’. Leigh is distinguished from Westleigh to the west and Astley to the east.

LEIGH & LEE This element meaning ‘woodland clearing’ or ‘glade’ is common across the whole county, and suggests the wooded landscape of Anglo-Saxon England. It appears by itself (lees, leigh) and in combination, typically as -ley, -ly or -le.
ASTLEY (east ~)	HATTERSLEY (deer ~)	SEEDLEY (home ~)
BAGULEY (badger, small pig ~)	HAWKLEY (hawk ~)	SHAKERLEY (robber’s ~)
BARDSLEY (Beard’s ~)	HEALEY (high ~)	SMEDLEY (smooth or smith ~)
BLACKLEY (black ~)	HEAVILEY (healthy ~)	STALYBRIDGE (staff ~)
BOWLEE (Bola’s ~)	HINDLEY (hinds ~)	STANLEY GREEN (stony ~)
BRADLEY FOLD (broad ~)	HOOLEY BRIDGE (wolves? ~)	STAYLEY (staff ~)
BROADLEY (broad ~)	KEARSLEY (watercress ~)	TIMPERLEY (timber ~)
BROMLEY CROSS (broom ~)	LANGLEY (long ~)	TYNDERSLEY (Tildwald’s ~)
BUCKLEY (he-goat ~)	LEES (~)	WALMERSLEY (Waldmer’s ~)
CHEADLE (wood ~)	LEIGH (~)	WARDLEY (fortified ~)
COCKEY MOOR (cock? ~)	LUZLEY (pig sty ~)	WESTLEIGH (west ~)
COPLEY (peaked ~)	MATLEY (Mata’s ~)	WHALLEY RANGE (round hill ~)
DEARNLEY (hidden ~)	MOSLEY COMMON (swamp ~)	WINSTANLEY (Wynstan’s ~)
EAGLEY (river ~)	PRESTOLEE (priest’s ~)	WOODLEY (wood ~)
EALEES (river ~)	RINGLEY (circular ~)	WORSLEY (Weorchæth’s ~)
EDGELEY (enclosed ~)	ROMILEY (room ~)	WUERDLE (army ~)
GODLEY (Goda’s ~)	SEDGELEY (reeds ~)
LEVENSHULME is a suburb of the City of Manchester, about 5 kilometres south-east of the city centre. The name was recorded as Lewyneshulm in 1246 and probably means ‘Lēofwine’s mound’. The first element is a personal name; the second is the Old Norse -holmr, meaning ’island, elevated ground in a marshy area’.
LEVER EDGE is part of the area named Lever which consists of several settlements – Darcy Lever, Great Lever, Lever Edge and Little Lever – south of Bolton. The name Lever is recorded in 1212 as Lefre, from the Old English lefer (‘rush, reed’), so that the entire area would mean ‘where the rushes or reeds grow’ on the banks of the Irwell and Croal.
LEVERHULME PARK is a 13.75-hectare public park and nature reserve in Bolton. It was donated to the people of Bolton in 1919 by Lord Leverhulme (1851-1925), the industrialist, philanthropist, politician and mayor of Bolton, and named after him.
LIGHTSHAW MEADOWS is an 18-hectare country park in Abram in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan that was opened in 2010 and now forms one site of the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh. Lightshaw Hall was built in the 16^th century and is derived from Old English lihte (‘a glade where the trees are sparse’) + sceaga (‘copse’). Lightshaw Hall is still standing and Lightshaw Meadows were shaped by 20^th-century mining subsidence.
LIMEFIELD is a residential area of Bury in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is first recorded in 1843 and could mean ‘the field with a lime tree’ or ‘the field spread with lime’. The name seems to originate with a house with a small park, so perhaps the former meaning is more likely.
LIMEHURST is a former village which is now part of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, but formerly in Lancashire. The name is first recorded in 1292 and the modern spelling had been adopted by 1422. The name is unlikely to mean ‘lime forest’ and is more likely to mean ‘the forest (Old English hyrst) within the Lyme’. Lyme meant that the place was included in Lancashire proper, as opposed to outlying areas in neighbouring counties.
LIMESIDE is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, about 3 kilometres south of the town centre. The area was once occupied by Limeside village and Limeside Farm, probably meaning ‘the hillside where lime trees grow’, from Old English lim (‘lime’) + side (‘hillside’). The area was developed in the 1930s with a large housing estate and the 7-hectare Limeside Park.
LINCOLN SQUARE is a public space in the centre of Manchester that was laid out in 1981. In 1986, a statue of American President Abraham Lincoln, which had been erected in Platt Fields in 1919, was moved to Lincoln Square. The plaque misquotes Lincoln’s letter of 1863 to the working men of Manchester, expressing his appreciation for their support during the American Civil War and the resulting ‘cotton famine’ in Lancashire: ‘To the working people of Manchester 19th January 1863 / I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the working people of Manchester / and in all Europe are called to endure in this crisis’.
LINGARD’S FOOTBRIDGE is a metal footbridge supported by water pipes over the Bridgewater Canal near Blackmoor in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The bridge seems to be of recent construction but it is uncertain if there were previous bridges at this site. The name ultimately means ‘flax enclosure’, from the Old English līn (‘flax’) + Old Norse garthr (‘enclosure’). However, it is likely that the name was taken from the locational surname of the Lingard family, who were major landowners in the area.
LINNYSHAW is a residential area and industrial estate to the east of Walkden in the City of Salford. The name is not well documented before the second half of the 19^th century, when Linnyshaw Colliery was opened in 1865 and Linnyshaw Mills were built in 1874. The name means ‘small lime wood’, from Old English lind (‘lime-tree’) + sceaga (‘copse’). The colliery was closed and demolished in 1921, and has now been converted into Linnyshaw Park, while a disused railway line known as the Linnyshaw Loopline has been turned into a walking and cycling route between Little Hulton and Walkden.
LITTLE BOLTON See BOLTON
LITTLEBOROUGH is a town on the River Roch in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale about 21 kilometres north-east of Manchester city centre. The name is first recorded in 1577 as Littlebrough and means either ‘little town’ or ‘little fort’, from the Old English lȳtel + burh. It is thought that there may have been some sort of fortification on the Roman road nearby but there seems to be no record of this.
LITTLE HULTON See HULTON
LITTLE IRELAND was a slum area south of Manchester city centre around the north end of Oxford Road. Houses originally built in the early 19^th century were occupied by large numbers of Irish immigrants who came to work in the expanding textile industry. The area was described by Engels in the early 1840s: ‘two groups of cottages, built chiefly back to back, in which live about 4,000 human beings, most of them Irish. The cottages are old, dirty, and of the smallest sort, the streets uneven, fallen into ruts and in part without drains or pavement; masses of refuse, offal, and sickening filth lie among standing pools in all directions….. The race that lives in these ruinous cottages, behind broken windows, mended with oil-skin, sprung doors, and rotten door-posts, or in dark, wet cellars, in measureless filth and stench must surely have reached the lowest stage of humanity.’ Much of the area was vacated in 1845-47 to make way for the new Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway and its Oxford Road station headquarters. The area was demolished in about 1877.
LITTLE LEVER is part of the area named Lever which consists of several settlements – Darcy Lever, Great Lever, Lever Edge and Little Lever – south of Bolton. The name Lever is recorded in 1212 as Lefre, from the Old English lefer (‘rush, reed’), so that the entire area would mean ‘where the rushes or reeds grow’ on the banks of the Irwell and Croal.
LITTLE MOSS is an area of north-west Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It was established as a civil parish of Lancashire in 1894 but it is not clear if the name has older roots. Its meaning is literally ‘little moss’ (‘bog, swamp’) and it is one of the few ‘moss’ place names in the east of Greater Manchester – most are in the west.
LITTLE SCOTLAND is located in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, 5 kilometres south of Bolton itself. There are two theories for its derivation. One is that the Wigan section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal was mostly built by navvies from Aberdeen in the 1780s and the area where they lived became known as Little Scotland. Another is that the Earl of Balcarres and Crawford, who was a Scotsman, brought staff from Scotland for his new residence at Haigh Hall, which was built in 1827-1840.
LIVERPOOL ROAD is a disused railway station located on Liverpool Road, west of Deansgate in central Manchester. It was opened on 15 September 1830 as the eastern terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, and can claim to be the oldest surviving railway terminus in the world. It was closed to passengers on 4 May 1844, when the company’s line was extended to the newly-completed Manchester Victoria Station. It remained as a goods depot until 1975 but was sold to Greater Manchester Council in 1978 and converted into what is now the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, opened in 1983. Liverpool comes from the Old English lifer (‘thick water’) + pōl (‘pool, creek’).
LONDON ROAD STATION was the name of Manchester’s main railway terminus, which had been opened by the Manchester & Birmingham and Sheffield Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester railways as Store Street in 1842. The name was changed to London Road in 1847 and to Piccadilly in 1960. It took the name from London Road, which runs alongside the station to the south west. Although the Romans had built a road from Manchester to London (what is now the A6), the name is given as Bank Top on maps until 1813.
LONGDENDALE is a valley in the Peak District and was adopted as the name of an urban district in Cheshire in 1936, but was absorbed into the new Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in 1974. The name was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Langedendele and means ‘the long (Old English lange-) valley (denu) dale (dala)’. See also Mottram in Longdendale. See Domesday Book box
LONGFORD PARK is a 22-hectare public park in Stretford in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, and it also gives its name to an electoral ward of Trafford. The name is first recorded in 1320-1346 as the long ford, presumably a ford used by those on the Roman road from Chester to Manchester crossing the River Mersey in Stretford. The ford gave its name to a village and to the Longford family, who had lived in the area since the 11^th century. Their Longford Park estate eventually became the home of John Rylands in 1855, and was sold to Stretford Council in 1911, opening to the public in 1912.
LONGSHAW was a common place name across Lancashire, Yorkshire and Derbyshire, meaning ‘long or narrow wood’ from Old English lang (‘tall, long’) + sceaga (‘small wood, copse’). This Longshaw is a small agricultural and residential area west of Wigan. Neighbouring Longshaw Bottom and Longshaw Common are in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside.
LONGSHOOT is a suburb of Wigan, east of the town centre. The name is not well documented before 1827 but seems to be a remnant of the mediaeval system of dividing large open fields into smaller strips of various shapes and sizes known as ‘shoots’. In Wigan, Longshoot and nearby Middleshoot may have been part of a large field known as Scholes-Field.
LONGSIGHT is an inner-city area of the City of Manchester, approximately 5 kilometres south of the city centre, formerly known as Grindlow Marsh, meaning ‘green hill’, from Old English grēne + hlāw. The Longsight name is not well documented but it is usually said that Bonnie Prince Charlie or one of his officers stood outside the Waggon and Horses Inn during the 1745 Scottish incursion into England, looked towards the city and said that it was a ‘long sight’ to Manchester. However, there was already a Longsight Cottage in the area, suggesting that the name predates 1745. It has been suggested that the origin could be Middle English lang (‘tall, long’) + shote (‘corner of land, projecting piece of land’) or shut (‘hillside or slope’). Other sources suggest a date as late as 1843, which coincides with the opening of Longsight station by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway.
LOSTOCK is a residential area of western Bolton in the Croal valley, approximately 20 kilometres north-west of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in 1205 as Lostok, meaning ‘pig-sty farm or hamlet’, from Old English hlōse (‘pig-sty’) + stoc (‘farmstead, hamlet’).
The LOWRY is a theatre and gallery centre in Salford Quays that was opened by Queen Elizabth II on 12 October 2000. It is named after the artist, L S Lowry (1887-1986), who was famed for his paintings of industrial buildings and landscapes in Greater Manchester and elsewhere. Many of Lowry’s paintings are on now display at the Lowry gallery. (See Appendix 1)
LOWRY’S STEPS or LOWRY’S FOOTBRIDGE See COLLYHURST FOOTBRIDGE
LOWTON is a residential area south of Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, which also gives its name to the outlying area of Lowton Common, Lowton St Mary’s and Town of Lowton. The name is recorded from 1202 as Lauton and this is said to mean ‘hill settlement or farmstead’, from Old English hlāw (‘hill, mound’) + tūn (‘village, farmstead’). Despite the suggestion of its modern spelling, Lowton sits on a slight hill.
LUDWORTH is an area of Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It was originally part of Derbyshire, but was transferred to Cheshire in 1934 and to Greater Manchester in 1974. The name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Lodeuorth but something close to the modern spelling was found in Luddeworthe in 1330. The name means ‘Luda’s enclosure’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Luda + worth (‘enclosure’). See Domesday Book box
LUZLEY is a village north of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is recorded on 1246 as Luseleg, probably from the Old English hlōse (‘pig sty’) + lēah (‘wood, clearing or meadow’).
LYDGATE There are places called Lydgate across England, including at least two in Greater Manchester. The name is derived from the Old English hlid-geat, meaning ‘swing gate’ – a gate across a field or road to prevent cattle from straying or perhaps to collect tolls. Lydgate in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldam is recorded from the 16^th century.
LYME PARK is a country house and estate owned by the National Trust. It is officially in Cheshire but the postal address is in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester. The name is recorded in 1312 as Lyme and as parcum de Lyme in 1466. The name means ‘forest’ rather than ‘lime’, and refers to the ancient forest of Lancashire known as the Lyme.
M
MACKIE MAYOR is a retail area housed in the last remaining building of Smithfield Market in what is now the Northern Quarter of Manchester. The original building was opened in 1858 by Ivie Mackie (1805-1873), a Scotsman who was Lord Mayor of Manchester in 1857-1860 and whose name is inscribed above the entrance. The old Smithfield Market was closed in 1972 but the Mackie building was preserved.
“MADCHESTER” was the nickname given to describe the vibrant Manchester music scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s, much of which centred on the Haçienda nightclub in Gaythorn in central Manchester. The term was coined by Philip Shotton and Keith Jobling of Factory Records, and popularised by Factory Records director, Tony Wilson, and the Happy Mondays band with their 1989 album entitled ‘Madchester Rave On’.
MAINE ROAD is a road south of Manchester city centre that runs west of and parallel to Oxford Road. The road gave its name to Manchester City Football Club’s stadium from 1923 to 2003, when it moved to the Etihad stadium. In the mid-19^th century the road was called ‘Dog Kennel Lane’ as there were dog kennels there, but some adjacent land was purchased by the local temperance society in the early 1870s. The society felt the name was inappropriate and in 1876 the name ‘Maine Road’ was adopted in reference to the prohibition laws passed by the U.S. state of Maine in 1851.
MAKERFIELD is a town that was in Lancashire until 1974, but is now divided between the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester and the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside. The name is recorded in 1121 as Macrefeld, which is usually interpreted as ‘open land by walls or ruins’, where Celtic macre seems to refer to the ruins of an older settlement in Wigan, but no further details are known. Alternatively, Macre could be a Celtic personal name.
MAMUCIUM or MANCUNIUM forms part of the Castlefield Urban Heritage Park, which was opened to the public in 1982. It includes the excavated archaeological remains of the Roman fort of Mamucium, as well as reconstructions of other parts.
“MANC-HATTAN” is a nickname for the regeneration area at the southern area of Deansgate where several skyscrapers have been built in recent years. The term is a portmanteau word from Manchester + Manhattan and seems to have been invented by Cale Green-based artist Eric Jackson in his 2019 poster ‘Manc-hattan – Just like New York, but so much more charming’. The poster shows skyscrapers towering above the ‘Peveril of the Peak’ pub in central Manchester (named after Sir Walter Scott’s 1823 novel) and the statue of Prime Minister William Gladstone (1809-1898) in Albert Square.
MANCHESTER is a settlement in north-west England that was historically in Lancashire until 1974, when it became one of the 10 metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester. It was established in about AD 79 as the Roman fort of Mamucium, a name probably taken from an older Celtic settlement meaning ‘breast-shaped hill’, from the Celtic mamm. The Roman legions abandoned their fort in about 410 but by the time of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle at the end of the 9^th century, the name had evolved to Mameceaster, with the Old English ceaster (‘Roman fort’) added to the Celtic root and a similar spelling of Mamecestre was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. See Domesday Book box The modern spelling with N rather than M is found from 1480 and was used by Celia Fiennes in 1698 and Daniel Defoe in about 1725. Manchester did not get its first MPs until 1832 and it was granted city status in 1853. At much the same time, the importance of the textile trade led to the nickname of “Cottonopolis”. Since 1974 urban regeneration and the emergence of different cultures have seen new place names such as ‘Madchester’, China Town, Curry Mile, Eastlands, Gay Village, Manc-hattan, Northern Quarter, etc. A 2017 campaign to rename the city ‘Personchester’ because it was thought to be sexist foundered on its mistaken etymology. Manchester has lent its name to many places in the USA, including Manchester, New Hampshire.
MANCHESTER AIRPORT is an international airport some 11 kilometres south-west of the city centre. It was originally opened in 1938 and known as Manchester Ringway Airport but the name was changed to Manchester International Airport in 1975.
MANCHESTER CENTRAL See GMEX
MANCHESTER MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY See LIVERPOOL ROAD
MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL is a 58-kilometre man-made waterway linking Manchester with the Irish Sea at Liverpool. It was built in 1887-1893 as the largest and last canal built in Britain. It was opened by Queen Victoria at Mode Wheel on 21 May 1894. It went into decline in the last quarter of the 20^th century and the docks at Salford were purchased by Salford City Council from the Ship Canal Company in 1984 and developed as Salford Quays. The current owners of the canal plan to develop its potential for container traffic. (For Valette pictures, see Appendix 2)
MARIE LOUISE GARDENS is a 2-hectare park between West Didsbury and Northenden. It is named after Marie Louise Bagshawe, who was the daughter of Johann Georg Silkenstadt from Bremen in Germany, a wealthy cotton merchant who emigrated to Manchester in about 1865. Marie Louise died in 1891 and the park was donated to the people of Manchester in her memory by her mother, Josephine Helene Silkenstadt.
MARK ADDY BRIDGE See WODEN FOOTBRIDGE
MARKLAND HILL is a residential area west of Bolton, formerly in Lancashire. The name is found elsewhere in Lancashire dating from the 13^th century. It would seem to mean ‘boundary area hill’, from Old English mearc (‘boundary, border’) + land (‘tract of land’) + hyll, perhaps narking the boundary between farms, villages or parishes.
MARLAND is a residential area in north-west Castleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in about 1200 as Merlande, meaning either ‘tract of land by a lake’, from Old English mere + land, or ‘boundary land’, from Old English gemǣre (‘boundary, border’) + land.
MARPLE is a town on the River Goyt in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, about 14 kilometres south-east of Manchester city centre. Until 1974 it was part of Cheshire. The name is recorded in 1122 as Merpille and with its modern spelling in 1355. The name means ‘boundary stream’, from Old English mǣre (‘boundary’) + pyll (‘pool in a river; stream’), referring to the River Goyt, which was traditionally the boundary between Cheshire and Derbyshire.
MARPLE BRIDGE is a residential area on the River Goyt north-east of Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It takes its name from the nearby village of Marple but is recorded separately as Marple Bridge in 1685. The bridge over the Goyt which gives the places its name was said to be in need of repair in 1621, so undoubtedly dated from much earlier. It seems that it was repaired but needed replacement by the 1790s. The new bridge was built in 1800 and this is the bridge that stands today, although it was widened in 1930.
MARTINSCROFT is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Warrington in Cheshire. The name is recorded in 1332 and means ‘Martin’s enclosure or small farm’. In Greater Manchester today there is a Metrolink tram stop called ‘Martinscroft’ that was opened on 3 November 2014 and which takes its name from its position on Martinscroft Road. Martinscroft Road simply means ‘the road to Martinscroft’, which lies directly to the west.
MARYLEBONE or MARRIEBONNE is a residential area east of Wigan. The spelling and origin of the name are uncertain and there have been many suggestions. It seems that the original name was Mariebonne – the first references seem to be Mariebonne House, which was built in 1855, and cottages built on Mariebonne Place in 1895-1914. However, the spelling Marylebone is also found on maps before the end of the 19^th century. Suggestions for the origin include farms called Merrybone or Marrowbone, a church called St Mary-on-the-Bourne, or that the name was influenced by the Marylebone district of London, which similarly originated as St Mary’s bourne. Perhaps most convincing is that Mariebonne means ‘St Mary the Good’ and refers to a church or parish with this or a similar name.
MATLEY is a rural area south of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is recorded in 1211 as Mattel and as Mattlegh in 1316. The name means ‘Matta’s clearing’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Matta + lēah (‘glade, woodland clearing’). Oak Farm in Matley may suggest the type of woodland that was cleared.
MAYFIELD PARK today is a 2.5-hectare public park sited on reclaimed land in central Manchester. Its name comes from the Old English mæddre, meaning ‘the mayweed or madder plant‘ (which, perhaps significantly, is used to produce a red dye, which may have been used in the textile industries) + feld, ‘field’. At the end of the 18^th century the area around what was then the small town of Manchester was surrounded by various fields and Mayfield was situated on the north bank of the River Medlock. In 1782, it was purchased by Thomas Hoyle, who built a large calico and printing works, including a dye house. The site was purchased by the London & North Western Railway for the new Mayfield station, which was opened in 1910 as a relief station for Manchester London Road (today, Manchester Piccadilly). Mayfield station was closed to passengers in 1960 and to all rail services in 1986. It gradually became derelict but in 2019 Depot Mayfield, a music venue, was opened, and in 2022 the southern part of the site was developed as Mayfield Park.
MEALHOUSE BROW is a street in central Stockport that appears in two paintings by L S Lowry. It was recorded in 1680 as Wynn Bank (‘winding hill’) and later as Dungeon Brow (as sited above the cells used for prisoners awaiting trial). It became known as Mealhouse Brow as it was the location for storing and selling grain or meal. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
MEASUREMENTS HALT was a railway station opened in July 1932 by the London Midland & Scottish Railway to serve the Dobcross clock factory of Measurements Ltd. It was closed in May 1955 when the line from Oldham to Delph was shut.
MEDIACITYUK is a property development in the Salford Quays district of the City of Salford. It was built in 2007-2013 and named because major media companies, including both the BBC and ITV Granada, built studios and production facilities there.
River MEDLOCK rises in Saddleworth and flows south-west for 16 kilometres into the Irwell in Hulme in the centre of Manchester. The name is first recorded as the Medlak in 1292 and means ‘meadow stream’, from Old English mǣd ‘meadow’ + lacu ‘stream’. The form Medlok appears in about 1540 and seems to be influenced by a false association with the word ‘lock’.
MELLOR is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It was originally in Derbyshire, then became part of Cheshire in 1936, before being included in Greater Manchester in 1974. The name is first recorded in 1130 as Melver or Meluer and is said to mean ‘the bare or smooth-topped hill’ from the Celtic moel (’bare’) + bre (‘hill’).
MERCIA was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the Midlands of England. It was established in about 527 and extended as far north as the River Mersey, although its control extended north of the Mersey into Northumbria and what are now parts of Great Manchester at times, especially after the Mercians’ conversion to Christianity in the second half of the 7^th century. The name is, like that of the Mersey, derived from the Old English mǣre, meaning ‘boundary’ as the Mercians were thought of as ‘boundary people’.
River MERSEY is a major waterway of Greater Manchester. It is formed in Stockport through the confluence of the rivers Goyt and Tame and then flows westward. It joins the Manchester Ship Canal for some 6.5 kilometres but then separates near Warrington and flows into the Irish Sea at Liverpool, over 110 kilometres from its source. The name is first recorded in 1002 as Mærse, meaning ‘boundary river’ from the Old English gemære (‘boundary’) + ēa (‘river’). The Mersey formed the boundary between the old Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria from about AD 600 and, later on, between Cheshire and Lancashire. Virtually all of the rivers and brooks across Greater Manchester are tributaries of the Mersey, and the river gives its name to at least two towns in the county – Ashton-upon-Mersey and Heaton Mersey.
The MERSEY & IRWELL NAVIGATION was constructed in 1724-1734 to provide a navigable route between the Mersey at Runcorn and the Irwell at Hunt’s Bank in Manchester. It was one of the first major man-made waterways in England but was not a true canal as it improved the existing rivers by eliminating meanders to straighten and shorten the route, and constructed weirs and locks to facilitate navigation. Among the locks were Throstles Nest, Mode Wheel, Barton, Calamanco and Sandywarps. It was a great success for nearly 150 years but had largely fallen out of use by the time the Manchester Ship Canal was completed in 1894.
MERSEY SQUARE is a pedestrianised shopping centre in Stockport. It was opened in 1970 and was one of the first shopping precincts in Britain. It is named after the River Mersey, which originates in Stockport and which runs deep beneath Mersey Square.
MICKER BROOK See BOLLINHURST BROOK
MICKLEHURST is a district in Mossley in the Borough of Tameside that was formerly part of Cheshire. The name comes from the Old English micel, meaning ‘large or great’ + hyrst, meaning ‘wooded hill’.
MIDDLEBROOK is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is recorded in 1292 as Mikelbrok, meaning ‘great brook’, from the Old English micel (‘big, great’) + broc (‘brook, stream’). The brook gave its name to the settlement and, over the years, the names of both became rationalised to ‘Middlebrook’. The Middle Brook itself is a tributary of the River Croal.
MIDDLE HULTON See HULTON
MIDDLETON is a town on the River Irk in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. There are many places called Middleton in Britain, all meaning ‘middle homestead, village or settlement’ and deriving from Old English middel + tūn. Middleton in Rochdale is recorded in 1194 as Middelton, and is thought to be a reference to its position midway between Manchester and Rochdale. (For Lowry associations, see Appendix 1)
MIDDLETON JUNCTION is an area in Middleton in the Borough of Rochdale and Chadderton in the Borough of Oldham which was developed in the early 19^th century as an industrial area along the Rochdale Canal. The Manchester & Leeds Railway’s main line between the two cities was built in 1839 with a junction to Oldham Werneth and a station was opened on 31 March 1842. Initially named Oldham Junction, the station was renamed Middleton Junction in 1852. The station was closed in 1966 and demolished but the area surrounding it retains the name.
MIDLAND HOTEL is a large hotel in central Manchester opened in 1903 by the Midland Railway close to its Manchester Central station. It is said to have been the first building in Britain to be air-conditioned, and in 1904 Charles Rolls met Henry Royce there and formed the Rolls Royce car company.
MILE END is an area of Davenport in Stockport whose name means ‘place at the end of a mile’ from the centre of Stockport. The name is first recorded in 1587, when Alexander Lowe, the mayor of Stockport, was living in Mile End Hall, which stood on the main road from Manchester to London (now the A6).
MILES PLATTING is an inner-city suburb of Manchester lying approximately 2 kilometres north-east of the city centre. The name first appears in 1790 referring to a bridge that carried the Oldham Road over Newton Brook. The name comes from platting, a Lancashire dialect term for a ‘small bridge’, which was located a mile from the city centre.
MILLBROOK is a village near Stalybridge in the Borough of Tameside. The name literally means ‘the mill by the brook’ and is first recorded in 1831. The mills referred to were cotton mills that were built in the early part of the 19^th century and the brook is Swineshaw Brook (meaning ‘swine wood’), also first recorded in 1831, which flows through the village. The name was perhaps formalised when the London & North Western Railway opened a station called Staley & Millbrook in July 1886.
MILLS HILL is an industrial and residential area in east Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It lies on the Rochdale Canal and the River Irk. The name is not well documented and, although many textile mills were built in the area in the 19^th century, the name may be older and could refer to windmills or corn mills.
MILNROW is a town on the River Beal in the Borough of Rochdale that was part of Lancashire until 1974. The name is first recorded as Milnehuses in the 13^th century but had become Mylnerowe by 1554. The name means ‘row of houses by a mill’ from the Old English myln (‘mill’) + rāw (‘a row of houses, trees, etc’).
MIRRLEES FIELDS is a location in Hazel Grove in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport that includes the former factory site and recreational grounds of the Mirrlees Engineering Company. The company was established in Glasgow in 1840 but moved to Hazel Grove in 1908, producing diesel engines. It closed in 2000 and the land may be developed into a housing estate.
MITCHELL HEY is a residential area of Rochdale west of the town centre within a loop in the River Roch. The name is believed to be an eponym derived from the family name Mitchell + Old English hæg meaning ‘enclosure, hedged enclosure’. In 1859 the site was purchased from a Mr William Holt by the Rochdale Pioneers for a steam-powered weaving mill to be run on co-operative principles. The chairman at the time was J T W Mitchell (1828-1895), but the naming of the mill was coincidental. When the mill was demolished, a block of flats with the same name was erected on the site in the 1960s. In 2017 it was announced that this block would be demolished as part of a new housing scheme.
MODE WHEEL today is an industrial estate in the City of Salford beside the Manchester Ship Canal. The Mode Wheel locks were the last on the Manchester Ship Canal, lifting ships 4 metres to the level of Salford docks, and it was at the Mode Wheel locks that Queen Victoria officially opened the Manchester Ship Canal on 21 May 1894. The Mode Wheel locks pre-dated the Manchester Ship Canal by some 170 years, having originally been built in the late 1720s as one of the 8 sets of locks on the Mersey & Irwell Navigation, enabling ships to sail from Runcorn to Hunt’s Bank at Salford. The original Mode Wheel was a waterwheel that must have been constructed in the 16^th century or even earlier to power a corn mill. This was named Maud’s Mill but the name had been corrupted to ‘Mode Wheel’ by the 1720s. Maud cannot be identified with any certainty but a Maud de Worsley is known to have land in Pendleton, Woodhouses and Wallness in 1332.
MOLYNEUX BROW was a hamlet north-west of Clifton in the City of Salford. The name was recorded in the early 17^th century as Mullineux Brow and with its more modern spelling in 1853, when the East Lancashire Railway opened Molyneux Brow station, taking its name from a few cottages nearby. The name is assumed to be an eponym: a Norman from the town of Moulineaux (‘mill of the waters’) came over with William the Conqueror in 1066 and one of his descendants was given a manor in Sefton, outside Liverpool. The family were influential in Lancashire and two – Sir Thomas Molyneux and Sir William Molyneux – became sheriffs of the county in the late 15^th and early 16^th centuries.
MONKS HALL is a building in Eccles in the City of Salford. The original building is believed to date back to 1234 and took its name either from the monks of Whalley Abbey, who owned land in Eccles, or from the de Monks family, who are known to have lived in Eccles. Various buildings with various uses have stood on the site. The 17^th-century building was purchased by Eccles council in 1959 and converted into a museum, but this closed in the late 1980s. Much of the building was destroyed by fire in 2016 and there are currently plans to convert it into housing.
MONSALL is a suburb of Manchester, north-east of the city centre. The name was recorded as Monshalgh in 1546 and means ‘monk’s (Old English monke) corner or nook (halh)’.
MONTON is a residential area in the City of Salford, lying on Dean’s Brook, a tributary of the River Irwell. The name is recorded in 1190 as Mawinton, believed to mean ‘Mawinga’s or Mawa’s village or farmstead’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + tūn. An alternative suggestion is that the name may be derived from monk + tūn as it is known that there was a monastic community in the area in mediaeval times.
MONTSERRAT is a residential area north-east of Bolton. The name is Catalan, meaning ‘serrated or jagged mountain’. It is said that a row of cottages was built early in the 19^th century by an ex-soldier who had fought with the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War in Spain. In 1811 and 1812 the monastery at Montserrat in Catalonia in north-east Spain was destroyed by Napoleon’s troops and the builder named the cottages to commemorate the monastery. In the 1930s the cottages were demolished and, after the war, an estate was built and given the name Montserrat. The estate now seems to be called Johnson Fold but Montserrat still appears on maps as the name of the area.
MOORGATE is a residential area north of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, formerly in Cheshire. The name is recorded in 1831 and literally means ‘gateway to the moors’, referring to its location close to the moors of the Derbyshire Peak District to the east.
MOORSIDE is a suburb of north-east Oldham, close to the moors of Saddleworth. The name is recorded in 1843 as Moor Side, literally meaning ‘beside the moors’.
MORRIS GREEN is a residential area south of Daubhill in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is not well documented but is said to be an eponym meaning ‘the bleaching green belonging to someone named Morris’. This refers to the practice of laying newly-made cloth out on a grass plot to be bleached by the sun. The Oxford English Dictionary records the first use of green with this meaning in 1738.
MOSES GATE is a residential area of Farnworth in the Borough of Bolton, about 4 kilometres south of Bolton town centre and 17.5 kilometres north-west of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded as Moss Gate in 1818 but is probably mediaeval in origin, deriving from Old English mos (‘a bog or swamp) + Old Norse gata (‘a road, a street’). The original meaning would have been ‘the road across the swamp’, but was rationalised to Moses, despite having nothing to do with the Biblical character.
MOSLEY COMMON is a residential area of Tyldesley in the east of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is recorded in 1301 as Mosseld Yard, meaning ‘the woodland clearing near a swamp’, from Old English mos (‘marsh, swamp’) + lēah (‘wood, clearing’). The use of yard at this early date would probably be from Old English geard (‘an enclosure; a court-yard’). The use of common rather than yard is found in 1747, when Mosley Common was said to be 14 hectares in area.
MOSS BANK PARK is an 85-hectare public park in Bolton opened to the public in 1928. The site was formerly an estate belonging to Peter Ainsworth, a bleacher from Halliwell. The estate included a country house, Halliwell Hall, and fields which were for the sun-bleaching of newly-made cloth. Moss Bank is a common name in the north-west, deriving from the Old English mos (‘marsh, swamp’) + banke (‘slope of a hill’).
MOSSLEY is a town beside the River Tame in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, about 15 kilometres east of Manchester city centre. It was formerly divided between Lancashire, Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, but in 1889 it was allocated wholly to Lancashire. In 1974 it was included in Greater Manchester. The name is recorded in 1319 as Moselegh and with its modern spelling from 1422. It means ‘woodland clearing near a swamp’, from Old English mos (‘marsh, swamp’) + lēah (‘wood, clearing’).
MOSS PARK GARDENS is a small public space in Timperley in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The area is referred to in 1765 as a ‘parcel of moss ground’, from the old English mos meaning ‘marsh, swamp’. By the 1830s it seems to have been drained as it is recorded as a farm and orchard. The land was sold to Altrincham Borough Council in 1940 and laid out as a small park in 1974.
MOSS SIDE is a residential area of Manchester, south of the city centre. The name is recorded in 1530 as Mossyde and with its modern two-word spelling in 1594, meaning ‘beside or edge of the swamp’, from Old English mos (‘marsh, swamp’) + side (‘beside’). The name describes the pre-industrial landscape of much of Manchester which shocked Defoe in about 1725: ‘The nature of these mosses, for we found there are many of them in this country … at a distance, looks black and dirty, and is indeed frightful to think of’.
MOSTON is suburb of Manchester lying about 5 kilometres north-east of the city centre. The name Moston was first recorded in 1195 and is derived from Old English mos, meaning ‘bog or swamp’+ tūn, ’settlement or farm’.
MOTTRAM IN LONGDENDALE is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, although part of Cheshire until 1974. The name is recorded in 1308 as Mottram in Longedenedale. Mottram is usually said to mean ‘place of the speakers’ or ‘place where meetings are held’, from the Old English mōtere (‘speaker at an assembly’) or mōt (‘meeting, assembly of people’) + rūm (‘room, space’). Another possibility is that Mottram comes from the Celtic moch (‘pigs’) + tref (‘homestead, village’). Longdendale was added to distinguish it from Mottram St Andrew in Cheshire, and refers to the long valley of the River Etherow. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
MUDD or The MUDD is a hamlet in Mottram in Longdendale in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is recorded in 1845 but it is evident that there has been a settlement since mediaeval times. The name literally means ‘mud’, from the Old English mudde.
MUMPS is an area of Oldham which is said to take its name from the 17^th-century slang term mumper, meaning ‘a genteel beggar’. The name seems to have been formalised by a station originally built by the Manchester & Leeds Railway in July 1856 and perpetuated by a Metrolink tram stop named Oldham Mumps, which re-opened in 2014.
MYTHAM is a residential area in Little Lever in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton that also gives its name to Mytham Park. The name is not well documented but Mytham Farm is recorded in 1805. The name comes from the Old English gemȳthu + hām, meaning ‘village at the confluence of streams or rivers’, referring to confluence of the Croal and Irwell south-west of Little Lever.

NADEN BROOK is a tributary of the River Roch. It rises above Norden in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale and flows southwards to join the Roch in Heywood. Naden Brook is recorded as Nauedenbrok in the 13^th century and means ‘peak valley stream’, from Old English nafu (‘nave, hub of a wheel’) + denu (‘valley’) + brōc (‘stream’). The valley and the brook gave their name to settlements called Naden on the hillside above, and nafu here probably refers to the shape of Knoll Hill, which rises to a height of 420 metres.

NAILER’S GREEN or NAILER’S FIELD is the former name of the village of Greenmount in Tottington in the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name was taken from a pub called the Nailer’s, but the pub was demolished and a local community group campaigned for the village to be renamed. A sign with the new name was unveiled in 2016.

NAVIGATION ROAD is a street in Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, and also a station, originally opened in 1931, that serves both Northern Rail trains and Metrolink trams. The name refers to the nearby Bridgewater Canal, which was originally referred to as a ‘navigation’. A navigation is a river that has been straightened and dredged to make it navigable, rather than a totally artificial canal. The word in this sense dates from 1720, and the Mersey & Irwell Navigation Act of 1720 was one of the very first uses.

NEWALL GREEN is a district in Wythenshawe in the City of Manchester, south of the city centre. The name is taken from Newall Green Farm, which is thought to go back at least as far as the 16^th century and which still exists today, although much of the farmland has been used for residential development since 1937. The name is recorded in 1841 as New Hall Green but the current spelling is found from 1842. It comes from the Old English nīwe + halh, meaning ‘new nook of land or new piece of dry ground’, perhaps referring to a newly-drained piece of land in an area with many streams.

NEW BAILEY was originally a prison in Salford, the largest in England at the time, built in 1787-1790 to the designs of John Howard (1726-1790), after whom the Howard League for Prison Reform is named. The jail was paid for by Thomas Butterworth Bayley (1744-1802), the High Sheriff of Lancashire, and named ‘New Bailey’ to distinguish it from the Old Bailey in London. The prison was closed in 1868 when the new Strangeways prison was opened. A bridge with the same name was built over the River Irwell in 1783-1785, but this too was demolished and replaced by the Albert Bridge in 1843-1844. (For Valette paintings, see Appendix 2)

NEW BARRACKS is a residential estate built by Salford Corporation in 1900-1904. It takes its name from the Salford Infantry Barracks, built in 1819 and closed down in 1896. The land was then purchased by Salford Corporation and transformed into one of the first housing estates in what is now Greater Manchester. Coronation Street was one of the streets on the estate. See also Barrack Park

NEWBOLD is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in about 1200 as Neubolt, but the modern spelling is found by about 1300. It means ‘new building’ from Old English nīwe (‘new’) + bold (‘building; dwelling’), but it is uncertain what buildings are referred to.

NEW EARTH is a residential and commercial area of Oldham beside New Earth Street and south-east of the town centre. The name is Biblical and refers to the ending of the world: ‘we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells’. The name seems to date from the 19^th century and was probably given by the Moravian church, who were established in Oldham in 1824 and named nearby Salem.

NEWHEY is a suburban village near Milnrow in the Borough of Rochdale. It seems to have developed from the enclosure of surrounding moorland and this is reflected in the ‘new’ part of its name, which was first recorded in 1828. The second element, hey, is older, probably from the Old English hæg, meaning ‘fence or enclosure’.

NEW ISLINGTON is an inner-city area of Ancoats in the City of Manchester that has recently undergone regeneration. The name is recorded in the late 18^th century, and in the 19^th century it was applied both to a street and a cotton mill dating from 1788. The name was originally a move to gentrify the area by adopting the name of the fashionable London district of Islington, but the area acquired a reputation that was far from fashionable and the name fell out of use. Nevertheless, residents of the newly-regenerated area chose to resurrect the name after the millennium. Islington in London is a mediaeval eponymic name meaning ‘hill of a man called Gīsla’. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

NEW JACKSON is a regeneration area in central Manchester and Hulme described by the developers as a ‘new community’ or a ‘skyscraper district’. The name is recorded in 2024 but dates back to a farm in the 16th or 17^th centuries or even earlier. ‘Mr Jackson’s Farm’ appears on a map of 1831 but the urbanisation and industrialisation of the area was already under way by that date: Jackson’s grain warehouse was built in 1836 and a police station was built on Jackson Street (later renamed Great Jackson Street) in 1843. The regeneration project was initially known as the Great Jackson Street scheme, but this morphed into ‘New Jackson’ once the project had been approved and is now part of what is sometimes called Manc-hattan.

NEW MANCHESTER is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. It dates from the early 19^th century, when miners moved here from Manchester to work in the Duke of Bridgewater’s collieries and transferred the names of the streets from the City of Manchester to the village.

NEW SIRS See OLD SIRS

NEWTON is the most common place name in England, with at least 87 towns or villages carrying the name. All mean ‘the new settlement’ from the Old English nīwe + tūn.

NEWTON, Tameside is an area of Hyde that was formerly in Cheshire. The name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Neweton and with its modern spelling in 1320. See Domesday Book box

NEWTON HEATH is a residential area of the City of Manchester, 4.5 kilometres north-east of the city centre. The name Newton is recorded in 1322 but much of Newton was absorbed into Miles Platting in the 19^th century and the name fell into disuse. The remaining portion was given the name Newton Heath, meaning ‘the heath beside Newton’. The full name Newton Heath dates from 1843 and was formalised by the opening of Newton Heath station by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway on 1 December 1853.

NEW WINDSOR See WINDSOR

NICO DITCH is a 10-kilometre defensive ditch and fortification between Ashton-under-Lyne and Stretford. It is believed to have been constructed at some time between the 5^th and the 11^th centuries, and parts can still be seen today. According to legend, it was built in just one night in 869-870 to guard against Viking invaders. It is recorded in 1190 as Mykeldiche, meaning ‘large or great ditch’, from the Old English micel (‘big, great’). Over time, the name became corrupted to ‘Nico’. It is said that Reddish, meaning ‘reedy ditch’, refers to Nico Ditch, which at one time formed the northern border of the settlement.

NIMBLE NOOK is a residential area south-west of Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1825 but is probably much older. Middle English nok means ‘a triangular plot of land’, but the derivation and meaning of Nimble are unclear.

NOB END is a 9-hectare nature reserve near Little Lever and Kearsley in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is recorded in 1824 as the village of Knob End, from the Middle English knob or nob, meaning ‘a knoll, round-topped promontory’, and referring to the shape of a nearby small hill some 10 metres high at the confluence of the Rivers Croad and Irwell. Later in the century, between 1850 and 1870, the site was used as a toxic tip for alkali waste. The name is sometimes considered vulgar and the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal preferred Prestolee Locks to Nob End Locks.

NORBURY is a district and former mining village in Hazel Grove in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport which was formerly included in Cheshire. It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Nordberie, from the Old English nord, meaning ‘north’ and burh, meaning ‘settlement’. The southern equivalent would be Sudbury. Sudbury in Derbyshire is about 80 kilometres south-east of Norbury and is also mentioned in the Domesday Book.

See Domesday Book box

NORDEN is a village on the western edge of the town of Rochdale on the north bank of the River Roch. The name is said to be recent but its origin is uncertain. One suggestion is that it is a corruption of Naden, from Old English nafu (‘nave, hub of a wheel’) + denu (‘valley’), as Naden Brook rises nearby. More plausibly, it describes its location and means ‘northern valley’, deriving from the Old English north + denu. On the opposite bank lies Sudden, meaning ‘southern valley’.

NORDEN ETCHELLS or NORTHERN ETCHELLS See ETCHELLS

NORLEY is a residential area east of Wigan. The name is recorded in 1293 as Nortlegh and means ‘northern clearing’, from the Old English north + lēah (‘wood, clearing’).

NORTHENDEN is a southern suburb of the Borough of Manchester. It was formerly in Cheshire and lies on the southern banks of the River Mersey, which was the traditional border between Lancashire and Cheshire. Northenden was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Norwordine, and was recorded simply as Northern as late as 1577. The name comes from the Old English north + worthign, meaning ‘northern enclosed settlement’. The Stockport Timperley & Altrincham Junction Railway opened Northenden station in February 1866 and the railway, together with the development of housing estates following its absorption by the City of Manchester in 1931, saw the area develop from a rural into a suburban community. See Domesday Book box

NORTHERN MOOR is a residential area of the City of Manchester, approximately 8 kilometres south of the city centre. It was previously in Cheshire and seen as part of Northenden, which lies to the east. The name is not well documented but was formerly spelled ‘Northen Moor’, meaning ‘the moor of Northenden’, but over time the name was rationalised to ‘Northern’.

NORTHERN QUARTER is an entertainment and commercial area of Manchester city centre north of Piccadilly Gardens in the area formerly occupied by Smithfield Market. The name was given in the 1990s by local people to identify the vibrant cultural lifestyle and nightlife of the area.

NORTH MOOR or NORTHMOOR is a south-western suburb of Oldham. The name is not well documented before 1868, when the North Moor Wesleyan Church was opened, although it is known that the North Moor Primitive Methodist Society had meetings in a cellar for several years previously. The residents of North Moor Road are listed in the 1851 and it may be that North Moor Road led west to Westwood, which is built on a hillside known as North Moor.

NORTHUMBRIA was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom or province in the north of England, and included all of what is now Greater Manchester. The name is recorded in the 10^th-century Anglo Saxon Chronicle, which states that ‘In this year (AD 923), in late autumn, King Edward the Elder (son of Alfred the Great) went … to occupy Manchester in Northumbria, and had it repaired and garrisoned’. The name means ‘north of the Humber’ but in the west the River Mersey marked the boundary between Mercia and Northumbria.

NUTSFORD VALE today is a country park in east Manchester close to Gorton, Levenshulme and Longsight. Early in the 19^th century it was a farm spelled Knutsford Vale but later in the century various factories were built and the spelling became Nutsford Vale. By the 1980s it had become a landfill site, which was transformed into a country park by 2017. The name is clearly linked to Knutsford in Cheshire in some way, although the modern spelling somewhat obscures this. Knutsford is an eponym derived from the Viking personal name Knut + Old English ford. It is sometimes said that Knut was King Canute, but this is probably folk etymology.

NUTTALL PARK is a 10.7-hectare park on the River Irwell close to Ramsbottom town centre in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. It takes its name from the ‘forgotten’ village of Nuttall, which was recorded in 1256 as Noteho, meaning ‘bare or nut hill’, from the Old English hnott (‘bare, bald’) or hnutu (‘nut’) + hōh (‘heel; spur of land’), referring to a hill to the west of the Irwell on which the village stood. Nuttall Park was opened in 1928.

OAKENBOTTOM is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, formerly in Lancashire. The name is recorded in 1246 as Akinbothun, meaning ‘oaks in the valley bottom’, from Old English acen (‘oaken: growing with oak-trees’) + botm (‘a broad river-valley’).

OAK MEADOW PARK is a small park in the centre of Cheadle Hulme in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It stands on the site of a Victorian residence, Oak Cottage, which took its name from a large tree in the garden. Oak Cottage had been demolished by 1937 and Oak Meadow Park was laid out on the site, apparently still with the original large oak tree.

OCTAGON THEATRE is a theatre in Bolton that opened in 1967. The auditorium is actually hexagonal, but there was already a theatre in Reading called ‘The Hexagon’ and so the new Bolton theatre was named ‘The Octagon’.

OFFERTON is a south-eastern suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport that was in Cheshire until 1974. The are several places in England named Offerton, but the first record of Offerton in Cheshire dates from 1248 with the current spelling. The name is said to consist of a personal name such as Offa or Oftfōr + tūn, meaning ‘farmstead or village’.

OGDEN is a hamlet in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale that also gives its name to Ogden Reservoir, which was built in 1878 to supply drinking water to Oldham. The name is first recorded in 1246 as Akeden, meaning ‘oak valley’ from the Old English āc, meaning ‘oak’ + denu, ‘valley’.

OLDFIELD BROW is a residential area on the western edge of Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The name means ‘the hill of the old open-field’, from Old English ald (‘ancient, long-used’) + feld (‘open country; land cleared of trees’) + bru (‘brow of a hill’). The name is found in Oldfield Hall, which was built in 1616 and some of the land in which it stood was donated to Altrincham Council in 1917 as John Leigh Park. In the 1920s, the Oldfield Brow estate was built in the area.

OLDHAM is a town and, since 1974, one of the ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester. It was formerly part of Lancashire. Its name is first recorded in about 1227 as Aldholm, meaning ‘old promontory’, from Old English ald, meaning ‘old’ + Old Norse holmr, ‘dry land, promontory’. ‘Old’ may refer to an older settlement or may mean that the site had been occupied for a long time. Suggestions that Oldham was named because of the local presence of owls are folk etymology, although owls have become the town’s symbol and feature in its coat of arms.

OLD SIRS and NEW SIRS are residential and recreational areas of Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The names are said to derive from the family name of John and Richard de Sire, who were recorded as being resident in the area in 1332.

OLD TAME is a hamlet south-west of Denshaw to the west of the River Tame, from which it takes its name. Both Old Tame and New tame, a smaller settlement on the eastern side of the Tame valley, were originally outlying estates of Roche Abbey. The names are recorded in 1729 but probably date from much earlier.

OLD TRAFFORD is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford which lends its name to Lancashire County Cricket Club’s ground (opened in 1857) and Manchester United’s football stadium, which was opened in 1910. The name Trafford is first recorded in 1786 and is a variation of the neighbouring Stretford, both meaning ‘ford over the Roman road’, from strǣt, ‘street, especially a Roman road’, + ford, ‘ford’ across the River Mersey. The ‘old’ part of the name is thought to refer to the older of the two Trafford Halls. The original or Old Hall is believed to have been built in about 1017, but was replaced by the New Hall in the last quarter of the 17th century or the first quarter of the 18^th.

OLIVER CLOUGH is a small valley in Boggart Hole Clough country park in Blackley in the City of Manchester. It is said to be named after Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), whose Parliamentarian troops camped in the area during the siege of Manchester in 1643 in the Civil War.

OPENSHAW is a suburb of the City of Manchester, about 5 kilometres east of the city centre. The name is first recorded in 1276 as Openshawe, meaning ‘open wood’, i.e. one that is not enclosed, referring to a park belonging to the Lord of Manchester, Robert Grelley. It is composed of the Old English open, meaning ‘open or unenclosed’ + sceaga, ‘wood’.

OPENSHAW PARK is a public park of about 5 hectares in Pimhole, outside Bury town centre. The park was established with land and funds donated by Thomas Openshaw, a local woollen manufacturer. The park was opened in July 1888 by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), who also held the title Duke of Clarence, and named after Thomas Openshaw.

ORDSALL is a suburb of the City of Salford. The name is first recorded in 1177 as Ordeshala, meaning ‘Ord’s or Ordric’s nook’. Ord is a personal name and the second element is –halh, meaning ‘a corner or nook’. This comes from the position of Ordsall within a large bend in the River Irwell.

ORLANDO BRIDGE is a road viaduct that carries Orlando Street across the railway in Bolton town centre close to the station. The bridge was originally built by the Manchester & Bolton Railway in 1838 and both street and bridge were named after Sir Orlando Bridgeman, a 17^th-century lawyer from nearby Great Lever. The bridge was rebuilt in 2016.

ORRELL is a suburb of Wigan, sometimes known as Orrell-in-Makerfield. The name is first recorded in 1202 as Horhill but Orell is found before the end of the 13^th century. Orrell means ‘ore hill’ from Old English ōra + hyll, believed to be a reference to ancient iron ore workings rather than coal mining.

ORRELL POST or ORREL POST is a residential area north of Orrell in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan around a landmark known as the Orrell Post, a stone column 3.3 metres tall outside the Stag Inn recorded in 1607. The original purpose of the post is uncertain: some people suggest it was a tethering post for Stag Inn patrons, but it is usually said to be turnpike marker stone at or near a crossroads.

OUTWOOD is district of Radcliffe in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury that also gives its name to Outwood Country Park. The name dates back to around 1200 and was known as Outwood of Pilkington. It means ‘outlying wood’ or ‘wood on the outskirts’ and refers to land on the banks of the River Irwell. The name is derived from the Old English ūt, meaning ‘outside, on the outskirts’ + wudu, ‘wood, coppice’.

OVER HULTON See HULTON

OWENS PARK was a large hall of residence complex in the Fallowfield area south of Manchester city centre. It was built by the University of Manchester in 1964-1965 but shut down in 2021 and demolished in 2024 for redevelopment. It was named after John Owens (1790-1846), who was a Manchester merchant and one of the principal donors who founded the university (initially called Owens College) in 1824.

OWLER BARROW or ALDER BARROW is a residential area west of Bury. The place and name are not well documented. The area is said to be post-mediaeval and appears as Alder Barrow on 19^th-century maps, but the spelling is altered to Owler Barrow by the late 19^th century and early 20^th century. In fact, the spelling change does not alter the meaning as owler is a dialect word for an alder-tree. The name, therefore, would mean ‘alder wood’, from Old English Old English alor (‘an alder’) + bearu (‘wood, grove’).

OXFORD PARK is a 3-hectare recreation ground in the Guide Bridge area of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name originates in the late 18^th or early 19^th century, when Oxford Street was built between the main Stockport Road and the newly-built Ashton canal. In 1845 Thomas Mason (1782-1868) built the first of his Oxford Mills, which were later run by his son, Hugh Mason (1817-1886). In 1870, Hugh Mason presented the mills’ sports ground to the town. Hugh Mason’s statue was later erected close by in Trafalgar Square and the mills were destroyed by fire in 2019.

OXFORD ROAD is a main road through Chorlton-on-Medlock from Manchester city centre at St Peter’s Square to Whitworth Park. It was originally named in 1793-1794, when Chorlton was gentrified and adopted prestigious names such as Oxford, Cambridge and Grosvenor for its principal streets. The opening of Oxford Road station by the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway in 1839 and Owens College (now the University of Manchester) in 1873 led to what has become known as the ‘Oxford Road Corridor’, with educational institutions, hospitals and cultural venues. It is planned to develop this area further as ‘Corridor Manchester’ by the mid-2020s. (For Valette pictures, see Appendix 2)

PACKER SPOUT GARDENS is a small public park south-west of Rochdale town centre. The gardens were opened in 1934 and laid out round Packer Spout, a fountain in an oval-shaped pool fed by a natural spring. The spring fed a reservoir which was built in 1760 which was used to supply water from drinking and also to power a corn mill until it was demolished in 1934. The name is a shortening of packhorse, as horses stopped there to drink in earlier times.

PADDINGTON is a residential area of Pendleton in the City of Salford. It is not well documented before 1846, when it was created as a parish. The name would seem to be an example of gentrification – when a prestigious name of a district of London is adopted in an attempt to elevate the reputation of an area. Paddington in London is recorded in about 1045 and means ‘the farm or homestead belonging to Padda’.

PAINSWICK PARK is a public park in Woodhouse Park in Wythenshawe in southern Manchester. It was originally a farm that was taken over in the late 1950s as a landfill site. In 1962, it was acquired by Manchester council and opened in 1968 as a park with an artificial lake. The name is not well documented but there is a Painswick in Gloucestershire which is an eponym derived from the personal name Pain + wiche (‘a farm, especially a dairy farm’).

PALATINE BRIDGE is a road bridge across the River Irwell between Salford and Manchester. It was built in 1864 to provide better access to Victoria Station, which had been opened in 1843. It was sited beside and so took its name from the Palatine Hotel and the Palatine Buildings, which were named after the County Palatine of Lancaster. Lancashire was made a county palatine in 1351 to indicate that it was administered by the Duke of Lancaster through powers conferred by the palace (Latin palatium), i.e. by the monarch.

PANKHURST CENTRE is a museum and women’s centre in Chorlton-on-Medlock in central Manchester commemorating the life and work of Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) and the suffragette movement. The centre is housed in a pair of villas in Nelson Street. Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters lived in No. 62 from 1898 and established the suffragette movement there in 1903. The centre was opened in 1987. A statue to Emmeline Pankhurst was unveiled in St Peter’s Square in 2018.

PARK BRIDGE is a village north of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It takes its name from the Park Bridge Ironworks, which were established in 1786 and developed as a village in the second quarter of the 19^th century as housing was provided for the workers. The name of the company came from nearby Lyme Park and a bridge over the River Medlock beside the works. The company made rivets for the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Titanic, but closed in 1963 and the site is now the Park Bridge Heritage Centre.

PARKFIELD is an area of Middleton, about 9 kilometres north-east of Manchester in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name originated with Parkfield House, which was built by a local magistrate, Thomas Ashton, and apparently named to reflect the house’s landscaped grounds. Middleton became a municipal borough in 1886 and it acquired Parkfield House as its town hall in 1925. The house was demolished in 1978.

PARR FOLD PARK is a 7.4-hectare public park in Walkden in the City of Salford. The name appears as Parrfold Farmhouse in the late 17^th or early 18^th century and is probably an eponym, but it is not known who the Parr was who owned the fold – the name for a small farmstead, many of which had coal mines. In 1905 Worsley Urban District Council purchased the land on which the farmstead stood and opened it as a public park.

PARRS WOOD is a residential area of East Didsbury in south Manchester. The name is said to be recorded in 1587 and it would seem to be an eponym, but who the Parr was that owned the wood is unclear. There were several Parr families in the area but none can be traced as far back as the late 16^th century. It has been suggested that they may have been related to Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Katherine Parr, but there would seem to be no proof of this.

PARSONAGE GARDENS is a small garden in the centre of Manchester just off Deansgate. The site was originally known as Parsonage Croft and dates from 1635 as the site of the home of the parson of the original St Mary’s Church (now Manchester Cathedral). A new church was built on the site in 1756 but was demolished in 1891, followed by Parsonage House in 1897. The site then became Parsonage Gardens and has remained a tranquil garden, apart from the detonation of an IRA bomb on 3 December 1992.

PARTINGTON is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford about 16 kilometres south-west of Manchester city centre on the south bank of Manchester Ship Canal. It was part of Bowdon parish in Cheshire until 1974. The name is first recorded in 1260 as Partinton and with its modern spelling in 1577. It means the ‘the farm (-tūn) of the people of followers of (-inga-) Pearta’.

PATRICROFT is a suburb of the City of Salford. Patricroft was a bridging point on the earliest section of the Bridgewater Canal when it was opened on 17 July 1761. It was also a bridging point for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830, and Patricroft station was opened on 15 September of that year, making it one of the earliest railway stations in the world. It soon developed into an industrial area because of its position by the canal and railway, and also because it had clean air and was felt to be healthier than the centre of industrial Manchester. Croft means ‘enclosure, enclosed field’, while Patri- may be from the Middle English pertre (‘pear-tree’) or, more likely, a version of the personal name Patrick.

The PEAK DISTRICT is a hilly area mostly in Derbyshire but some places in eastern Great Manchester can be said to be in the Peak District. The name is eponymous: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of the late 9^th century refers to the area as the Peaclond, meaning the land of the Pecsætan tribe. The tribe’s name means ‘hill dwellers’, from Old English pēac (‘peak, pointed hill’) + sǣte (‘dwellers, settlers’).

PEAR MILL or PEAR NEW MILL is a retail location in Bredbury in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It was originally built as a cotton spinning mill in 1908-1913 and was possibly the last textile mill in Stockport to go into production. It was built beside the River Goyt on the site of Pear Tree Farm, from which it takes its name. The name is celebrated by a gigantic concrete pear-shaped dome on the roof. The mill was closed in 1978 and converted into retail outlets.

PEEL is a residential area of Worsley in the City of Salford, which includes a park, which is not to be confused with Peel Park in Salford. The name is taken from Peel Hall, a stately home previously known as Wicheaves Hall. Wicheaves is recorded in 1323 and means ‘the edge of the elm wood’, from Old English wice (‘wych-elm’) + efes (‘an edge or border, especially of a wood’). Wicheaves Hall was renamed Peel Hall at the end of the 18^th century, referring back to a 12^th century name, Peel, from the Old English peel, ‘a palisade, a fortified enclosure’.

PEEL CAUSEWAY was the name for part of what is now Hale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. It is recorded as Peel Causeway Farm in 1701, although a place named Peel was found in the area in 1462. It is probably derived from the Old English peel, ‘a palisade, a fortified enclosure’, and the causeway was part of what is now Ashley Road. The name was formalised as Peel Causeway when the Cheshire Midland Railway opened a station with this name in 1862 but the name of the village was dropped when in was incorporated into Hale in 1900 and the station name was also changed to Hale in 1902.

PEEL CENTRE is a retail area close to the centre of Stockport town centre. It was first developed in 1987 and expanded in 2010. It was built by the Peel Group, a property company founded in the 1960s by John Whittaker, who came from Bury and was so inspired by Bury-born prime minister Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) that he named the company after him. The company also now own the Manchester Ship Canal.

PEEL HALL is a suburb of the City of Manchester on the eastern side of Wythenshawe, about 14.5 kilometres south of Manchester city centre. It takes its name from a mediaeval moated country house originally built in the 14^th century by Sir John de Arderne named The Peele, from the Middle English pel, meaning ‘a moated and fortified house’. The house was derelict by the 1960s and was demolished.

PEEL PARK is a large park in Salford opened in 1846 and named after Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), a former prime minister who did a lot to promote and fund public parks in Victorian England. In 1850, the Salford Museum and Art Gallery was built overlooking the park. In 1896 Salford Royal Technical Institute was opened and this now forms part of the Peel Campus of the University of Salford. (For Lowry pictures of Peel Park, see Appendix 1)

PEEL TOWER or PEEL MONUMENT is a 39-metre memorial on Holcombe Hill in Ramsbottom in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. It was built in 1850-1852 to commemorate Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), a former prime minister and founder of the modern police force, who was born in Bury. There are also places in Australia, Canada and New Zealand named after Peel.

PEINE SQUARE is a public space in front of the civic centre in Heywood in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The square is named after the German town of Peine in Lower Saxony, with which Heywood has been twinned since 1967. Peine is said to be named after Berthold von Pagin, a 12^th century knight.

PEMBERTON is a suburb of Wigan on the banks of the River Douglas. The name is first recorded in 1212 as Penberton, meaning ‘barley hill settlement’ from the Celtic penn (‘hill’) or Old English penn (‘enclosure’) + Old English bere (‘barley’) + tūn (‘enclosure, village’). Pemberton is found at the foot of a 95-metre hill named Orrell, which gave its name to the nearby suburb of Orrell.

PENDLEBURY is a town in the City of Salford about 6 kilometres north-west of Manchester. The name is recorded as Penelbiri in 1202 but the modern spelling was not adopted until after 1567. The name means ‘fort on a hill’, with reduplication of Celtic and Old English elements meaning ‘hill’, from the Celtic pen (‘hill’) + Old English –hyll (‘hill’) + burh (‘fort’). (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

PENDLETON is an inner-city suburb north-west of the City of Salford. The name is first recorded in 1200 as Penelton, meaning ‘the tūn or village of or near Penhill’. Pendleton is on a 70-metre ridge and it is believed that this must at one time have been called Penhyll from Celtic pen (‘hill’) + Old English –hyll (‘hill’).

The PENNINES are a range of hills running along the spine of England and some of the places in north-eastern Greater Manchester can be said to be on the slopes of the Pennines. The name was not coined until about 1747s, when Charles Bertram fraudulently claimed to have found it in a 14^th century manuscript. The name is thought to have been influenced by or copied from the Apennines, the Italian mountain chain. The origin of this name is usually given as the Celtic penn, meaning ‘mountain top’.

PENNINGTON is a suburb of Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is first recorded in 1246 as Pinington, usually said to mean ‘a village or farmstead paying a penny rent’, from Old English pening + tūn. Alternatively, it could be an eponym meaning ‘a settlement belonging to a man named Pinna’. Pennington gives its name to Pennington Brook and Pennington Flash Country Park.

PENNINGTON FLASH COUNTRY PARK is a 490-hectare recreational area near Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan which forms part of the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh. The park, opened in 1981, is centred on Pennington Flash, a 70-hectare lake created in the early 20^th century by subsidence from Bickershaw colliery. The name comes from the nearby township of Pennington + flash, a lake formed by subsidence. Pennington Brook is a 3.5-kilometre stream that flows out of Pennington Flash before joining Glaze Brook.

‘PERSONCHESTER’ is a name that has been suggested (despite the etymology and Manchester’s record in promoting women’s rights) as a non-sexist version of Manchester. The suggestion goes back at least as far as 1977 but a 2017 campaign to change the name of Manchester United football club came to nothing. However, another campaign was later launched in 2023 to change the name of the city.

PHILIPS PARK is a 12.5-hectare public park in the Bradford area of east Manchester. It was originally part of Pilkington Deer Park but was opened on 22 August 1846 as one of the first municipal parks in the world and was named after Mark Philips (1800-1873), who was one of Manchester’s first two MPs and who campaigned for public parks in the industrialised towns and cities of Victorian England.

PICCADILLY is a district in central Manchester. The name was first applied in 1780 to a street that had previously been known as Lever’s Row, and was then used for the surrounding district, which had been called Daub Holes (see Daubhill), by about 1812. The name came from the affluent area of Piccadilly in London and is another example of gentrification – trying to improve the image of an area by transferring a fashionable or aristocratic name from elsewhere. In time, the name was applied to the nearby Piccadilly Gardens and Piccadilly station. Piccadilly in London took its name in the mid-17^th century from the French piccadill, a kind of stiff collar that was made in the area.

PICCADILLY GARDENS are a public open space with a bus station in central Manchester. The gardens were laid out in the 1930s after the demolition of the original Manchester Royal Infirmary in 1910, and named after the nearby street of Piccadilly. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

PICCADILLY STATION is Manchester’s principal railway station. It was opened on 8 May 1842 by the Manchester & Birmingham and Sheffield Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester railways as Store Street. The Manchester & Birmingham’s successor, the London & North Western Railway, renamed it London Road in 1847. In 1960, following electrification and modernisation, it was renamed Piccadilly after the nearby Piccadilly Gardens.

PICKLEY GREEN is a village about 3.2 kilometres north of Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is not well documented before the opening of a colliery in 1804 but the village church dates from the 12^th century. There are different suggestions for its origin. One is that it is an eponym: Anglo-Saxon personal name Pic or Picco (perhaps related to pike, the mediaeval weapon) + Old English lēah (‘woodland clearing’). Perhaps more likely is Middle English pightle, meaning ‘a small field or enclosure, a croft’.

PIETHORNE BROOK is a tributary of the River Beal that rises on the moors at Rock Stones Hill, south-east of Littleborough, and flows south-west through a series of reservoirs (including Ogden and Rooden Reservoirs) constructed in 1858-1878 to meet the Beal at Milnrow. The name is not well documented but it is said come from Middle English pie (‘magpie’) + thorn (‘hawthorn-tree’), both of which are found in the area.

PILKINGTON is (or was) a residential district of Prestwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury beside the River Irwell where it meets the River Croal. The name is recorded in 1202 as Pulkinton and with its modern spelling in 1246. It is an eponym, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Pilheard or Pileca + inga (‘belonging to’) + tūn (‘enclosure, farmstead, village’).

PILSWORTH is a residential area of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is recorded in 1243 as Pylesworth, an eponym meaning ‘Pil’s settlement’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Pil or Pilheard + Old English worth (‘enclosure, settlement’).

PITSES is a small residential area close to the River Medlock and east of Alt in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. Pitses goes back to mediaeval times and it has been suggested that it may be a reduplicated plural of pits, perhaps indicating early coal workings in the area.

PLANK LANE is a residential area on the western edge of Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is not well documented before the building of Plank Lane Lock on the Leigh branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in 1819, but the name may refer to an earlier wooden or plank bridge across marshy or flooded land from the Middle English plank or plaunke.

PLATT BRIDGE is a residential area of Wigan, about 3 kilometres south-east of the town centre. The name is found in 1212 as Platte and as Plat Bridge in 1599. The name is an example of reduplication as Middle English plat actually means ‘a footbridge’, presumably referring to a bridge over the nearby Borsdane Brook.

PLATT FIELDS PARK is a 2.4-hectare park in Rusholme, south of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in 1150, when the ‘lands of Platt’ were given to the Knights of St John. This suggests that the name is an eponym and the Platt family are known to have owned an estate in this area from the 13^th to the 17^th centuries. The estate was purchased by the City of Manchester in 1908 and opened to the public as Platt Fields Park in 1910.

The PLAZA is a cinema and theatre off Mersey Square in Stockport. It was built in an extravagant art deco style with a rising organ and opened on 7 October 1932. It was named the Plaza – a popular name for cinemas in the north-west of England at the time, derived from the Spanish for space or market. It closed as a cinema on 31 December 1966 and was converted to a bingo hall. In March 2000 it was sold to the Stockport Plaza Trust, refurbished and re-opened as a cinema and theatre on 7 October 2000. It now has Grade II listing and is frequently used for period films and TV dramas.

POBGREEN or POB GREEN is a hamlet east of Uppermill in the area of Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1725 but it is known that the church and adjoining settlement date back to mediaeval times. The origin of the name is obscure, but may derive from the dialect term pob, meaning ‘waste material from the manufacture of flax or other textiles’, but this cannot be confirmed. It is known that textile production, including flax, was carried out in the area from the 18^th century and perhaps earlier.

POCKET or The POCKET is a residential and industrial area in Deane on the outskirts of Bolton. It appears on a map of 1850 as a pocket of land south of the River Croal. Croal means ‘winding stream’ and Pocket seems to have to developed in one of its many meanders. The term ‘pocket’ is being perpetuated with the laying out of ‘pocket parks’ along the banks of the Croal.

POISE BROOK is a tributary of the River Goyt which rises in High Lane in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It then flows through Poise Bank Local Nature Reserve in north-west Offerton to join the Goyt in Woodbank Park in eastern Stockport. The name is first recorded in about 1350 as Puysclogh, meaning ‘pease valley or valley where peas grow’, from the French pois or Middle English pease, + clōh (‘deep valley’).

POLEFIELD is a residential area of Prestwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The location seems to date from the early 16^th century, when it is said to have been called Deadwenclough (‘Dead women in a stream’). The name Polefield seems to have been adopted later in the century and was the site of Polefield House and Polefield Hall. The name was derived from Old English pol (‘a pole or beacon, especially one used for communication’) + feld. Polefield Hall was demolished in the 1930s and the land was used to build a housing estate.

POMONA ISLAND is an island on the River Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. It was originally named Strawberry Island. In 1845 the island was developed into a leisure centre and renamed Pomona Gardens after the Roman goddess of fruit and gardens. In 1875 a huge concert hall was built, the Royal Pomona Palace, the largest in Victorian England and capable of seating more than 30,000 people. In June 1887, an explosion at a nearby chemical factory badly damaged the Royal Pomona Palace – it was closed and sold for docks on the Manchester Ship Canal. The canal was completed in 1894 and Pomona Docks were opened in 1903. The docks were closed in 1982 and fell into decline, but there are plans for development around the Metrolink tram stop of Pomona, which was opened in December 1999. (For Valette pictures, see Appendix 2)

POOLSTOCK is a residential area of Wigan about one kilometre south-west of the town centre, close to the River Douglas and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. The name is recorded in 1520 as Pulstoke and means something like ‘place near or beside a pool’, from the OId English pull (‘pool’) + stoc (‘place, outlying settlement’). It has been suggested that Poolstock was an outlying settlement used for summer grazing by the River Douglas for cattle from elsewhere.

The PORTICO is an independent subscription library in central Manchester that was opened in 1806. It takes its name both from its architecture, with a Greek-style portico as its main entrance, and because it was intended to be a gateway to knowledge and literature. William Gaskell, the husband of Elizabeth Gaskell, was its chairman for 30 years. Peter Mark Roget was its first secretary and began writing his Thesaurus there. The library is now housed on the first floor. The ground floor is occupied by a pub called ‘The Bank’, recalling the days when it was leased to the Bank of Athens.

PORTLAND BASIN WAREHOUSE is a canal museum near Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is located at the junction of the Ashton and Huddersfield Canals in a warehouse built in 1834 beside the wharves of Portland Basin, which was opened in the 1820s and named after the 3^rd Duke of Portland (1738-1809). Canal traffic ceased in the 1960s and much of the warehouse was destroyed by fire in 1972, but the canal and warehouse have been restored and the museum opened in 1985 and expanded in 2005.

PORTWOOD is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport that was in Cheshire until 1974. The history and name are not well documented. It seems to date from mediaeval times and in 1546 Portwood Hall, which stood on the banks of the Mersey, was noted for its orchards, gardens and deer park. In 1732, a silk mill was built at Portwood which can claim to be the first water-powered mill in north-west England. It seems unlikely that the name refers to a port or harbour. One possibility is that it refers to somebody who carried or transported wood, but it may well be a corruption of a personal name.

POTS AND PANS is a landmark on top of Alderman’s Hill in the Peak District overlooking Uppermill and the Tame valley in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It consists of a pile of hollowed-out boulders resembling pots and pans. The name is recorded in 1843 but the rocks are said to have been thrown by two Saddleworth giants named Alder and Alphin in an ancient battle.

POWNALL GREEN is an area of Bramhall in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport which was included in Cheshire until 1974. The name is first recorded in the 12^th century as Pohenhale, meaning the ‘nook of land (halh) belonging to someone called Pūnan’ and in 1297 a Richard de Pounale is recorded as a farmer in the area. Peter Pownall is recorded as owning a farm in Bramhall at the end of the 18^th century and on the tithe map of 1842.

PRESTOLEE is a village in Kearsley on the River Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, which was formerly in Lancashire. The name is first recorded in 1618 as Prestall Lee and it was often written as two words until later in the century. The name means ‘the clearing or meadow (–lēah) of the hall of the priests (prēost)’. The priests’ hall refers to the nearby oratory at Farnworth.

PRESTWICH is a town on the northern bank of the River Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, about 5 kilometres north of Manchester city centre. It is first recorded in 1194 as Prestwich, meaning ‘priest’s farm or village’ or even ‘parsonage or rectory’, from Old English prēost + wīc. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

PRIESTNALL is a residential and recreational area of Heaton Mersey in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is recorded as Priestnall in 1696 and there have been various suggestions for its origin. The first element is generally assumed to be priest; the second may be Old English halh (‘nook of land’), or cnoll (‘hillock’) or cnyll (‘knell’).

PRIMROSE BANK is a residential area of south-west Oldham. The name is not well documented before 1800 and it is recorded as a hamlet in 1829. The name of the primrose flower is first recorded in 1425 and was valued as a source of evening-primrose oil. In 1964 Oldham Council started a major regeneration of the Primrose Bank estate.

The PRINCE’S BRIDGE was originally a road bridge across the River Irwell between Salford and Manchester. It was built in 1859-1863 and named after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, who had died in 1861. It was rebuilt 1905 and demolished in 2015. It was replaced by a new Prince’s Bridge, a footbridge opened in 2023.

The PRINTWORKS is an entertainment complex in central Manchester with a large cinema, bars, clubs and restaurants. It takes its name from the Hulton newspaper printworks that were housed on the site from 1873 until 1988. The site was then sold off, redeveloped and re-opened in 2000.

PRIORY GARDENS are a 6-hectare public park in Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford that take their name from Sale Priory, a country house built in 1711 as the home of Thomas White, a Manchester lawyer. The house later passed to his son, also Thomas White, a distinguished surgeon, and then to his son, Dr Charles White (1728-1813), the co-founder of Manchester Royal Infirmary (see Cheadle Royal). The Whites gave their name to White’s Bridge over the Bridgewater Canal. The estate was sold to Sale Council in 1923 and the priory was demolished, but the grounds were laid out as a park which is also linked to Sale Water Park.

The PUNGLE is a residential area south of Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is little-documented and its origin is obscure. It is recorded as Pungle in 1841 but as Pingle Closes in 1849. One suggestion is that it is a corruption of Pound Hill, with pound meaning an enclosure for stray cattle. Another is that it is a corruption of the Middle English pingel, meaning ‘a small enclosure’.

QUARLTON is a village in the north of Bolton that was formerly in Lancashire. The name is recorded in 1246 as Querendon, meaning ‘mill hill’ or ‘hill where millstones were obtained’, from the Old English cweorn (‘mill, millstone’) + dūn (‘hill’). The type of mill referred to is unclear and it may refer to a windmill, a water mill or simply a millstone. The idea that cweorn may refer to millstones may be supported by the fact that the hard millstone grit found locally is known to have been used for millstones.

QUEEN’S PARK is an 8.9 hectare public park north-west of Bolton. It was initially named Bolton Park when opened in 1866 but was renamed Queen’s Park in 1897 to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.

QUICK is an old name for Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. Saddleworth is now the term in general use but Quick survives in various place names in the locality – Quick, Quickmere, Quick Edge and Quickwood. The derivation is uncertain. A Victorian suggestion that Quick appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ‘Thoac’ or ‘Tohac’ has now been discounted as the Domesday entry is thought to refer to Upperthong near Holfirth. More recent suggestions for the origin of Quick are that it may represent a Norman pronunciation of the Old English wic, meaning ‘a dwelling, a building or collection of buildings, a farm’, or that it is derived from Old English cwic, meaning the wiggin tree or mountain ash.

RADCLIFFE is a town on the River Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury 11 kilometres north-west of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Radeclive, meaning ‘red cliff’ and referring to the red sandstone cliff beside the Irwell. It is taken from the Old English read (‘red’) + clif (‘cliff’). See Domesday Book box

RADCLIFFE E’ES are an area of wetland on the north bank of a meander in the River Irwell east of the town of Radcliffe in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. E’es is a local word for a water meadow derived from the Old English ēg, meaning ‘island’, often a piece of firm land in an area liable to flooding.

RAINSOUGH is an open space and residential area in Prestwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. It is also the site of an Iron Age and Roman fort atop Rainsough Hill, although no remains are visible today. The name is not well documented before 1716, when a poorhouse was built nearby. The name is said to have originally been Raineshaw, suggesting that it might have been derived from Old English hræfn (‘raven’) + sceaga (‘copse’).

RAKEWOOD is village south of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It is not well documented before the building of a church by the methodists in 1867 and Rakewood Lower Mill, which is believed to date from the 18^th century. The name means ‘wood in a narrow valley’, from the Old English hraeca (‘mouth of a narrow valley’) + wudu. The valley is probably that of Hollingworth Brook.

RAMSBOTTOM is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury on the banks of the River Irwell. The name is recorded in 1324 as Romesbothum and means ‘valley bottom where wild garlic grows’ from the Old English hramsa + bothm, suggesting that the herb may have grown along the valley. Another possibility is that it means ‘ram’s valley bottom’ from the Old English ramm (‘ram’).

RAVEDEN BROOK and RAVEDEN CLOUGH Raveden or Ravden Brook is a tributary of the River Tonge that rises on the Pennine moors and flows through Smithills Country Park to join Dean Brook to form Astley Brook. The name is recorded in 1429 as Rapeden but its origin is unclear. It may be from the Old Norse hrapi, meaning ‘small shrubs’, or hrapa, meaning ‘rushing’. A third possibility is that it is an eponym, either from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Hraefn or the later Raphe or Ralphe. The second element is the Old English dēnu, meaning ‘valley’.

RAYNER PARK is a public park in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The park was opened on 15 November 1924 by Mrs Ann Alice Rayner, who gave the land to the local authority and asked that it be named after her husband, John Edward Rayner (1851-1918), who owned several collieries in the area.

REDDISH is a suburb of Stockport, about 7.5 kilometres south-east of Manchester. The name is recorded in 1212 as Rediche but the modern spelling is found from 1577. It is usually said to mean ‘ditch where reeds grow’, from Old English hrēod (‘reed’) + dīc (‘ditch’). Another possibility is that it means ‘red ditch’ from read + dīc. In both cases, the dīc probably refers to Nico Ditch. Suggestions that the ‘red ditch’ was the site of an ancient and bloody battle are probably folk etymology.

RED LUMB is a village on the moors north-west of Rochdale. The name is not well documented but Lumb is a common place name dating back to mediaeval times across Lancashire, West Yorkshire and Cheshire. It is derived from the Old English lumm, meaning ‘a pool’.

RED MOSS is a 47-hectare nature reserve south of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It was set aside as a nature reserve in 1999 to preserve the wildlife of the ancient moss wetland. Mos is the Old English for swamp or marsh, and ‘red’ presumably refers to the colour of the vegetation.

REDVALES is a suburb of Bury close to the River Irwell. The name is an eponym which is first recorded in 1185 as Rediveshale, meaning ‘the nook of land belonging to the lady Rēdgifu’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + halh (‘nook or corner of land’), referring to the large bend in the Irwell to the south-west of the current district of Redvales. The modern spelling suggests a rationalisation of the name in the belief that it comes from red + vale.

REEBOK STADIUM See TOUGHSHEET COMMUNITY STADIUM

REGENT BRIDGE is a road bridge across the River Irwell connecting Hulme and Salford. It was opened in 1808 but the chronology of the name is difficult to determine as the building pre-dates the Regency period (when the Prince of Wales, the future George IV, acted as regent as his father, George III, was incapacitated) and it seems that the bridge was originally known as Quaker Hall’s bridge as it was built by a local Quaker named Hall who charged a ha’penny toll.

RHODES and nearby RHODES GREEN and RHODES RAVINE are areas east of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in 1332 as Rodes, from Old English rod meaning ‘a clearing’.

RICHMOND HILL is, or was, a street and residential area on a low rise in the City of Salford. The name is not well documented before the construction of the Richmond Independent Chapel in Richmond Hill in 1845. The name would seem to have been transferred from Richmond Hill in Richmond-on-Thames in what was then Surrey. Richmond-on-Thames was formerly called Sheen but was renamed by order of Henry VII after Richmond in North Yorkshire. The name means ‘strong hill’ from the Old French riche + mont. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)

RIDING GATE is a location in Bolton, about 6.5 kilometres from the town centre. The name is not well documented but is thought to mean ‘the cleared road’, from Middle English ridden (‘to clear a way’) + Old Norse gata (‘a road, an entrance to a field’). Over time, the original meaning seems to have been forgotten and the name was rationalised to Riding Gate.

RINGLEY is a residential area on the east bank of the River Irwell near Kearsley in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The early history of the name is not well documented but in 1420 it appears as Ryngleys, meaning ‘round clearing’, from the Old English hring (‘ring, a circle; something circular’) + lēah (‘clearing, glade’).

RINGWAY is a village, formerly in Cheshire, which was transferred to the City of Manchester in 1974. The name means ‘circular hedged enclosure’ and comes from the Old English hring (‘ring, circle’) + haeg (‘enclosure’). Manchester Airport is located in Ringway. It was opened in 1938 as Manchester Ringway Airport but the name was changed to Manchester International Airport in 1975.

ROACHES is an area to the north of Mossley in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. There are several places named Roach or Roaches in England, notably The Roaches, an escarpment if Staffordshire. Most are recorded in the Middle Ages and derive from the French Roche, meaning ‘rock’. This may be the origin of Roaches in Mossley, and quarrying in the area may support this possibility. However, the name is recorded only with the opening of Roaches Lock and Roaches Bridge with the opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 1811, suggesting that the name could be an eponym. Church records show that there was a Roach family in Mossley at the start of the 19th century but this cannot be confirmed as the origin of the place name.

River ROCH is a tributary of the River Irwell that rises in the Pennines south of Todmorden and joins the Irwell east of Radcliffe. The name is evidently linked to that of the town of Rochdale, but the link is unclear. It is recorded as Rach in the 12^th century and it is usually said to be derived from the name of the town, which is spelled Rachedal in 1190. See also Calderbook.

ROCHDALE is a town 16 kilometres north of Manchester city centre that became a metropolitan borough in 1974. The origin of the name is complex. It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Recedham See Domesday Book box but Rochedale is found from 1276. Although Rochdale lies on the River Roch, it is believed that the town gave its name to the river rather than vice versa. The original name was derived from Old English ræced (‘building, hall’) + hām (‘homestead’), meaning ‘homestead with a hall’, but hām was soon replaced by dæl (‘valley’), referring to the valley of the River Roch, which had acquired its name by the 13th century. When Daniel Defoe visited the town in about 1725, he described it as a ‘very considerable’ manufacturing town but ‘so remote, so out of the way, and so at the very foot of the mountains, that we may suppose it would be but little frequented’.

ROCHDALE PIONEERS MUSEUM and PIONEERS MARKET In December 1844 the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society was established in a building in Toad Lane in Rochdale and, although not the first such society in Victorian England, it became the model for the co-operative movement around the World. The original building was purchased by the Co-operative Union in 1925 and opened as a museum in 1931. The Rochdale Pioneers are also commemorated in the new market which opened in January 2025.

ROCHER VALE is a nature reserve in the valley of the River Medlock close to Bardsley in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. In the past it was the site of the Rocher Vale colliery but it now forms part of the Park Bridge Heritage Centre. The name is not well documented but rocher, from the Old French for ‘rock’, is found in a number of place names in what was the West Riding of Yorkshire.

ROE CROSS is a village north of Mottram in Longdendale in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is recorded in 1842 but it is probably older. It means ‘roebuck cross’, from Old English rā (‘roebuck deer’) + cros (‘cross’), perhaps in reference to its position on a crossroads.

ROE GREEN is a residential area of Worsley in the City of Salford. The name is not well documented but is recorded in 1585 as Rowe Green, derived from Old English rā (‘roebuck deer’) + grene (‘village green, grazing area’). Roebuck are the most common species of deer in England and are found across the north-west.

ROMILEY is a suburban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Rumelie, meaning ‘the roomy clearing’, from the Old English rūm or rūmig (‘roomy, broad, spacious’) + lēah (‘clearing, glade’). Despite its name, it was recorded as having a population of zero. (For Valette picture, see Appendix 2) See Domesday Book box

ROODEN RESERVOIR was built in 1894-1901 as one of six reservoirs fed by Piethorne Brook to supply water for Oldham. All six took their names from farms that were abandoned or submerged, and Rooden farm was named after a local hill. The name is recorded in 1340 as Roden, meaning ‘hill with a cross’, from Old English rōd (‘rood, cross’) + dūn (‘hill’).

ROOLEY MOOR is a moorland area north of Rochdale that was formerly known as Shore Moor in Lancashire. The name is said to have been changed in the 18^th century when a Mr Rowley (later corrupted to Rooley) took up residence in a local inn.

ROSCOW FOLD is a hamlet west of Breightmet in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It originated as a square of eleven cottages built in about 1800 and named after an Alice Roscoe. Roscoe is a common name in the Bolton area and there are records of Alice Roscoes as far back as about 1578. A fold is a small farmstead, often named after the owner.

ROSE HILL is a district west of Marple in the Borough of Stockport, formerly in Cheshire. The name originally applied just to a house, Rose Hill House, but the opening of a station by the Marple Bollington & Macclesfield Railway in 1869 under the name Marple (Rose Hill) seems to have led to the development of a community named Rose Hill. The original Rose Hill House was demolished in 1945.

ROUGHTOWN is a residential area in the north of Mossley in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside overlooking the River Tame and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. The name seems initially to have been unofficial, found in Old Roughtown Mill of 1820 which was powered by the local stream, Roughtown Spout, and in the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway’s Roughtown overbridge of 1845-49. It was formalised in 1865 with the opening of Roughtown School and was then used in official records. There are two theories about the origin of the name. The more common is that it came from the rough behaviour of the workers at the nearby Glossop quarries. The other is that the area was difficult to build because of the rough and stony ground.

ROUNDTHORN is an industrial estate and residential area developed in the mid-1950s in Wythenshawe in south-west Manchester. The name is taken from Roundthorn Farm and was applied to the estate that was built over it. Roundthorn is a place name found across northern England, derived from Anglo-French rounde + Old English thorn. There is no species of hawthorn called ‘roundthorn’ and the name refers to a circular enclosure or animal pasture surrounded by hawthorns as a sort of fence.

ROWLANDS is a village east of Summerseat and within a meander of the River Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. It is not well documented before the building of a Wesleyan chapel in 1830. It is said to be an eponym and that the area was once owned by a man named Rowland.

ROYAL ALBERT EDWARD INFIRMARY is an NHS hospital in north Wigan. It takes its name from the Prince of Wales, Prince Albert Edward (1841-1910, later King Edward VII), who, with his wife, the Princess of Wales (1844-1920, later Queen Alexandra) opened the hospital in 1873.

ROYAL EXCHANGE See EXCHANGE

ROYAL GEORGE AQUEDUCT or DIVISION BRIDGE is a stone aqueduct near Mossley in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside and Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It was built in 1794-97 to carry the Huddersfield Narrow Canal over the River Tame. It was named after the nearby Royal George Mills that were built in 1786 and named in honour of King George III (reigned 1760-1820). The alternative name of Division Bridge indicates its position on the boundary between Saddleworth and Mossley.

ROYLEY is a residential area of Royton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1325 as Rylegh, meaning ‘clearing where rye is grown’, from the Old English rӯge (‘rye’) + lēah (‘woodland clearing’).

ROYTON is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, close to the River Irk and 13 kilometres north-east of Manchester city centre. It is recorded in 1226 as Ritton and with its modern spelling from 1577. The name means ‘farm or village where rye is grown’ from the Old English rӯge (‘rye’) + tūn (‘farm, village’). This is one of the few place names in Greater Manchester that refers to an agricultural crop. It could be said that Greater Manchester’s cotton industry began and ended in Royton – the first water-powered cotton mill in what was then Lancashire was Thorp Mill, built in 1764, and the last was Elk Mill, completed in 1926.

RUMWORTH is a neighbourhood in the Borough of Bolton that was in Lancashire until 1974. It is recorded in 1205 as Rumwrth and as Rumworth in 1278. The name probably means ‘the broad farm’ from Old English rūm (‘broad, spacious’) + worth (‘an enclosure’).

RUSHFORD PARK is a residential conservation and recreational area in Levenshulme, about 5 kilometres south-east of Manchester city centre. The name is first recorded in the early 19^th century before 1820 as Rushford House, meaning ‘the ford with rushes’, from the Old English rysc + ford, perhaps referring to a ford across what is now the Levenshulme Road Brook. The building of the Manchester & Birmingham Railway line to Crewe and the opening of a station at Rushford in 1840 led to residential and commercial development, but the closure of the station in 1843 limited further development until the end of the century.

RUSHOLME is a suburb of the City of Manchester about 3.5 kilometres south of the city centre that was formerly in Lancashire. The name is first recorded as Russum in 1235 and means ‘(the place at) the rushes’, from the Old English ryscum. The spelling with -holme is from the 16^th century and seems to be an assimilation to the ‘-holme/-hulme’ suffix found elsewhere in Greater Manchester.

RYDER BROW or RIDER BROW See WINNING HILL

RYECROFT is a locality in the west of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Borough of Tameside that was formerly in Lancashire. The name first appears as Rycroft in 1283 and means ‘rye field’ from Old English ryge (‘rye’) + croft (‘small enclosed field’).

S
SACKVILLE GARDENS is a small park in central Manchester that takes its name from nearby Sackville Street. The street appears on a map of 1807 and is named after Lionel Cranfield Sackville (1688-1765), the Duke of Dorset, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The land was purchased by Manchester City Corporation in 1900 and opened as a public park, originally named Whitworth Gardens.
SADDLEWORTH is a moorland area of the western Pennines that was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974 but is now administered as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in the late 12^th century as Sadelwrth and with its modern spelling from 1572. It is usually said to mean ‘enclosure on a saddle-shaped ridge’ from Old English sadol (‘saddle; saddle-shaped’) + worth (‘enclosure; enclosed settlement’), but no such saddle-shaped hill has been identified. An alternative suggestion, given Saddleworth’s terrain and position on the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire, is that it could mean ‘boundary-hill settlement’, from old English scead (‘boundary’) + hyll + worth.
SADLER’S YARD is a 300-square-metre pedestrian square in central Manchester which was opened in 2015. It is named after James Sadler (1753-1828), who was the first Englishman to make a balloon flight. Following his first ascent in Oxford on 4 October 1784, he made a further flight on 12 May 1785 from what is now Balloon Street in central Manchester to Radcliffe.
ST ANN’S SQUARE is a pedestrianised space in the centre of Manchester. It is named after the nearby Anglican St Ann’s Church, which was completed in July 1712, but it also acknowledges the current monarch, Queen Anne (1665-1714) and its patron, Lady Ann Bland (1662-1734). The Act of Parliament that authorised the construction of the church stipulated that an adjacent area 30 yards wide, previously known as Acresfield, should be set aside for a regular farmers’ market for the buying and selling of animals. The fair continued on the site until 1820.
ST GEORGE’S is a residential and recreational area of Hulme in the City of Manchester. It takes its name from St George’s Church, built in 1826-1828 as one of 612 Anglican churches built across Britain to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo and the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The church was closed in 1984 and converted into flats in 2000-2002, but the name lives on as the name of the district. The name was also celebrated in St George’s Park in Hulme, but this was renamed Barrack Park in 1994.
ST GEORGE’S PARK See BARRACK PARK
ST JOHN’S GARDENS is a park in central Manchester. It lies on the site of the Anglican St John’s church and cemetery. The church was completed in 1769 but demolished in 1931. St John’s Gardens were opened in 1932. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
ST MICHAEL’S FLAGS and ANGEL MEADOW PARK is a 3-hectare public park close to the centre of Manchester. The name originates with St Michael and All Angels’ Church, which was built in 1788-1789. By the mid-19^th century, the area was known for its poverty and disease, and in 1855 a law was passed to cover the graves with flagstones to prevent people from digging up the soil to sell as fertilizer. The area was walled off in 1888 and Angel Meadow became a popular park and football pitch. The church was demolished in 1935 and since 2001 the area has undergone regeneration. See also Angel Meadow. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
ST PETER’S SQUARE is a public square in central Manchester named after St Peter’s Anglican church, which was built in 1788-1794. The area was originally known as St Peter’s Field and was the site of the massacre on 16 August 1819 when yeomanry attacked a crowd of 60,000 protesters demanding the reform of the House of Commons. It is usually said that 18 people were killed and 700 injured. Five days later James Wroe, the editor of the Manchester Observer, coined the term ‘Peterloo’ to compare the massacre with the Battle of Waterloo. In 1907 St Peter’s church was demolished and St Peter’s Square was laid out and was soon surrounded by large buildings – the Midland Hotel in 1898-1903, the YMCA in 1909, the Central Library in 1934 and the Town Hall Extension in 1938. (For Lowry picture, see Appendix 1; for Valette picture, see Appendix 2)
ST WERBURGH’S ROAD is in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in the south of the City of Manchester. The road and the Metrolink tram stop take their name from the nearby St Werburgh’s church. The originally church dated back to the 7^th century and was named after a Saxon abbess (650-700) who became the patron saint of Chester.
SALE is a town in the Borough of Trafford on the south bank of the River Mersey. It was originally in Cheshire until 1974. The town is said to date from the 7^th or 8^th century but it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and it is not recorded until about 1200. Its name comes from the Old English salh, which means ‘sallow or willow tree’.
SALEM is a residential area south-east of Oldham. The area takes its name from a church founded in 1824 by members of the Moravian church at Fairfield in Tameside. Salem means ‘peace’ in both Hebrew and Arabic.
SALE WATER PARK is an area of parkland with an artificial lake and water sports centre in the Borough of Trafford. It was formed from a 35-metre-deep gravel pit excavated during the construction of the M60 motorway and opened in 1980.
SALFORD is a city and a metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester. It was formerly in Lancashire and was created as a city in 1926. The name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Salford, meaning ‘ford across the River Irwell where sallow or willow trees grow’. The original ford was replaced by a bridge in the 14^th century. See Domesday Book box
SALFORD QUAYS is a regeneration area of the former Manchester Docks in the City of Salford. In 1984 Salford City Council purchased the docks from the Manchester Ship Canal Company and renamed it Salford Quays, planning its redevelopment as a commercial, retail, media and residential area in the 1990s. The former wharves of the docks were given names that reflected the former trade links with North America – Huron Basin, Erie Basin, Ontario Basin, St Peter Basin, St Louis Basin, St Francis Basin, Winnipeg Quay, Vancouver Quay and Detroit Bridge.
SALTEYE BROOK is a short stream in Eccles and Barton in the City of Salford. It was originally a tributary of the River Irwell but now flows from the north into the Manchester Ship Canal. The name is recorded in 1235 as Salteye but its origin does not seem to have been documented. It may be that it means ‘salt island’ from Old English salt + ēg or īeg (‘island, dry land in a marshy area’).
The SALUTATION INN is a pub in Hulme dating back at least as far as 1844 in area described by Mrs Gaskell as ‘one of numerous similar streets of small monotonous-looking houses, in a suburb of the town.’ The word ‘salutation’ was originally a religious greeting but was used more generally for any kind of greeting by the time of Shakespeare in the 16^th century. Its claim to fame is that Charlotte Brontë stayed there in 1846 when she accompanied her father to Manchester for a cataract operation, describing it as ‘a not-pleasant-at-all small brick house facing a timber yard.’ While staying there she started to write Jane Eyre. Today it is owned by Manchester Metropolitan University.
SAM BAMFORD MEMORIAL is an obelisk monument in Middleton cemetery that was erected in 1877 to commemorate Samuel Bamford (1788-1872), a radical writer born in Middleton who was imprisoned for treason for his part in leading the Peterloo demonstrations. The inscription on the obelisk reads, ‘Bamford was a reformer when to be so was unsafe, and he suffered for his faith’.
SANDYWARPS is part of a recently-built residential area in Irlam in the City of Salford. The development has several streets commemorating the Mersey & Irwell Navigation – Calamanco Way, Ferrymasters Way, Sandywarps, Strickens Lock Lane (named after Strickens or Stickings lock), and Powder Mill Close (from Powder Mill lock, which took its name from the nearby Thelwall Gunpowder Mill). Sandywarps lock was built in about 1760 to bypass a meander in the River Mersey below the confluence with the Irwell in the hamlet of Sandywarps. The name is not well documented. The first element is from the Old English sandig, referring to the sandy soil which is so common – sand/sandy is the most common first element in the street names of Greater Manchester. Old English wearp has several meanings but probably refers to the hairpin bend or ‘warp’ in the Mersey at this point.
SCHOLES is an area of Wigan, formerly in Lancashire. The name is first recorded as Scoles in 1332 and comes from the Old Norse skáli or Old English scale, meaning ‘hut or temporary shelter’, and is one of the few Norse names in Greater Manchester.
SCHOOL HILL is an area of Bolton that takes its name from the nearby St George’s Church in Little Bolton. The church was consecrated on 19 August 1796 and an associated Church of England primary school was built at a later date. The church was closed in 1975 but the bells were removed and transported to Wangaratta in Australia.
SCOTLAND and SCOTLAND BRIDGE Scotland was originally an area on the north bank of the River Irk in central Manchester close to Victoria Station, but today all that remains is a street called Scotland and a bridge over the Irk. Various suggestions have been made as to the origin of the name: that Bonnie Prince Charlie camped his Scottish troops here during the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 or that it was used by 19^th-century farmers who had brought their cattle from Scotland and grazed them here before selling them for slaughter. However, the name seems to be older and Scotland Bridge appears on a map of 1741. The most likely derivation is Middle English scot, meaning ‘tax, payment’ + land (‘land, area’), and the explanation is that the banks of the Irk were used for grazing and fabric drying, and so a tax or tithe had to be paid to the landowners, i.e. they could not ‘get away scot free’.
SCOUTHEAD is a village on the edge of Saddleworth moor in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1625 and means ‘the head of a promontory’, from Old Norse skúti (‘a projecting or overhanging rock’) + Old English heafod or Old Norse hofuth (‘head, headland’).
SEDDON’S FOLD or SEDDON FOLD is an area in Prestolee in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in a tongue of land formed where the Irwell and Croal join. The name comes from Seddon farm, which dates from the late 15^th century, and it is known that it was owned by Ralph Seddon in 1553. Seddon Fold Bridge dates from the building of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal, which was completed in 1796.
SEDGLEY PARK is a suburban area of Prestwich in Bury. It was formerly part of Lancashire but early occurrences of the name are not well documented. It is said to mean a swampy area surrounded by woodland, from the Old English secg, ‘sedge, reed, rush’ + lēah, ‘wood, clearing’.
SEEDLEY is a suburb of Salford. The name is not well documented but it was given to Seedley Park, a public park opened in 1876 and to the station opened by the London & North Western Railway in May 1882. The origin of the name is uncertain but may be Old English set, meaning ‘home’ or ‘stable’ + lēah, ‘wood, clearing’.
SEVEN ACRES COUNTRY PARK is a 32-hectare nature reserve about 3.25 kilometres east of Bolton town centre. It was originally an agricultural area, some or all of which was known as Kindor Bank after John Kindor (1728-1801), the local farmer. The area was recorded on a map of 1764. Its area of 32 hectares equates to 79 acres, and the 7 acres in the name of the park is derived from the area of water that was available to feed a mediaeval corn mill and, much later, the bleaching industry. The area was designated as a country park in 2004.
SHADOW MOSS is an area in south-eastern Wythenshawe in the City of Manchester. The name is first recorded in the early 13^th century as Shadoke mosse, meaning ‘the oak at the boundary of the bog’, referring perhaps to a tree that marked the boundary between Macclesfield and Bucklow. The name is derived from Old English scead (‘boundary’) + ac (‘oak tree’) + moss (‘bog, swamp’). In time the name became rationalised to Shadow Moss, which is recorded from 1613. It seems quite likely that pubs or restaurants called ‘Shady Oak’ may celebrate boundary oaks rather than shady spots under tall trees.
SHAKERLEY is a north-western suburb of Tyldesley in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is recorded in about 1210 as Shakerlee and means ‘robber’s clearing’ from the Old English scēacere (‘robber’) + lēah (‘clearing, glade’). The second element refers to a clearing in the surrounding oak forest but nothing is known of the robber after whom the place is named.
SHAMBLES SQUARE is a pedestrianised area beside the cathedral in central Manchester. It was laid out in 1999, when the Old Wellington Inn, which dates from 1552, was moved there after the 1996 IRA bombing. The name celebrates the Old Shambles area, which is recorded in 1657 as the ‘flesh shambles’. It is derived from the Middle English flesshchameles, meaning ‘place where meat is sold’ and provides the name for ‘Shambles’ in other towns and cities in England, notably York. A schamel was a bench for displaying butchers’ meat.
SHARPLES is a residential area of Bolton on the River Tonge, about 4 kilometres north of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1212 as Charples and with its modern spelling in 1259. The area features a steep hill and the name may be derived from this sense of Old English scearp (‘pointed; steep’) + lās (‘meadow’) or lēas (‘woods; meadows’).
SHARSTON is a residential area and industrial estate in Wythenshawe in the south of the City of Manchester. The name is recorded in the 13^th century as Sharston, meaning ‘notched stone’, from Old English scearda (‘notched’) + stān (‘stone’). The name is a reference to a glacial boulder called the Shar Stone in nearby Northenden. This was moved to its present location in 1892 but its previous history has not been ascertained.
SHAW is part of the district of Shaw and Crompton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, which lies on the River Beal about 14 kilometres north-east of Manchester city centre. Shaw is recorded in 1555 as Shaghe, meaning ‘copse, small wood’, from Old English sceaga. Slightly to the south-west are Shaw Side and Shaw Edge. SHAWCLOUGH is a residential area of Rochdale, north of the town centre. The name is not well documented before the early 19^th century, when Shawclough Brook, a tributary of the River Spodden, provided water power for felt and textile mills on its banks. Shawclough Mill itself was established in 1869 but the name of the stream is probably much older. It means ‘wooded valley’, from Old English sceaga (‘small wood, copse’) + clōh (‘deep valley’).	SHAW By the time the Anglo-Saxons arrived in north-west England the 5^th century, much of the forest had been cleared and the most common element in place names was sceaga, meaning ‘small wood or copse’ rather than thick forest.
	AUDENSHAW (eponym + ~)	HATHERSHAW (heather + ~)
	BARROWSHAW (grove + ~)	HAWKSHAW (hawk + ~)
	BICKERSHAW (bee-keeper + ~)	HEMPSHAW BROOK (sapling + ~)
	BIRTENSHAW (birches + ~)	HIGGINSHAW (Richard + ~)
	BOARSHAW (boar + ~)	KNUTSHAW (nut or eponym ~)
	BRADSHAW (broad + ~)	LINNYSHAW (lime + ~)
	CADSHAW (eponym + ~)	LONGSHAW (tall, long + ~)
	CALDERSHAW (rapid stream + ~)	OPENSHAW (unenclosed + ~)
	CASTLESHAW (fort + ~)	STUBSHAW (tree-stump + ~)
	COWLISHAW (charcoal + ~)	SWINESHAW (pigs + ~)
	CRONKEYSHAW (crane? + ~)	WALSHAW (stream + ~)
	DENSHAW (valley + ~)	WYTHENSHAWE (willow + ~)
	HALSHAW (flat land + ~)
SHAW HEATH is a suburb of Stockport, south of the main town centre. The name is first recorded in 1712 and means ‘copse heath’ from Old English sceaga (‘copse, small wood’) + hǣth (‘heath, uncultivated land’).
SHELDERSLOW is a hamlet in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It appears in the early 14^th century as a family name, Childreslaue, and as the place name in 1531 as Skelderslow, from the Old Norse skjaldari (‘shield maker’) + Old English hlāw (mound, hillock’).
SHEVINGTON is a village on the north bank of the River Douglas in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, about 5 kilometres west of the town centre. The name is recorded in about 1225 as Shefinton, meaning ‘the settlement at Chevin’, derived from the Celtic cevn or cefn, meaning ‘ridge’ + Old English tūn (‘enclosure, farmstead, village’). The name refers to a nearby ridge of high ground on the edge of Shevington Moor.
SHOLVER is a residential area of Oldham, about 3.5 kilometres north-east of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1202 as Solhher and with its modern spelling from 1278. It is said to mean ‘sloping hill pasture or temporary hut’, from the Old English sceolh (‘twisted, sloping’) + Old Norse erg or ǣrgi (‘temporary hut, hill pasture’). The name refers to the steeply-sloping ground nearby and the Norse practice of building temporary huts or shielings in hill pastures. Alternatively, the name could be an eponym meaning Skjolgr’s pasture.
SHOOTERS BROOK is a minor tributary of the River Medlock in central Manchester that is now fully culverted beneath Store Street. It rises in Newton Heath and flows south-west to join the Medlock in what used to be called Garret (or Garratt) close to Brook Street, which derives its name from Shooters Brook. The name is recorded in 1334 as the Schiter, from the Old English scite, meaning ‘dirt, dung’. It was a pleasant meadow waterway whose name had been sanitised to ‘Shooters Brook’ in the 18^th century but had become heavily industrialised and polluted by the end of the century, and became known as “Shitters’ Brook”, thus returning to its Old English origin.
SHORE is a village north-west of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded with its modern spelling in 1324 and means ‘dangerous slope’ from Old English scora. The reference is to the steep hillside nearby.
SHORESWORTH is an ancient part of Pendlebury on the banks of the River Irwell in the City of Salford, although the name seems to have fallen out of use in the 20^th century. It is recorded in about 1085 as Scoreswurthin, meaning ‘settlement on a steep slope’, from the Old English scora (‘dangerous or steep slope’) + worth (‘enclosure; settlement’), referring to the bank or shore of the Irwell.
SHUDEHILL is an area in central Manchester around Shudehill Street. The name dates from 1554 and seems to be taken from the word shude meaning ‘the husk of oats’, but the reason for this has not been established. Richard Arkwright’s Shudehill Mill of 1782 is said to have been the first steam-powered cotton mill in Manchester.
SHUTTLEWORTH is a village north-east of Ramsbottom in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is recorded in 1227 as Suttelsworth, meaning ‘barred or gated enclosure’, from the Old English scyttels (‘a bar; a barred-gate’) + worth (‘enclosure; settlement’).
SIDDAL MOOR is an area south of Heywood in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in 1548 as Sydall, meaning ‘wide nook moor’, from Old English sīd (‘wide’) + halh (‘nook, corner of land’) + mōr.
SIDDOW COMMON is an industrial area south of Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is recorded in the early 14^th century as Sydale, meaning ‘wide nook’, from Old English sīd (‘wide’) + halh (‘nook, corner of land’).
SIMISTER is a suburb of Bury, south-east of the main town centre. The name is an eponym, taking the name of a James Simister or Somister (1722?-1780), who had an estate and three farms in the area at the beginning of the 18^th century.
SIMON’S BRIDGE is a footbridge across the River Mersey in Didsbury. It was built in 1901 as a gift to the people of Didsbury from Henry Simon (1835-1899), a German-born engineer who came to Manchester in 1860 and founded a company manufacturing industrial equipment.
SINDERLAND GREEN is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford that was formerly part of Cheshire. The name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sundreland, when it was said to be unpopulated. The spelling and origin are shared with Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, but its modern spelling is found from 1639. It is derived from the Old English sundor-land, meaning ‘private land; land set aside for some particular purpose’, although it is unclear what that purpose may have been and it may simply refer to its status as private land. See Domesday Book box
SINDSLEY is a suburb of north-west Salford. The name seems to be falling into disuse but is retained in Sindsley Brook, which forms the boundary between Worsley and Swinton. The name is not well documented before 1758, when it was recorded as Singeley. The modern spelling was in use by 1832, when Sindsley Mills were built in Swinton. The origin seems unclear, but it may be derived from Old English scingol, meaning ‘a shingle; roofing tile’, or schingled (‘having a shingled roof’).
SLACKCOTE is a village in the Saddleworth district of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is not well-documented before the building of Slackcote woollen mill in 1780-1781 but is almost certainly far older. It is derived from the Old Norse slakke, meaning ‘shallow depression’, + dialect cote (‘shed, temporary shelter for animals or tools’). There are a number of other places across north-west England derived from slakke and most are recorded from the 13^th century.
SLADE HALL is a country house in Rusholme in the City of Manchester that gives its name to the surrounding area that is sometimes known as Slade. The original house dated from about 1160 but the present one was built by Edward Siddall in 1585, making it probably the oldest house in Manchester. The house is recorded in 1322 as Milkewalslade, meaning ‘the valley with the milky spring or well’, from Old English meoluc (‘milk’) + wælla (‘well, spring’) + slœd (‘valley, glade’). By 1600, the name was reduced simply to Slade.
SLADEN is a hamlet near Summit in Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale on the Rochdale Canal. It is recorded in 1246 as Slaneden, although the exact derivation and meaning are uncertain. One possibility is that it means ‘the pasture in the valley’, from Old English denn (‘woodland pasture’) + slœd (‘valley’).
SLATTOCKS is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, south of the main town centre. The name is not well documented and there are differing theories about its origin. One is that the second element is ac, meaning ‘oak tree’, but with no plausible explanation for the first element. Perhaps more convincing is that the name means ‘small valley’, from the Old English slœd (‘valley, glade’) + oc (‘small’).
SMALLBRIDGE is a residential area on the River Roch outside Rochdale in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is first recorded in 1843 and is explained by its growth around a bridge over the River Roch.
SMALLSHAW is a residential area of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, north-east of the town centre. There are several places in England called ‘Smallshaw’, all meaning ‘small copse’, from the Old English smael (‘small, narrow’) + sceaga (‘copse, wood’).
SMEDLEY is a suburb of Manchester, north-east of the city centre, where, according to Isabella Banks in her novel The Manchester Man of 1876, “the Irk was clear and bright”. The name derives either from Old English smethe (‘smooth, level’) or smith (‘blacksmith’) + lēah (‘clearing, glade’).
SMITHFIELD MARKET was a large market in Shudehill in central Manchester, east of the city centre in what is now the Northern Quarter. It was started in about 1820 and given its name in 1822. It may have been named directly after Smithfield Market in London, which dates from 1174, but by the mid-17^th century the word was more widely used for any cattle market. The original Manchester market was covered in 1853 and was nearly 2 hectares in area by the end of the 19^th century. It was closed in 1972 and New Smithfield Market was built in Openshaw, but one building was preserved and is now Mackie’s Mayor food hall and retail outlet. Smithfield is derived from the Old English smeeth (‘smooth’) + feld (‘field’), i.e. a flat field where animals can be kept and fattened before being sold or slaughtered.
SMITHILLS is a residential area of Bolton, 5 kilometres north-west of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1322 as Smythell, meaning ‘smooth hills’, from Old English smēthe + hyll, referring to the moorland landscape. Smithills Hall dates from the 14^th century and was purchased by Bolton Corporation in 1938 and opened to the public as a museum. The estate is now an 809-hectare country park, which was opened to the public in 2016.
SMITHY BRIDGE is a suburb of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It is first recorded in 1841 and its location on the Rochdale Canal explains its name – a bridge over the canal with a smithy nearby for canal boats and the horses that towed them.
SMITHY GREEN is a place name found in many places across England meaning ‘the green where the smithy is found’, from the Middle English smithie (‘smithy, smith’s workshop’) + grēn (‘field, village green’). Smithy Green in Cheadle Hulme in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is recorded from 1844.
SNYDALE is a residential area of Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is recorded in 1212 as Slinehal but it is spelled Snythehill with an N by 1278. This difference of spelling makes any derivation difficult – the second element is Old English hyll, referring to the nearby Snydale Hill and the first element may be snite or snyde, meaning ‘snipe’.
SOURACRE is a village north of Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The name is recorded in the early 13^th century and means ‘muddy field or field covered with excrement’ from Old Norse saurr or Middle English sour + Old English aecer.
SPINNINGFIELDS is an area of central Manchester west of Deansgate. The name appears on a 1772 map of Manchester. Many of the streets were originally named ‘fields’ and Spinningfields was named for the dominant occupation of the textile works who lived there. In the 19^th century, Spinningfields was renowned as a place of grime and crime, but, after the IRA bombing of 1996, it was designated for regeneration. In 2013, much of the area was bought up and developed into a residential, retail and financial district.
River SPODDEN or SPODDEN BROOK is a river that rises on Shawforth Moor in Lancashire and flows 12 kilometres to join the River Roch in Spotland in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is first recorded in the 13^th century as Spotbrok but its modern spelling is found from 1577. The derivation is uncertain but may be Middle English spoute (‘a spout, a gutter, the mouth of a water-pipe’), so that the meaning might be ‘spouting brook’.
SPOTLAND is an area of Rochdale on the River Spodden in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. Spotland is first recorded in about 1180 and may just mean ‘a spot or small piece of land’, but, perhaps more likely, it may take its name from the River Spodden, which flows through Spotland, where it joins the River Roch. The Spodden is said to take its name from the Middle English spoute (‘a spout, a gutter, the mouth of a water-pipe’), so that Spotland would mean ‘the land beside the spouting brook’.
SPRINGFIELD PARK is a 17-hectare public park in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It was donated to the borough of Rochdale by Frederick Lye (1860-1948) in order to provide a municipal golf course, which was duly opened on 2 April 1927. The name Springfield came from Springfield House and the Springfield Estate on which the park and golf course were laid out. The exact derivation of the name in this location has not been ascertained, but Springfield is a common place name found in many parts of Britain and usually literally means ‘a field with a spring’.
SPRINGHEAD is now a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, east of the town centre. The name is not well documented before 1894, when an urban district was created with the name ‘Springhead’ rather than ‘Quickmere’, which had previously been used. It is said that the name came from a house in the village named Springhead House because it had a spring in the garden, and the name came to be applied to the whole village.
STAKEHILL or STAKE HILL is a commercial and industrial area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, north-west of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1246 as Stakehull and with its modern spelling in 1322. It literally means ‘a hill where a stake is found’, from Old English staca + hyll. The name is also common in West Yorkshire and it has been suggested that the stake refers to a boundary marker. Stakehill is one of the sites of Atom Valley.
STALYBRIDGE is a town on the River Tame in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, about 13 kilometres east of Manchester city centre. It is recorded with its modern spelling in 1687 and simply means ‘the bridge over the River Tame at Stayley’. The hamlet of Stayley is much older, recorded in the early 13^th century as Stavelegh, meaning ‘clearing where staves are found or made’, from Old English stæf (‘staff, stave’) + lēah (‘clearing’).
STAMFORD PARK is a 26-hectare public park on the borders of Stalybridge and Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The land on which it stands was acquired in 1688 by the Earl of Stamford. In 1872 local mill workers purchased some of the estate and the Earl of Stamford also donated some land. The park was opened to the public on 12 July 1873, retaining the earl’s title of Stamford, which originally came from the town in Leicestershire meaning ’stone (Old English stān) ford’.
STAND is a residential area of Whitefield in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is not well documented but comes from the old English stand, meaning ‘a stand, a place from which to observe game’. This refers to Stand’s position overlooking Pilkington Deer Park (now Philips Park).
STANDEDGE is a gritstone escarpment in the Pennines between West Yorkshire and the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester. There has been a moorland crossing at Standedge since Roman times but it presented a major barrier to modern forms of communication. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal opened a tunnel under Standedge in 1811 which is still the highest and longest canal tunnel in Britain. The London & North Western Railway built three tunnels through Standedge in 1848, 1871 and 1894 to connect Manchester with Huddersfield. The name derives from the Old English stān + ecg, meaning ‘stony edge’, accurately describing Standedge as a ‘stony escarpment’.
STANDISH is a village on the River Douglas in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, north-west of the town centre, that was part of Lancashire until 1974. The name is recorded in 1178 as Stanesdis, from the Old English stān (‘stone’) + edisc (‘enclosure’), so the meaning would be ‘stony enclosure’, probably for keeping cattle or, more likely, deer. See also Langtree.
STANLEY GREEN is a trading estate in Cheadle in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is recorded as early as 1831 and is taken from the Stanley family of nearby Handforth in Cheshire. Stanley as a forename or family name is ultimately derived from the Old English place name Stān-lēah, meaning ‘stony wood or clearing where stone is found’.
STANNEY BROOK is a tributary of the River Roch which rises in Burnedge and flows north through Milnrow and Rochdale to join the Roch at Newbold. It is recorded in 1294 as Stonneybeck, meaning ‘stony stream’, from Old English stanig + Old Norse bekkr. The use of beck is almost unique in Greater Manchester and the more common Old English brōc replaced it during mediaeval times.
STANYCLIFFE is a suburb of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, north of the town centre on Whit Brook. It is recorded in the 13^th century as Stanicliffe, meaning ‘stony river bank’, from Old English stān + clif.
STAYLEY is or was the original area from which Stalybridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside gets its name. It is recorded in 1272 as Stauley and the modern spelling is found in 1560. It means ‘place where the wood for staves is found’ and it shares its derivation with that of Stalybridge – Old English stæf (‘staff, stave’) + lēah (‘clearing’).
STEPHENSON’S BRIDGE, Castlefield is the first of several railway bridges in Manchester and Salford built by George Stephenson (1781-1848). It was completed in August 1830 to carry the Liverpool & Manchester Railway over the River Irwell into Liverpool Road, the original eastern terminus of the line.
STEPHENSON’S BRIDGE, Victoria Station is one of several railway bridges in Manchester and Salford built by the ‘Father of Railways’, George Stephenson (1781-1848). In 1844 Stephenson engineered the Manchester & Leeds Railway’s route from Victoria Station east to the city of Leeds. The lines into Victoria were carried over Victoria Street on Stephenson’s Bridge, which in 1884 was incorporated into the longest railway platform in Europe, which connected Victoria with the new Exchange Station.
STEPPING HILL was a district south-east of Stockport in the 19^th century but in 1901-1905 Stepping Hill hospital was built on the site. It appears as a farm on early maps, extending north-east of its present location. The name is not well documented but seems to mean a hill with a set of stepping stones or a set of steps.
STOCKPORT is a town 13 kilometres south-east of Manchester city centre. Until 1974, Stockport was divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, with the River Mersey, which is formed in Stockport, as the dividing line. Since 1974 it has given its name to the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, one of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester. The name is recorded in 1188 as Stokeport and with its modern spelling from about 1274. The meaning is generally said to be ‘a market place (Old English port) at a secondary, dependent or outlying settlement’ (Old English stoc). There have, however, been alternative suggestions for both elements: Stock may refer to a stockade, from Old English stoccen, and the fact that the name was recorded as Stockford in 1283 would be consistent with there being a ford across the river before the Goyt and Tame combine to form the Mersey, and Stopford was in use as the spelling as late as 1610. Stockport gives its name to Stockport, New Jersey and Stockport, South Australia.
STOCKPORT ETCHELLS See ETCHELLS
STOCKPORT GARRICK THEATRE was established by an amateur dramatic club on 24 October 1901. The club named itself after the great actor, David Garrick, who was born in 1719 and died at the Adelphi Theatre in 1779. The club acquired it first playhouse in 1905 and moved to its present theatre in the centre of Stockport in 1920.
STOCKPORT VIADUCT See VIADUCT
STOLLER HALL is a 482-seat concert hall at Chetham’s School of Music (see Chetham’s Library) completed in 2017. It is named after its principal benefactor, Sir Norman Stoller, who was High Sheriff of Greater Manchester in 1999-2000.
STONE BREAKS is a hamlet north of Grotton in the metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1625 and therefore pre-dates Stone Breaks quarry, which dates from the 17^th or 18^th centuries. The hamlet lies in the Medlock Valley east of the 260-metre Stone Breaks Hill and probably derives from Old English stān (‘stone’) + Old Norse brekka (‘slope’).
STONECLOUGH is a suburban district of Kearsley on the banks of the River Irwell in the Borough of Bolton. The name is derived from Old English stān, meaning ‘stony’, and clōh, meaning ‘deep valley’, referring to the red sandstone found along the Irwell at this point. The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway built a station at Stoneclough Bridge and the choice of this name formalised the name Stoneclough.
STORE STREET STATION was the name of Manchester’s principal railway terminus that is now Piccadilly. It was built by the Manchester & Birmingham and Sheffield Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester railways and opened on 8 May 1842. It took its name from its main entrance on Store Street, a thoroughfare that had been laid out in about 1805, when Shooters Brook was culverted beneath it. It was named Store Street because Manchester’s main grain store was located here, close to the Ashton Canal, which had been completed in 1797, and to the corn mills situated to the east on Mill Street. The station was rebuilt and renamed London Road in 1847 and, following electrification and modernisation, it was renamed Piccadilly in 1960.
STRANGEWAYS is an inner-city district of Manchester with a well-known prison, which was built in 1868 to replace the New Bailey jail. It lies on a strip of land between the rivers Irwell and Irk, and as such means ‘place subject to strong flooding’. The name is recorded in in 1322 as Strangwas and is derived from the Old English strang, ‘strong’, and waesce, meaning ‘flooding’, but the spelling was changed as early as 1326 by those trying to find meaning in its name.
STRETFORD is a township in the borough of Trafford. The town lies on the Roman road from Chester to Manchester where it crosses the River Mersey. The name is first recorded in 1212 as Streetford and means the same as Stratford – ‘a ford on a strat or strǣt’, with strǣt referring in particular to a Roman road.
STRINES is a village in the Goyt valley in Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, formerly in Derbyshire. A station was opened in 1866 by the Marple, New Mills & Hayfield Junction Railway and the village and its railway are believed to have inspired Edith Nesbit’s 1906 novel, The Railway Children. The village name is recorded as Stryndes, Strindes and Strendes in the late 13^th century and is said to be derived from the Middle English strinds meaning ‘streams’, from the tributaries of the Goyt above the village.
STRINE DALE and STRINESDALE RESERVOIR Strine Dale is a village and location north-east of Oldham and Strinesdale was the name given to two reservoirs built in the 19^th century – the first in 1828 and the second in 1838. Dale refers to the valley of the River Medlock and Roebuck Brook, which feed the reservoirs. Strine is often said to come from an Old English word meaning ‘boundary’ as the former boundary between Lancashire and Yorkshire ran along the valley, but this meaning cannot be confirmed from other sources and the usual meaning of strine or strind – ‘stream, waterway’- would seem to be applicable.
STUBSHAW CROSS is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan north-east of Ashton-in-Makerfield. The name ‘Stubshaw’ means ‘the copse with or beside tree stumps’, from the Old Nose stubbi (‘tree-stump’) + Old English sceaga (‘copse’). A cross was erected there in 1630, giving rise to the modern name, but the ‘Stubshaw’ settlement and name pre-dated the cross.
SUDDEN is a hamlet south-west of Rochdale on the south bank of the River Roch. The name is recorded in the 13^th century as both Sothden and Sudden, meaning ‘southern valley’, from the Old English sūth (‘south’) + denu (‘valley’). The valley is that of Sudden Brook, which joins the Roch at Sudden. Sudden lies opposite Norden, which lies on the north bank of the Roch.
SUMMERSEAT is a village in the Borough of Bury on the River Irwell. It was part of Lancashire until 1974. The name is first recorded in 1556 as Sumersett and is derived from the Old English sumor or Old Norse sumarr, meaning ‘summer’, and set or sæt, ‘a hut used while looking after animals’.
SUMMIT is a village in Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It is on the border with West Yorkshire and was in the county of Lancashire until 1974. Its name refers to its position as the highest point between Littleborough and Todmorden in Yorkshire, and the crossing point for both the Rochdale Canal (opened in 1804) and the Manchester & Leeds Railway, whose Summit Tunnel was completed in 1841. The name is not well documented before 1804 and the area was known as ‘Charlestown’ until late into the 19^th century.
SWINESHAW is an area north of Glossop in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in what was Derbyshire before 1974. It lends its name to several reservoirs that were built in the second half of the 19^th century. The name is taken from Swineshaw Brook and was recorded in 1831. Swineshaw probably means ‘swine wood’ and is derived from two Old English elements: swīn + sceaga.
SWINLEY is a residential area of Wigan, north of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1283 as Swyneley, meaning ‘clearing where pigs are found or kept’, from the Old English swin (‘swine, pig’) + lēah (‘woodland clearing’).
SWINTON is a town in Salford that was in Lancashire until 1974. It was first documented as Suinton in 1258. The name consists of two Old English elements: swīn + tūn, meaning ‘pig farm’ or ‘place where pigs are fed’. This is one of the many references to animals in the place names of Greater Manchester.
SYKE is a village on the northern outskirts of Rochdale, also known as Nook Farm. The name is recorded in 1843 as Syke, from the Old English and regional English sīc, meaning ‘small stream’. There are several streams running off the moors above Syke, including Fanny Brook, Buckley Brook and Hey Brook, all tributaries of the River Roch.

T
TALLEYRAND was an area in east Levenshulme south-east of Manchester city centre which was named after the infamous French diplomat, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838), who is reported to have stayed in the area during a period of exile in Britain, either in 1792-1794 or 1834-1838 (sources differ). The name does not appear on modern maps but is recalled in the Talleyrand pub on the Stockport Road.
River TAME is a tributary of the River Mersey that rises on Denshaw Moor on Saddleworth and then flows south-west to join the River Goyt to form the Mersey in Stockport. The name appears as Tome in 1292 and Tame in 1322, but its origin is unclear. It seems likely that it is Celtic in origin – there are rivers with similar names across Britain, including the Thames, Taff, Tamar and Thame. The name may simply mean ‘river’, but it has also been suggested that it could mean ‘dark river’ or ‘dark one’. The river gives its name to the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside.
TAMESIDE is one of the ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester, which was formed in 1974 from Dukinfield, Hyde and Longdendale in Cheshire and Ashton-under-Lyne, Mossley, Audenshaw, Denton and Droylsden in Lancashire. The borough takes its name from the River Tame, which crosses the borough from north to south. The name was chosen in 1974 after a consultation exercise and a vote on 30 possibilities.
TANDLE HILL and TANDLE HILL COUNTRY PARK Tandle Hill is a 222-metre hill near Royton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. Its name means ‘fire hill’ from the northern dialect tandle, ‘a large fire in the open air, a bonfire’. The name dates from 9 September 1513 when the hill was used as a beacon during the Battle of Flodden Field. The surrounding area was donated to the people of Royton in 1919 as a war memorial and it was opened as Tandle Hill Country Park in 1971.
TARDEN is a rural area east of Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, which was part of Derbyshire until 1974. It is recorded in 1285 as Toardin and with its modern spelling in 1545, but the meaning and etymology are unclear.
TAUNTON is a town north of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is first recorded in 1246 as Tongton but the modern spelling is found from 1422. The name is derived from the Old English tang (‘fork of a river’) + tūn (‘enclosure, village’), describing Taunton’s position on a long tongue of land where Taunton Brook meets the River Medlock.
THATCH LEACH is a village on the western edge of Oldham. The name is recorded from the 13^th century and the meaning may be quite literal: a place where straw for thatch is soaked or leached.
THICKETFORD BROW is a suburb of Bolton, north-east of the town centre on Bradshaw Brook. The name is recorded in the 18^th century as Th’ igh gate ford meaning ‘ford over the high road’ (to Ramsbottom, presumably), from Old English hēah (‘high, chief’) + Old Norse gata (‘road’). The name was rationalised to ‘Thicketford’ by the end of the 19^th century.
THOMASSON PARK is a 2-hectare public park in Bolton. It was opened on 23 October 1890 and named after John Pennington Thomasson (1841-1904), a cotton industrialist, who purchased Mere Hall and its estate in 1889 and donated it to the people of Bolton ‘as a playground and garden’.
THORNHAM is a residential area divided between the Metropolitan Boroughs of Oldham and Rochdale. The name is first recorded in 1246 as Thornham, meaning ‘homestead or village where hawthorns grow’ from Old English thorn + hām (‘village, homestead’).
THORP is a suburb of Oldham, north of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1260 with its modern spelling and means ‘village’, from the Old Norse thorp. Thorp Mill, built in 1764, was the first water-powered cotton mill in Lancashire, using water from Thorp Clough, a tributary of the River Irk.
The THREE SISTERS RECREATION AREA is a 44-hectare nature reserve in Bryn in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name comes from three spoil heaps from the Garswood Hall coal mine, which was originally built in 1867 or earlier. By the time the mine closed in 1958 the heaps were over 50 metres high and were known as the ‘Wigan Alps’ or the ‘Three Sisters’. The heaps were levelled and the area was converted into a recreation area and wildlife reserve, opened to the public in 1978. The Three Sisters Recreation Area forms a gateway to the Wigan Flashes Nature Reserve.
THROSTLE NEST BRIDGE today is a small footbridge across the Bridgewater Canal in Trafford. There was an older Throstle Nest Bridge over the River Irwell that was demolished when the Manchester Ship Canal was built in 1887-1893. Both took their names from an area of Trafford Park estate, which was recorded as a ‘rural retreat’ in the 1760s, but the name was also given to Throstle’s Nest Lock in Old Trafford – the last lock on the Mersey & Irwell Navigation, which was built in the 1720s. The name comes from the Old English throstle, meaning ‘song thrush’. The name was also applied to deer’s antlers, which were large enough to hold a thrush nest, but, although Trafford Park did have deer, this definition is recorded only from 1785 and so is unlikely to be the meaning here.
River TIB is a culverted tributary of the River Medlock that rises at a spring called Coopers Pit in Miles Platting and flows for a few kilometres before joining the Medlock at Gaythorn near Deansgate station. A recent suggestion is that the name was given by Roman legionnaires to remind them of the River Tiber in Rome, but shortened to reflect the size of the Tib in Manchester. An alternative suggestion is that it comes from the Celtic dubr, meaning ‘water’ which, coincidentally, is also cited as the origin of the Tiber in Italy.
TIMPERLEY is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, but formerly in Cheshire. The name is first recorded in 1211-1225 as Timperleie, meaning ‘clearing where timber is obtained’, from the Old English timber + lēah (‘glade, clearing’).
TIVIOT DALE is a retail and residential area in Stockport, although the name seems to be falling into disuse. The name is said to have been given to the area in 1745, when Prince Charles Stuart (‘Bonny Prince Charlie’) camped in northern Stockport. His Jacobites derived the name from Teviotdale in Roxburghshire in their native Scotland. This is derived from Scottish Gaelic Tibhiot, a name which simply mean ‘river’, but it has also been suggested that it could mean ‘dark river’ or ‘dark one’. The name may be related to other ancient river names, including the Tame, Tamar and the Thames. The Scottish spelling was maintained in Teviot Dale, the original name of the station opened by the Stockport Timperley & Altrincham Railway on 1 December 1865, but the spelling was changed to Tiviot Dale in about 1874.
TOMMYFIELD MARKET is an indoor market in the centre of Oldham. It was established in 1788 in fields owned by Thomas (‘Tommy’) Whittaker. (For Lowry paintings, see Appendix 1)
TONGE is an area to the west (Tonge Moor) and south (Tonge Fold) of Bolton, both on the River Tonge, which is a tributary of the Croal and the Irwell. The name is first recorded in 1212 as Tange, but the modern spelling is found by 1226. Tonge means ‘tongue of land’ or ‘fork in the river’, from the Old English tang or tunge, describing Tonge’s position between the River Tonge to the west and Bradshaw Brook to the east, just before their confluence.
TONTINE There are several streets and buildings in Greater Manchester and across England named Tontine, but this village west of Orrell on the border between Lancashire and the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan seems to be the only settlement with the name. The name of the village is recorded in 1870 but it could be older as the word was in use in Britain from as early as 1765. It is derived from Lorenzo Tonti (c.1602-c.1684), a Neapolitan banker who devised the form of insurance scheme or friendly society that is named after him. Tontines were fairly common in 19^th-century Britain among immigrant communities, but it has not been possible to discover the origin of the name for village of Tontine.
TOPPINGS is a residential area in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It is first recorded in 1843 and is a dialect word meaning ‘hill top’ from the Old English topp (‘the top of a hill, etc’).
TORKINGTON is a district in the Borough of Stockport that was formerly part of Cheshire. The name was first recorded in 1182 as Torkinton and consists of three Old English elements: Turec, a personal name, -ing-, ‘belonging to’ or ‘the followers of’, and tūn, ‘settlement or farmstead’, so that together the name would mean ‘the village of Turec’s people’. Nothing is known of anyone called Turec and it is not recognised to be an English name, but, coincidentally, in 1560 a Richard Bullock leased some land from a John Torkington to set up a smithy nearby in what became Bullock’s Smithy, now Hazel Grove.
TOTTINGTON is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The name is first recorded in 1212 as Totinton, and is usually said to mean ‘the village of Totta’. Totta was a common Anglo-Saxon personal name, -ing– means ‘belonging to, associated with’ and tūn means ‘enclosure, village’. However, the village is on a 272-metre hill and so the name could derive from Old English tōt, meaning ‘hill-top look-out’.
TOUGHSHEET COMMUNITY STADIUM is a mixed-use sports stadium in Bolton and home to Bolton Wanderers football club. The club moved from Burnden when the new stadium was built in 1997. It was originally named the Reebok stadium by its American footwear sponsor, whose name is taken from the Afrikaans rhebok antelope. Since 2024 it has been known as the Toughsheet Community Stadium after the local manufacturer of recycled plastic building materials.
TRAFALGAR SQUARE is a residential area around a small green in the Guide Bridge area of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The area itself dates from around the 1840s but the buildings of Trafalgar Square were built in 1881. The square is named after the British naval victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
TRAFFORD is a district in Stretford that gives its name not only to Old Trafford, Trafford Centre retail outlet and Trafford Park industrial area but also to the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford that was created in 1974. The name is first recorded in about 1200 as Trafford, and is a corruption of Stratford or Stretford, meaning ‘the ford (across the river Mersey) on the Roman road (stræt) between Manchester and Chester’. The loss of the initial S- is said to be a feature of Anglo-Norman but may also be a way of distinguishing Trafford from neighbouring Stretford. In 1974 Trafford was chosen for the name of the new borough because of its famous sports venues and the Trafford Park industrial estate, as well as historical associations, but only after various alternative proposals – Altrincham Stretford and Sale, Chesford, Crossford, Watlingford and Mercia – had been rejected.
TRAFFORD PARK was originally the estate of Trafford Hall. The name is recorded in 1843 but in 1896 it was sold off and developed as the world’s first industrial park, sited on the south side of the Manchester Ship Canal.
TRINITY BRIDGE is a 78.5-metre footbridge across the River Irwell between Salford and Manchester. It was designed by the Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava and was opened in 1995. It takes its name from the nearby Sacred Trinity church, the was built in 1635 as the first parish church in Salford.
TRUB SMITHY is a village south of Castleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. Trub Hall is recorded in the mid to late 17^th century and Trub Farm and Trub Brook are also recorded. Thrub is thought to derive from Old English throp or Old Norse thorp, both meaning ‘outlying settlement’. According to local legend, Oliver Cromwell led his Parliamentarian troops through the area during the Civil War and the owner of Trub Hall provided a smithy to reshoe one of his horses.
TUNSHILL is a hamlet north-east of Milnrow in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is not well documented before 1793, when a small Roman statue was uncovered at Tunshill Quarry on Tunshill Farm. The name is probably much older as the family name of Tunshill dates back to 1273, and probably means ‘enclosure by or near a hill’ from Old English tūn + hyll.	TŪN & TON The most common Old English place-name element across England is ton or tūn, meaning ‘enclosure, homestead or village’, and which, of course, gives us modern English town. There are many places in Greater Manchester which include Tun as their first element (e.g. Tunshill) or, much more commonly, -ton as their second or third element. See the list in the box below.

ALKRINGTON (eponym + ~)	DENTON (valley + ~)	PARTINGTON (eponym + ~)
ASHTON (ash + ~)	DUMPLINGTON (eponym + ~)	PEMBERTON (barley + ~)
ASHTON MOOR (ash + ~ + moor)	ELTON (eponym + ~)	PENDLETON (hill + ~)
ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE (ash + ~ + Lyne)	FLIXTON (eponym + ~)	PENNINGTON (eponym + ~)
ASHTON-UPON-MERSEY (ash + ~ + Mersey)	GORTON (muddy + ~)	PILKINGTON (eponym + ~)
ATHERTON (eponym + ~)	HAUGHTON (nook + ~)	ROYTON (rye + ~)
BALDERSTONE (eponym + ~)	HEATON (high + ~)	SHARSTON (notched stone + ~)
BALDINGSTONE (eponym + ~)	HEATON-UNDER-HORWICH (high + ~ + Horwich)	SHEVINGTON (ridge + ~)
BARTON MOSS (barley + ~ + moss)	HEATON CHAPEL (high + ~ + chapel)	SWINTON (swine + ~)
BARTON-UPON-IRWELL (barley + ~ + Irwell)	HEATON MERSEY (high + ~ + Mersey)	TAUNTON (river fork + ~)
BOLTON (building + ~)	HEATON MOOR (high + ~ + moor)	TORKINGTON (eponym + ~)
BRINNINGTON (eponym ~)	HEATON NORRIS (high + ~ + eponym)	TUNSHILL (~ + hill)
BROUGHTON (fortified place + ~)	HEATON PARK (high + ~ + park)	TURTON (eponym + ~)
CARRINGTON (eponym + ~)	HULTON (hill + ~)	URMSTON (eponym + ~)
CASTLETON (castle + ~)	LOWTON (hill + ~)	WALTON PARK (Welsh + ~ + park)
CHADDERTON (hill + ~)	MIDDLETON (middle + ~)	WARBURTON (eponym + ~)
CHORLTON-CUM-HARDY (ceorl + ~ + Hardy)	MIDDLETON JUNCTION (middle + ~ + junction)	WESTHOUGHTON (west + nook + ~)
CHORLTON FOLD (ceorl + ~ + fold)	MONTON (monk + ~)	WINTON (willow + ~)
CHORLTON-ON-MEDLOCK (ceorl + ~ + Medlock)	MOSTON (swamp + ~)	WITHINGTON (willow + ~)
CLAYTON (clay + ~)	NEWTON (new + ~)	WORTHINGTON (eponym + ~)
CLIFTON (cliff + ~)	NEWTON HEATH (new + ~ + heath)
CROMPTON (bent + ~)	OFFERTON (eponym + ~)
TURTON is an area between Bolton and Blackburn that is divided between the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester and Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire. The name is first recorded in 1185 as Thirtun but its modern spelling is found from 1212. The name means ‘Thorr’s or Thori’s farmstead or village’, from the Old Norse personal name Thorr + Old English tūn (‘farm, village’).
TYLDESLEY is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan that is also known as Tyldesley cum Shakerley. The name is first recorded in about 1210 as Tildesleia and means ‘Tilwald’s clearing’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Tilwald + lēah (‘wood, clearing’).

UNDERBANKS is a district in central Stockport surrounding the mediaeval streets known as Great and Little Underbank. The name is recorded in 1497, when Underbank Hall was built. The name derives from the position of the area – Stockport is built on a hill and Underbank describes the area beneath the bank, an Old Norse word that originally meant ‘steep hill’. This hill can be clearly seen at Crowther Street.

UNSWORTH is a residential area of Bury, about 11 kilometres north of Manchester city centre. The name is first recorded in 1291 as Hundesworth and means ‘enclosure or place of the hounds’ from the Old English hundes + worth.

UPPERMILL is a village on the River Tame in Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, although historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The name is first recorded in 1730 as Upper Mill, which coincides with the beginnings of the industrial revolution and the construction of two mills in the area – a lower and an upper mill. The upper mill was originally a corn mill but was converted for scribbling wool around 1780. It continued in use until the 1930s, when it was demolished.

URMSTON is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The name is first recorded in 1194 as Wermeston, although Urmeston is found by 1212. The meaning is ‘Urm’s farm or village’, from the Danish personal name Urm + Old English tūn. The personal name is said to mean ‘snake, serpent’ and is evidence of early Scandinavian settlement in the Manchester area.

VEGETABLES & VEGETATION While there are many names taken from the types of wood in the formerly forested areas of Greater Manchester between the moors to the east and the mosses to the west, there are comparatively few named after other forms of vegetation. Some are named after vegetables (beans, garlic, peas) that presumably grew wild in river valleys, and reeds would have been useful as a building material. Places named after barley and rye suggest arable crops, which would be consistent with the ploughed land noted in many of the Domesday book entries for the area.
AGECROFT (celery?)	GOLBORNE (marigolds)	PRIMROSE BANK (primroses)
BAMFURLONG (beans)	GORSE HILL (gorse)	RAMSBOTTOM (garlic)
BARLOW FOLD (barley)	GORSEY BANK (gorse)	REDDISH (reeds)
BARTON MOSS (barley)	HATHERLOW (heather)	ROYTON (rye)
BROADBENT (reeds)	HEATHERSHAW (heather)	RUSHFORD (rushes)
CHERRY CLOUGH (cherries)	KEARSLEY (watercress)	RYECROFT (rye)
CLOVER HILL (clover)	KERSAL (watercress)	SEDGLEY (reeds)
ETHROP GREEN (apple?)	LEVER (reeds)
FARNWORTH (fern)	PEMBERTON (barley)
FERN HILL (fern)	POISE BROOK (peas)

VELODROME in Clayton, about 5 kilometres east of Manchester city centre, was opened in 1994 as the National Cycling Centre with an Olympic-standard indoor racing track for training and competitions. The name comes from the French vélodrome, from vélo (‘bicycle’) + -drome (‘a place for running or racing’). Metrolink opened the Velopark tram stop on 11 February 2013.

VERNON PARK is a 6-hectare country park in Stockport, east of the town centre. It was opened on 20 September 1858 on land donated to Stockport Corporation in 1842 by George John Warren, Lord Vernon, and named after him. It was sometimes known as “Pinch Belly Park” or “the People’s Park” because of the poverty among local mill workers.

VIADUCT PARK is a 0.8-hectare rooftop park atop the Interchange bus station and transport hub in Stockport town centre. It was opened in 2024 and takes its name from the nearby Stockport Viaduct, which carries the main Manchester to London railway line over the River Mersey. The viaduct was built by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway in 1839-1840 using about 11 million bricks. It was one of the earliest viaducts and, at that time, it was the largest viaduct in the world. In 1839, the word ‘viaduct’ was new – it had been coined only in 1816. (For Lowry’s pictures of Stockport Viaduct, see Appendix 1)

VICTORIA BRIDGE is a single-arch road bridge across the River Irwell between the cities of Salford and Manchester. It was built in 1838-1839 and named after Queen Victoria (1819-1901).

VICTORIA PARK, Denton is a 2-hectare public park in Denton in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. The land was purchased in 1886 but the park was not opened until 1913. The park is adjacent to Victoria Street, which takes its name from Queen Victoria.

VICTORIA PARK, Rusholme is a suburb of Manchester lying about 3 kilometres south of the city centre between Longsight and Rusholme. Its name comes from the Victoria Park Company, which was established in 1836 to build a residential area with large houses for prosperous and professional families.

VICTORIA PARK, Stockport is a 6-hectare park in the Heaviley district of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It was opened in the late 19^th century, probably to commemorate the 60^th year of the reign of Queen Victoria.

VICTORIA PARK, Swinton is a 6-hectare public park in Swinton in the City of Salford. It was opened in 1897 to commemorate the 60th year of the reign of Queen Victoria.

VICTORIA STATION was opened in 1843 by the Manchester & Leeds Railway. In 1844 the Liverpool & Manchester Railway extended its lines to Victoria and closed its Liverpool Road terminus. The new station was originally to have been called Hunt’s Bank, but was instead named after Queen Victoria. In 1846 the Manchester & Leeds merged with other local companies to form the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and established its headquarters at Victoria. The station has been rebuilt in various ways in the past: several platforms were converted into a Metrolink tram station in 1992 and in 1992-94 the new Manchester Arena stadium was built above some of the northern end.

VICTORY is a residential area north-east of Bolton. It is said to be named after HMS Victory, the flagship of Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), and streets in the area were name after Nelson’s victories at Nile and Trafalgar, as well as after Nelson himself.

VIMTO PARK is a small park in central Manchester that takes its name from the soft drink, Vimto, which was first manufactured on the site on Granby Row in 1908. The drink was at first named ‘Vim Tonic’, because it was said to give the drinker vim and vigour, but this was shortened to Vimto in 1912. The park includes a wooden sculpture of a Vimto bottle and all its fruit ingredients.

VIRIDOR WOOD is a 96-hectare country park in Bamfurlong in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan that forms part of the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh. It is on the site of Mains Colliery, which was opened in about 1870 and closed in 1960. It then became a landfill site owned and operated by a waste disposal company named Viridor, which is the Latin for ‘to become green’. The site was purchased by the Forestry Commission in 2001 and transformed into a country park.

W
WALKDEN is a town in the City of Salford about 11 kilometres north-west of Manchester city centre. The name is first recorded in 1325 as Walkeden and this is usually said to mean ‘Walca’s valley’ from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Wealaca + denu (‘valley’). However, an alternative interpretation is that the origin is the Old English Wealaca, meaning ‘a fuller’ – someone who shrinks and thickens woollen cloth by moistening, heating, and pressing it by walking on it. This might suggest that Wealaca was a fuller or took his name from the occupation. This would fit with Walkden’s history as a textile manufacturing centre.
WALKDEN GARDENS are a 2-hectare public park and open-air theatre in Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The site was originally developed as a nursery by Harry Walkden, but on his death in 1949 it was bequeathed to Sale Borough Council and named in his memory.
WALKER FOLD is a rural woodland area north-west of Bolton. It is not well documented and is assumed to be an eponym meaning ‘the animal enclosure (Old English fald) belonging to someone called Walker’.
WALKERS is a residential area north-west of Grotton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The name is recorded in 1738 as Walker’s and is probably derived, directly or indirectly, from the Old English wealcere, meaning ‘someone who treats woollen cloth by treading on it in a tub of caustic soda’. This definition of a walker or ‘fuller’ pre-dates the modern meaning of ‘walker’ and is the origin of the common surname. Walkers in Oldham may therefore mean ‘land where walking or fulling took place’ or may be an eponym signifying land belonging to someone called Walker.
WALKER’S FIELD or MISS WALKER’S FIELD is a public recreational area in Bury. In the 19^th century the land belonged to the Walker family, who were Lancashire landowners, cotton manufacturers and bankers. The last of the family, a Miss A Walker, died in the early 1950s and donated the land to Bury Council.
WALLGATE is an urban area in the centre of Wigan that takes its name from the area around the mediaeval street of Wallgate and Wigan Wallgate railway station. Wallgate is one of the Wigan ‘gates’, all of which were (and many still are) streets dating from the Middle Ages, and perhaps much earlier as ‘gate’ is derived from the Old Norse gata, meaning ‘road, street’. Wallgate means ‘Welsh road’, from the Old English walh or wealh, suggesting it was the road west to Wales. The others are Standishgate (the road to Standish), Hallgate (the road to Wigan Hall), Millgate (the road leading to a watermill on the River Douglas) and Stairgate (the road to the River Douglas via a set of steps).
WALLNESS is a residential area of north-west Salford and includes Wallness Bridge across the River Irwell. The name is recorded in 1261 as Walneys, from the Old English hwæl, meaning ‘round hill’ + ness (‘promontory, headland’), referring the land inside the long meander in the Irwell at this point. The name had been rationalised to Wallness by the beginning of the 19^th century, although the spelling ‘Walneys’ is found in burial records as late as 1852.
WALLSUCHES is a residential district of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is not well documented before 1777, when brothers Thomas and John Ridgway moved from Dog Hill in Bolton to a site east of Horwich and established the Wallsuches Bleachworks. It is said that the name comes from the Old English wella, meaning ‘stream’, + soc, meaning ‘to soak’. This derivation could refer to the numerous streams running off the moors to the east which would provide the water for the bleaching of cloth on the banks.
WALMERSLEY is a suburb of north Bury. The name is recorded in 1262 as Walmeresley and is said to mean ‘the wood or clearing of Waldmer or Walhmer’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + lēah (‘woodland clearing’). Alternatively, it could mean ‘lake by a wood’, from Old English wald (‘woodland, forest’) + mere (‘pool, lake’).
WALSHAW is a village north-west of Bury. The name is recorded in 1311 as Wolleshagh, meaning ‘the small wood by a stream’, from Old English wælla (‘stream’) + sceaga (‘copse, small wood’). The stream is the nearby Walshaw Brook, which would seem to take its name from the village rather than vice versa.
WALTON PARK is a 5-hectare public park in Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford that was formerly in Cheshire. The land was acquired by the local authority in 1938 and opened to the public in 1939. Walton is a common place name in England and usually means ‘the farmstead or settlement of the Welsh or Britons’, from the Old English walh + tūn. The name suggests that there had been an earlier Celtic settlement on or close to the site.
WARBURTON is a village on the south bank of the River Mersey in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wareburgetune and Warburgetone, meaning the estate or village (tūn) of a woman called Wǣrburg’. See Domesday Book box
WARDLE is a town north-east of Rochdale. The name is recorded as Warhul in 1193 and with its modern spelling in 1580. The meaning is ‘look-out hill’, from Old English weard (‘watch, look-out’) + hyll, referring to Brown Wardle Hill, a 400-metre-high hill north-west of the town. The name of Brown Wardle Hill suggests that modern English hill reduplicates Old English hyll because it had been reduced to -le and its meaning forgotten.
WARDLEWORTH is a residential area of Rochdale, formerly in Lancashire. It is recorded in about 1200 and is said to mean ‘the enclosed settlement (worth) close to Wuerdle’. See also Wardle and Wuerdle.
WARDLEY is a suburb in the north-west of the City of Salford. The name is recorded in 1148 as Weardeleige and means ‘clearing or wood (lēah) near a fortified place’ (warde: protection). (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
WARTH FOLD is a residential and recreational area south-west of Bury. The name is not well documented and literally means ’animal enclosure animal enclosure’ – an example of reduplication as Old English worth and fald both mean ‘animal enclosure’.
WATCH HILL CASTLE is mediaeval castle in Bowdon in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The site is located north of the River Bollin, overlooking a ford by which the old Roman road crossed the river. The name is apparently not recorded until the 19^th century, but it evidently means ‘look-out hill’ from the Old English waecce (‘a watch, look-out’) + hyll.
WATERGROVE RESERVOIR is a reservoir in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, which was completed in 1938. It takes its name from the former village of Watergrove, which was evacuated and submerged when the reservoir was built. The village had originally developed in the 1840s to provide housing for Watergrove Mill, which was built in 1841.
WATERHEAD is a residential area of north-east Oldham. The name is recorded in 1648 as Watergate Mill but as Waterhead in 1844, when it was created as a parish. Both gate and head here mean ‘the source of a river or stream’, which could refer to any of the streams that rise in this area on the edge of the moors.
WATERHOUSES is a village (also known as Daisy Nook) and country park in Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It takes its name from The Waterhouse, the former name of Medlock Hall, a country house dating from the 15^th century.
WATERLOO is a residential area of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is recorded in 1823 and takes its name from Wellington’s victory at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium in June 1815. The name of the original Belgian village means ‘watery clearing’, from the Middle Dutch water + loo (‘forest, clearing’). A number of streets in the Ashton Waterloo are named after officers in the victorious army.
WATERSHEDDINGS is a residential area of north-east Oldham, formerly in Lancashire. It is recorded in 1102 as Watersdeles, a name that means ‘the dividing of the waters’, i.e. the watershed at the top of Pendle Hill. The name comes from Middle English water + shadel (‘parting’), a name and spelling that are still found in Watersheddles Reservoir in Lancashire, built in 1877. The modern word ‘watershed’ is not found until 1764, and it seems likely that the name of the village was rationalised at some point to align with the modern term.
WEASTE is an inner-city suburb of the City of Salford, previously in Lancashire. The name comes from the Old French wast or waste, meaning ‘uncultivated or common land’. The word is used throughout the Domesday Book in its Latin form, wasta, for uninhabited land for which dues and taxes would not be paid, but Weaste in Lancashire is not mentioned. Although the name would seem to date from mediaeval times, Weaste is not well-documented. A map of 1675 calls what is now Weaste Lane ‘Brewers Lane’. Weaste Hall dates from 1831.
“WEATHERFIELD” is a fictional town in Greater Manchester which since 1974 has been the location for the Coronation Street soap opera. According to Corriepedia, it was originally a farming area called Bellwether Field, meaning ‘the field of the wethered ram around whose neck a bell was hung’, from the Old/Middle English belle (‘bell’) + wether (‘castrated ram’) + feld (‘field, farm’). Over time, this was simplified to Wetherfield and ultimately rationalised to Weatherfield.
WEIR MILL or WEAR MILL is a repurposed cotton mill in Stockport that is now a residential and retail centre. The Tame and the Goyt meet in central Stockport to form the River Mersey, which then flows west towards Brinksway. In this short stretch five water-powered cotton mills were built in the 1790s, each with its own weir. One of those on the south bank was named, appropriately, Weir Mill, although it had been converted to steam by 1834. One of the arches of the Stockport Viaduct was built over it in 1840 and part of the upper floor was demolished when the viaduct was doubled in 1888-1889. It ceased production in the 1970s and was restored in 2024 as part of Stockport’s regeneration plans.
WELLINGTON BRIDGE is an 11-arch road bridge in Stockport that carries Wellington Road, the modern A6 and a rerouting of the old Roman Road from Manchester to Buxton, over the valley of the River Mersey. The bridge was built in 1824-1826 and was named after the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), the victor at the Battle of Waterloo of 1815 and later prime minister.
WERNETH is a residential area of Oldham, formerly in Lancashire, about 1.5 kilometres west-south-west of Oldham town centre. Werneth Brook is a stream and tributary of the River Tame in Hyde in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, formerly in Cheshire. Both mean ‘place where alder trees grow’ and are derived from the Celtic verno, meaning ‘alder trees’. Werneth in Cheshire is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Warnet but Werneth in Lancashire rather later in 1226 as Vernet. Both are rare survivors of Celtic places names and both take their names from the wooded landscape.
WESTHOUGHTON is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, 6 kilometres south-west of Bolton itself and 21 kilometres north-west of Manchester city centre. The name is recorded in about 1240 as Westhalcton and with its modern spelling from the 16^th century. It means ‘the western settlement in a nook of land’, from Old English west (‘west, western’) + halh (‘nook, corner of land’) + tūn (‘enclosure, village’). The West was originally to distinguish it from Little Houghton, a village name that seems to have vanished, and the nook may refer to a bend in nearby Water’s Nook.
WESTLEIGH is a suburb of north-west Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The name is recorded in 1238 as Westlegh, from Old English West + Old English lēah, meaning ‘wood, clearing or meadow’. The West distinguishes it from Leigh itself. See also Astley.
WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE was until 1974 one of the three ridings (i.e. third-ings) of Yorkshire, the ancient county named after the city of York. Since 1974, the West Riding has become simply West Yorkshire, although parts of the old West Riding around Saddleworth were transferred to the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester.
WESTWOOD is a residential area of western Oldham. The name is first recorded as Westewood in the late 13th century, from the Old English west + wudu, meaning ‘place to the west of a wood or forest’ or ‘a forest to the west of a settlement’.
WET EARTH COLLIERY was a coal mine in Dixon Fold in the City of Salford. It was first opened in 1756 and was originally called Gal Pit from the Galloway ponies that were used there. It had to be closed because of flooding but an ingenious drainage system was devised and it re-opened in the 1760s, although the flooding problems were recalled it its name. The mine was closed in about 1928 but the site was converted into Clifton Country Park, which opened in 2005. (For Lowry pictures, see Appendix 1)
WHALLEY RANGE is an inner-city area in Moss Side and Withington in the City of Manchester, previously in Lancashire. It was one of the earliest suburbs of Manchester, built in the 1830s by local banker and businessman Samuel Brooks (1793-1864). (See also Brooklands.) He named the area after his birthplace, Whalley in Lancashire. Whalley is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the site of a great battle of Hwælleage in April 798 and takes its name from the Old English hwæl, meaning ‘round hill’ + lēah, ‘clearing or settlement’.
WHARFSIDE is a regeneration area in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford on the south bank of the Manchester Ship Canal opposite Salford Quays and including Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium and the Imperial War Museum. The name is taken from the location beside the wharves of the Manchester Ship Canal and seems to have been devised at the time the Metrolink tram stop (originally to have been called Manchester United) was opened on 22 March 2020 with the name ‘Wharfside’.
WHELLEY is a residential area of Wigan, north-east of the town itself. The name is recorded in about 1160 as Quelley and with its modern spelling from 1553. It means ‘round settlement’, from Old English hweol (‘wheel; water-wheel; anything round, such as a stone circle or a curving valley or hill’) + lēah (‘clearing or settlement’).
WHIT BROOK is a tributary of the River Irk that rises south of Rochdale and flows south to join the Irk west of Middleton. The name is not well documented but means simply ‘white stream’ from the Old English hwit + brōc.
WHITEFIELD is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury that was formerly part of Lancashire. The name is first recorded in 1292 as Whitefeld, meaning ‘white field or land’, from Old English hwīta + feld. There are several theories about what the ‘white’ element might mean: long-lying snow, white flowers such as lilies, fabric laid out for bleaching or wheat fields.
WHITEHEAD GARDENS is a public park and war memorial in Tottington in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. It is named after Mr and Mrs S D Whitehead, who gave the garden to the people of Tottington in remembrance of the seven people who were killed when an air-launched V1 flying bomb landed on Chapel Street on 24 December 1944.
WHITE’S BRIDGE is a road bridge over the Bridgewater Canal in Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. It was built in 1816 and named after Dr Charles White (1728-1813), co-founder of the Manchester Royal Infirmary, who lived nearby at Sale Priory (see Priory Gardens).
WHITTAKER is a village south-east of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale that gives its name to Whittaker Woods, a 4.65-hectare area of woodland. The name is not well documented but literally means ‘white field’ from Old English hwīt + æcer.
WHITTLE HILL is a residential area of Egerton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It takes its name from the 470-metre high hill nearby. It is first recorded in 1292 as Quitful and with its modern spelling in 1612. It means ‘white or bright hill’ from the Old English hwit + hyll. Over time, the second element (hill) was reduced to –le, and so the meaning was reduplicated by adding another ‘Hill’.
WHITWORTH PARK is a public park with an art gallery south of Manchester city centre. The park and Whitworth Art Gallery were laid out on land purchased from the will of Sir Joseph Whitworth (1803-1887), the engineer known for his standard screw threads. The park and gallery were donated to the City of Manchester and opened in 1890.
WICHEAVES See PEEL
WIGAN is a town on the River Douglas and, since 1974, a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester. The name is first recorded in 1199 as Wigan and probably means ‘the dwelling or homestead of Wigan’, from the Celtic personal name Wigan. An alternative possibility is that it is from the Old English wicum, meaning ‘at the dwellings’. According to folk etymology, the town’s name is derived from the wiggin tree, a variant of the rowan or mountain ash, and a wiggin tree is included on Wigan’s coat of arms. ‘Wiggin’ is a dialect variant of Middle English quiken, which is also found in Wickenlow in Lancashire.
WIGAN FLASHES NATURE RESERVE is a 26-hectare country park in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan that forms one of the 8 sites of the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh. It consists of wetlands formed by the subsidence of colliery workings in about 1902, and was opened in 2022. A flash is a mining term for a lake formed by subsidence.
WIGAN PIER was originally a wharf on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Wigan. It was probably built sometime in the 18^th century, when the main meaning of the word pier was an industrial wharf or jetty rather than an entertainment facility built over the sea. Wigan Pier became a music-hall joke and featured in a song by George Formby as well as the title of George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier, a 1937 study of the social conditions of Lancashire’s working classes. The original Wigan Pier was demolished in about 1929 but nearby warehouses continued in use. In the 1980s they were converted into a museum of Victorian life but this closed in 2007 and current plans are to convert the buildings of Wigan Pier and Eckersley Mill for residential, retail and entertainment use.
WILBRAHAM ROAD is a long road in Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Fallowfield in south Manchester, originally built in the 1860s with large houses. It was named after Wilbraham Egerton (1832-1909) of Tatton Park, who was MP for North Cheshire and the second chairman of the Manchester Ship Canal.
WILDERSWOOD is a 9.7-hectare woodland north east of Horwich and south of Wilders Moor in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is recorded in 1322 as Wilderhirst, from Old English wilder, meaning ‘wild animal, especially a deer’.
WILDHOUSE is an area in Butterworth in south-eastern Rochdale. A property called ‘Wyld House’ is recorded in the area in the late 15^th century, its name literally meaning the house or home of the Wyld or Wylde family, who are known to have lived in the area since the late 13^th century.
WILLOWS is a residential area north of Daubhill in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton dating from the 1930s. It takes its name from the nearby Willows Lane, which is recorded in 1762 as part of the St Helens to Bolton turnpike. The lane also formed the boundary between Bolton and Rumworth. Willow comes from the Old English wilig or welig.
WINDLEHURST is a small village south of Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The name is recorded in 1759 with its modern spelling and means ‘wooded hill where coarse grass grows’, from the Middle English windle (shortened from windel-strēaw, meaning ‘coarse grass used for making windles or woven baskets’) + hyrst (‘wooded hill’).
WINDSOR is an area of Pendleton in the City of Salford, although the name seems to be falling out of use. The name is not well documented before the end of the 18^th century, when Windsor Wharf was built, the Windsor Castle pub was opened in 1791, a road bridge was built over the Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal, and the New Windsor chapel was opened in 1797. The area seems to have originally been called ‘New Windsor’ and the name was transferred from Windsor in Berkshire, the name of which means ‘a slope with a windlass’, from the Old English windels (‘winding-gear, a winch, a windlass’) + ōra (‘a slope, shore’). Adopting the name of a fashionable or affluent town in the south of England was especially popular in the 1790s as a process of gentrification. (For Valette paintings, see Appendix 2)
WINDY ARBOUR or WINDY HARBOUR is, with various spellings, found in several parts of England. There are two in Greater Manchester: Windy Arbour, a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, south-west of Wigan itself, and Windy Harbour, a location east of Diggle in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The meaning in each case is ‘windy shelter’ or ‘shelter from the wind’, from Old English windig (‘windy’) + here-beorg (‘shelter’). It used to be thought that the reference was to a resting place for legionnaires along a Roman road, but this theory has been challenged and it may refer simply to an exposed shelter. It seems that Windy Arbour in Wigan is not close to any Roman road, but Windy Arbour near Diggle is on the route of the Roman road from Manchester to Castleshaw.
WINGATES is a village north of Westhoughton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The name is recorded in 1272 as Windyates, meaning ‘wind gate, a gate for the wind’, referring to a pass through which the wind is funnelled, from Old English wind + geat (‘hole, opening, gap, pass, gate or gateway’). The village is in an area exposed to the wind.
WINNING HILL is now a residential area of Gorton in the City of Manchester which is also known as Ryder Brow. Gorton and nearby Nico Ditch are said to have been the site of battles between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes in the late 9^th and early 10^th centuries, and it is tempting to think that the name commemorates a decisive victory. However, it is also possible that is it derived from the Middle English win, in the sense of reclaiming marshland or woodland for cultivation, or whin, meaning ‘gorse’. 19^th century maps also give the name Ryder Brow or Rider Brow as an alternative to Winning Hill, but the Ryder spelling seems to have been formalised with the opening of Ryder Brow railway station in 1985. The name could refer to a horseman, or a family named Ryder.
WINSTANLEY is a suburb of Wigan, but was part of Lancashire until 1974. The name is recorded in 1206 as Unstanesle but its origin and modern spelling are more clearly seen in Wynstaneslegh, recorded in 1252. The name means ‘Wynstan’s clearing in a forest’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Wynstan + lēah. The personal name may be derived from the Old English wynn (‘joy’) + stan (‘stone’) and the mediaeval village is thought to be the origin of the ‘Winstanley’ family name.
WINTER HILL is a 457-metre-high hill in Bolton. It is recorded in the 13^th century as Wintyrhold and Wintyrheld, literally meaning ‘winter hill’ or ‘winter slope’. It has been suggested that the slopes (Old English -helde) are sometimes covered with cotton grass, making it look as if they are covered in snow, even in summer.
WINTON is a residential area on the western edge of the City of Salford. The name is recorded in 1284 as Wythynton and as Wynton in 1535. It means ‘settlement among willow trees’, from Old English withig (‘willow tree’) or withigen (‘growing with willows’) + tūn (‘enclosure, village’).
WITHINGTON is a suburb of Manchester, 6.5 kilometres south of the city centre. The name is recorded in 1212 as Withington, from Old English withig (‘willow tree’) or withigen (‘growing with willows’) + tūn (‘enclosure, village’). It has been suggested that the species is more likely to be the osier rather than the weeping willow.
WODEN FOOTBRIDGE or WODEN STREET BRIDGE over the River Irwell between Ordsall in Salford and Cornbrook in Manchester was built in 1873 on the site of Woden’s Ford, an ancient crossing point that took the Roman road from Manchester to Wigan over the river. The ford took its name from the nearby Woden’s Den, a cave in the sandstone river bank that was said to be a temple to the Saxon god Woden, and later a Christian hermitage. The cave was destroyed in 1808 as its owner wanted to prevent travellers from visiting it for luck before crossing the river. The bridge is also known as ‘Mark Addy’s Bridge’ after Mark Addy (1838-1890), a Salford innkeeper and champion rower who was awarded the Albert Medal (forerunner of the George Cross) for rescuing 50 people from the Irwell.
WOLSTENHOLME is a residential area west of Rochdale. The name is recorded in about 1180 as Wolstonholme, an eponym meaning ‘Wulfstan’s raised land in a swampy area’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + Old Norse holmr. Earlier suggestions that the name is derived from the Old English for ‘wolf’ are now discounted.
WOMANSCROFT is a locality in north-east Bramhall close to Bramhall Green and Happy Valley in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. Womanscroft Bridge across the Ladybrook was built in 1931 and replaced one from the early 18^th century. However, an earlier bridge is recorded in 1637, when a landowning woman who ‘had a house with a small croft and toft’ was given certain legal rights, including being a juror and being ‘exempt from the burden of repairing the bridge over Lady Brook, known as the Woman’s Croft bridge’. Bramhall was one of only two places in England (along with Bamburgh in Northumberland) to give such rights to women at this early date.
WOODBANK MEMORIAL PARK is a 20-hectare public park in Offerton in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport overlooking the River Goyt. It takes its name from Woodbank Farm, which was purchased in 1812 by Peter Marsland, a local cotton manufacturer who built an estate and villa on the land. In 1920 these were sold to Sir Thomas Rowbotham, who donated the land to Stockport Council as a war memorial.
WOODFORD is a village outside of Stockport that was in Cheshire until 1974. It is recorded in 1248 as Widford and with its modern spelling from 1430. It means ‘the ford in or by a wood’ from the Old English wudu + ford, and refers to a crossing of the River Dean in a forest. Woodford Aerodrome was opened by the aircraft manufacturer Avro in 1924 and closed in August 2011. Part of the former airfield now houses the Avro Heritage Museum.	WOOD Anglo-Saxon England was originally thickly forested and the Old English wudu means ‘forest’. There are several place names across Greater Manchester including this element and meaning:
	ADSWOOD (eponym + ~)	OUTWOOD (outskirts + ~)
	BRANDWOOD (burnt + ~)	RAKEWOOD (mouth of valley ~)
	CHEETWOOD (wood + ~)	WESTWOOD (west + ~)
	DUNWOOD (hill + ~)	WOODFORD (~ + ford)
	HEYWOOD (high + ~)	WOODHOUSES (~ + property)
	HOLLINWOOD (holly + ~)	WOODLEY (~ + enclosure)
	HOPWOOD (valley + ~)	WOODSMOOR (~ + moor)
WOODHEYS HALL is a housing development in Ashton upon Mersey in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The estate dates from 1931 but the Woodheys name, meaning ‘wood enclosures’ from the Old English wudu + hæh, is recorded in 1831.
WOODHILL and WOODHILL FOLD are residential areas north-west of Bury. The name is recorded in 1563 as Wyddell, meaning ‘wide nook of land’, from the Old English wīd + halh, referring to a meander in the nearby River Irwell. Over time, the name was rationalised to ‘Woodhill’.
WOODHOUSE PARK is a residential area on the southern edge of Wythenshawe in south Manchester. It was formerly a ‘gentleman’s residence’ with its own grounds but it was purchased by Manchester Corporation in 1949 and developed for housing and recreational areas. The name literally means ‘the house in or by the woods’.
WOODHOUSES is an area south-east of Failsworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, about 8 kilometres north-east of Manchester city centre. It is recorded before 1390 as Woodheyes, meaning ‘an enclosure surrounded by woods’, from Old English wudu (‘wood, forest’) + haga (’enclosure, property’). The original meaning probably became forgotten and the name was rationalised to ‘Woodhouses’. The village of Bottom of Woodhouses is located south-west of Woodhouses.
WOODLEY is a suburb of Stockport, north-east of the town centre. The name is recorded in 1326 as Wodley or Wodlegh and with its modern spelling from 1615. It means ‘clearing in the wood’ from Old English wudu + lēah.

WOODS & WOODLAND Many places are named after a particular type of tree and we see a wide variety of different trees in the names across the county. The names also hint at the uses that the wood was put to – poles (Bollinhurst), brooms (Bramhall, Brimrod), brushes (Besom Hill), poles (Bollinhurst), staves (Stayley, Stalybridge) and perhaps building timber (Timperley).
ALDER FOREST (alder)	EAGLEY (oak)	POLEFIELD (poles)
ASH BROOK (ash)	ELLENBROOK (elder or alder tree?)	QUICK (mountain ash?)
ASHLEY HEATH (ash)	FIRSWOOD (fir)	SALE (willow)
ASHTON-IN-MAKERFIELD (ash)	FIRWOOD PARK (fir)	SALFORD (willow)
ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE (ash)	HAZELHURST (hazel)	SHADOW MOSS (oak)
ASHWORTH MOOR (ash)	HEMPSHAW BROOK (saplings)	STALYBRIDGE (staff, stave)
ASPULL (aspen)	HOLLINGSWORTH (holly)	STAYLEY (staff, stave)
BEECH HILL (beech)	HOLLINS (holly)	TIMPERLEY (timber)
BESOM HILL (besom)	HOLLINWOOD (holly)	WICHEAVES (wych-elm)
BIRCH (birch)	HORWICH (grey wych elms)	WILLOWS (willows)
BIRTENSHAW (birch)	KNUTSHAW BRIDGE (nut-bearing trees)	WINTON (willow)
BOLLINHURST BROOK (pollard)	LIMEFIELD (lime trees)	WITHINGTON (willow)
BRAMHALL (broom)	LIMESIDE (lime trees)	WYTHENSHAWE (willow)
BRIMROD (broom)	OAKENBOTTOM (oak)
BROAD OAK (oak)	OGDEN (oak)

WOODSMOOR is a suburb of Stockport, which was part of Cheshire until 1974. In the early 14^th century the area was known as Snibbs Moor, from Snibb, another word for bog. However, it is also known that it was wooded in mediaeval times, so that Woods Moor, first recorded in 1764, probably means ‘the woods by the moor’.

WOOLLEY BRIDGE is a small residential area on the edge of Hollingworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It is recorded in 1286 as Woleg and as Woolley from 1400. The first record with Bridge is 1842. It means ‘clearing of wolves’, from Old English wulf + lēah.

WORSLEY is a village in the City of Salford about 10 kilometres west of the centre of Manchester. The Bridgewater Canal originally terminated at Worsley when it was opened in 1761 but it was later extended westward to Runcorn in Cheshire. The name is recorded in 1196 as Werkesleia, meaning ‘the woodland or clearing (Old English -lēah) belonging to a woman called Weorcgӯth or a man called Weorchæth’.

WORSLEY MESNES is a suburb of Wigan, south of the town centre. The name is not well documented but it can be traced back at least as far as the 17^th century, when a country house with this name is recorded. It consists of three elements. The third is from the Anglo-Norman demesnes, meaning ‘the domain or manor of’ a particular landowner. The first and second are presumably far older, coming from the Old English Anglo-Saxon personal name Weorcgӯth + -lēah (‘clearing’). The area includes Mesnes Park, a large public park opened in 1927.

WORTHINGTON is a thinly-populated area about 6.5 kilometres north of Wigan which also gives its name to Worthington Lakes reservoirs and Worthington Lakes Country Park. The name is recorded in 1210 as Worthinton, meaning ‘Worth’s village’, from the Anglo-Saxon personal name + ing (‘named after, belonging to’) + tūn (‘enclosure, village’). The three reservoirs are fed by the River Douglas and were built in the mid-19^th century to supply Wigan and now form part of the 20-hectare country park.

WORTHINGTON PARK is a 6.5-hectare public park in Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. At the end of the 19^th century the local authority wanted to develop a public park in Sale to celebrate Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee but the funding was not approved. However, Mary Worthington of Sale Old Hall provided the funding and she opened the park on 30 June 1900, which was named Sale Park. In 1950, 50 years after the park was opened, it was renamed in memory Mary Worthington.

WUERDLE is a residential area west of Littleborough in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. The name is recorded in about 1180 as Werdull, possibly meaning ‘the clearing where troops are stationed’, from Old English weorod (‘army’) + lēah (wood, clearing’). Nearby Wardle means ‘look-out hill’ and it has been suggested that the troops keeping watch on Wardle Hill were stationed in Wuerdle.

WYTHENSHAWE is today a district in south Manchester which was formerly in Cheshire. The name is recorded in the 13^th century as Witenscawe and with its modern spelling in 1548. It means ‘willow copse’, from the Old English wīthign (‘withy tree, willow’) + sceaga (‘copse, small wood’). The name originally applied only to a country house called Wythenshawe Hall, but in 1931 Baguley, Northenden and Northen Ethchells were all transferred to the City of Manchester and collectively became known as ‘Wythenshawe’. In the 1920s and 1930s it was the location for large-scale development, forming a council housing estate over 2000 hectares in area – the largest in Europe at the time.

XYZ

YELLOW BROOK is a stream which rises in Haigh Woodland Park and flows west to join the River Douglas in Wigan. It takes its name from its yellow colour, which comes from the iron in the water as it drains from mine workings.

YORKSHIRE is the traditional name for the county in north-east England that was previously divided into three Ridings (i.e. thirdings) – North, East and West. In 1974, it was divided into four counties – North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire – although some parts of Saddleworth in West Yorkshire are now administered as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester. Yorkshire is derived from the city of York + Old English scīr (‘district’). York itself dates from about AD 150 and probably means ‘place of the yew trees’.

APPENDIX 1: LOWRY LOCATIONS IN GREATER MANCHESTER

Of all the cities in Britain, 20^th-century Manchester is probably the best documented, largely through the work of Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976). Lowry was born in Stretford and spent his youth in Rusholme, but the family moved to Pendlebury in 1909. He studied at the Manchester School of Art, where he was taught by the French Impressionist, Adolphe Valette (see Appendix 2), and later at the Royal Technical Institute in Salford. Although he was recognised as an accomplished artist during his lifetime, he continued to work for a property company until his retirement in 1952. He moved to Mottram in Longdendale in 1948 and died in hospital in Glossop at the age of 88.

Many of Lowry’s works are ‘composites’, combining elements from different places with imaginary scenes. However, many do depict actual identifiable places in what is now Greater Manchester. These locations are listed below.

LOCATION	TITLE	DATE	NOTES
ADELPHI	The River Irwell at the Adelphi	1924
AGECROFT	Agecroft Regatta	1949
ANCOATS	Great Ancoats Street	c.1929
	Great Ancoats Street, Manchester	1930
	Ancoats Hospital Outpatients’ Hall	1952
	Ancoats Hospital Outpatients’ Hall	u/d
ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE	Industrial Landscape	1952
BROUGHTON	A View from the Window of Royal Technical College, Salford, Looking towards Broughton	1925
BROUGHTON	Houses in Broughton	1937
BURNDEN	Going to the Match	1953	Bolton Wanderers’ football ground
CHEADLE HULME	The Drive, ‘Oaklands’	1947
	Portrait of a House	c.1947
	Portrait of a House	1954
CHORLTON-ON-MEDLOCK	David Lloyd George’s Birthplace	1958	House demolished 1957
CLIFTON	Wet Earth Colliery, Clifton	1925	Now Clifton Country Park
	Clifton Junction, Morning	1910
	Clifton Junction, Evening	1910
	A Footbridge	1944	Pack Saddle or Roving Bridge
COLLYHURST	A Footbridge	1938	Also known as ‘Barney’s Steps’
CORONATION STREET, Salford	Coronation Street	1957
CRIME LAKE	Crime Lake	1942
CROWTHER STREET, Stockport	Crowther Street, Stockport	1930	Original houses demolished in the 1960s but restored early in the 2000s
CROWTHER STREET, Stockport	Crowther Street, Stockport	1934
DAISY NOOK, Droylsden	Lancashire Fair, Good Friday, Daisy Nook	1946
	The Fairground	1949
	Fairground at Daisy Nook	1956
DIXON FOLD	Wet Earth Colliery, Clifton	1925	Now Clifton Country Park
ECCLES	Eccles Railway Station	1963
EXCHANGE STATION	Station Approach	1960
EXCHANGE STATION	Station Approach	1962
FAILSWORTH	Old Road, Failsworth	1957
FAILSWORTH	Children Playing, Old Road, Failsworth	1957
FAIRFIELD	The Canal Bridge	1944
GATLEY	The Empty House	1934
	Old House	1936
	Old House, Gatley	1937
GAYTHORN	Oldfield Road Dwelling	1927
GAYTHORN	Oldfield Road Dwellings	1929
River IRWELL	The River Irwell at the Adelphi	1924
	A View of the River Irwell from Peel Park	1924
	River Irwell at Salford	c.1924
	River Scene/Industrial Landscape	1935
	The Lake	1937
	River Scene	1942
	River Irwell at Salford	1947
	A River Bank	1947
	The Agecroft Regatta	1948
MANCHESTER	St John’s Church, Deansgate	1920
	Sketch of St John’s, Manchester	c.1920
	St John’s Church, Manchester	1928
	The Viaduct, Store Street, Manchester	1929
	St John’s Church	1938
	A Footbridge	1938	Collyhurst footbridge
	After the Blitz	1942
	Manchester Blitz/St Augustine’s Church, Hulme	1943
	Going to Work	1943	Mather & Platt Works
	Going to Work	1944	Mather & Platt Works
	St Augustine’s Church, Manchester	1945	Destroyed in Manchester blitz
	Industrial Landscape	1955	Mather & Platt Works
	Reference Library	1972	Now Manchester Central Library
MIDDLETON	Old Church and Steps	1960
MOTTRAM-IN-LONGDENDALE	Agricultural Fair	1949
MOTTRAM-IN-LONGDENDALE	The Hat Rack	1966	Lowry’s home:
PEEL PARK, Salford	Peel Park Sketch	1919
	Peel Park Sketch	1920
	Bandstand, Peel Park	1924
	A View of the River Irwell from Peel Park	1924
	A View from the Window of Royal Technical College, Salford, Looking towards Manchester	1924
	Bandstand, Peel Park	1925
	A View from the Window of Royal Technical College, Salford, Looking towards Broughton	1925
	The Terrace, Peel Park, Salford	1927
	Peel Park, Salford	1927
	Peel Park, Sketch	c.1927
	Bandstand, Peel Park	1928
	The Steps, Peel Park, Salford	1930
	The Bandstand, Peel Park	1931
	Peel Park, Salford	1944
	The Park	1946
	The Bandstand, Peel Park	c.1954	Date tbc
PENDLEBURY	St Augustine’s Church, Pendlebury	1920
	St Augustine’s Church, Pendlebury	1924
	Old Farm in Pendlebury	1925
	St Augustine’s Church, Pendlebury	1930
	Pendlebury Scene	1931
	Street Scene	1935	Acme Mill
	View in Pendlebury	1936
	Figures in a Lane	1936
	The Procession	1937	Annual Whit-Thursday procession
	Albion Mill	1941
	Winter in Pendlebury	1943
	The Mill, Pendlebury	1943
	Mill Scene with Figures	1944
	Iron Works	1947
	Street in Pendlebury	1948
	Pendlebury Market	u/d
	The Railway Platform	1953
PICCADILLY	Piccadilly	1930
	Piccadilly Gardens	1954
	Piccadilly, Manchester	c.1957
POLICE STREET, Eccles	The Arrest	1927
PRESTWICH	Prestwich Clough	1914
RAMSBOTTOM	The Railway Steps, Ramsbottom	1945
RAMSBOTTOM	The Steps	1957
RICHMOND HILL, Salford	Richmond Hill, Salford	1925
RICHMOND HILL, Salford	Richmond Hill, Salford	1957	Date tbc
ST MICHAEL’S FLAGS & ANGEL MEADOW PARK	Playground	c.1927
	The Steps, Irk Place	1928
	Lancashire Street	1929
	St Michael’s Church and All Angels – Study	1933
	View of a Town	1936
	St Michael’s Church and All Angels	1941
	Street Scene	1941
	Britain at Play	1943
	Street Scene with Figures	1944
	Street Scene	1947
ST PETER’S SQUARE	Reference Library	1972	Now Manchester Central Library
SALFORD	Salford Street Scene	1922
	The Flat Iron Market	c.1925
	Belle Vue House, Leaf Square, Salford	1925
	Behind Leaf Square	1925
	The County Court	1926
	The Tower, Leaf Square	1926
	An Old Lamp, Behind Leaf Square	1926
	By Christ Church, Salford	1926
	By the County Court, Salford	1926
	By St Philip’s Church, Salford	1926
	Hulme Place, Salford	1926
	Dwelling, Ordsall Lane, Salford	1927
	A Street Scene, St Simon’s Church	1927
	St Simon’s Church	c.1927
	A Street Scene, St Simon’s Church	1928	Church demolished in 1927
	Salford Street Scene	1928
	The Gateway	1931
	The Corner Shop	1943	Islington Square
	A Footbridge	1944	Pack Saddle or Roving Bridge
	The Old House, Grove Street, Salford	1948
	The Factory Gate	1951
	Early Morning	1954
	St Stephen’s Church, Salford	1956
	Chapel, St Stephen’s Church, Salford	1956
	North James Henry Street, Salford	1956
	Christ Church, Salford	1956
	Francis Terrace, Salford	1956
	Francis Street, Salford	1957
	Sunday Afternoon	1957
	Man Going to Work/Figure in a Gateway	1964
	Church in Salford/St Philip’s Church	1965
STOCKPORT	The Stepped Street	1929
	Mealhouse Brow	1929
	Crowther Street, Stockport	1930	Original houses demolished in the 1960s but restored early in the 2000s
	Crowther Street, Stockport	1934
	Stockport Viaduct	1942
	Stockport Viaduct	1943
	Stockport Viaduct	1944
	The Viaduct, Stockport	c.1950s
	Old Steps, Mealhouse Brow	1969
SWINTON	Arden’s Farm	c.1909
	Wardley Farm, Swinton Moss	1913
	St Mary’s Church, Swinton	1913
	Swinton Moss	1922
	Swinton Industrial Schools	1930
	St Mary’s Church, Swinton	1960
TOMMYFIELDS MARKET, Oldham	Selling Oilcloth on the Oldham Road	1914
TOMMYFIELDS MARKET, Oldham	The Lino Market	1955
WARDLEY	Wardley Farm, Swinton Moss	1913
WIGAN	Industrial Landscape/Landscape in Wigan	1925

References

Sandling J & M Leber (2000), Lowry’s City – A Painter and His Locale, Salford: Lowry Press

Saywell, David, Artists and Places: L S Lowry in Salford and Industrial Towns in Greater Manchester (accessed 13/09/2024)

APPENDIX 2: VALETTE LOCATIONS IN GREATER MANCHESTER

Pierre Adolphe Valette (1876-1942) was born in Saint-Étienne in France and was already something of an established painter when he came to London in 1904. In 1905 he moved to Manchester and initially designed cards and calendars for a printing company but in 1907 he obtained a teaching post at the Manchester Municipal School of Art, where he famously taught L S Lowry. Over the next 10 years he painted a series of pictures of the streets, squares, stations and bridges of foggy Manchester. In about 1917 he changed his style, preferring portraits and landscapes to the grimy cityscapes of Manchester. He resigned his teaching post in 1920 and returned to France in 1928, where he died in 1942. The locations of Valette’s Manchester paintings are listed below.

LOCATION	PICTURE TITLE	DATE	NOTES
ALBERT SQUARE, Manchester	Albert Square, Manchester	1910
ALL SAINTS/GROSVENOR SQUARE	Hansom Cab at All Saints	1910	All Saints church was damaged in the blitz of 1940 and demolished in 1946
	Old Cab at All Saints	1911
	Presbyterian Church, All Saints	tbc
CENTRAL STATION	Central Station	1910-11
River IRWELL	Windsor Bridge on the Irwell	1909	Actually depicts Irwell Street Bridge
	Manchester Cathedral, Looking up the River Irwell from Bailey Bridge	1909
	Bailey Bridge	1912
	Under Windsor Bridge on the Irwell	1912	Actually depicts Irwell Street Bridge
MANCHESTER	Rooftops, Manchester	Tbc
	Manchester Cathedral, Looking up the River Irwell from Bailey Bridge	1909
	Plymouth Grove, July	1909
	Street Scene, Manchester	1912
	York Street Leading to Charles Street	1913
	Manchester Street in the Fog	c.1910
	Manchester Suburban Scene	tbc
MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL	Ship Canal, Sunset	c.1908
	Manchester Ship Canal and Warehouses	1908
	Trafford Road Swing Bridge	c.1910
	Trafford Bridge and Pomona Dock	tbc
	Tug on a Canal in Manchester	tbc
River MEDLOCK	India House	1912
NEW BAILEY BRIDGE	Manchester Cathedral, Looking up the River Irwell from Bailey Bridge	1909
NEW BAILEY BRIDGE	Bailey Bridge	1912
OXFORD ROAD, Manchester	Oxford Road, Manchester	1910
OXFORD ROAD, Manchester	Houses on Oxford Street, Sunset
PLYMOUTH GROVE, Manchester	Plymouth Grove, July	1909
ROMILEY	Romiley	1916
ST PETER’S SQUARE, Manchester	St Peter’s Square, Manchester	tbc
SALE	Sale, near Manchester	1907
SALFORD	Castlegate, Salford	1912
WINDSOR BRIDGE	Windsor Bridge on the Irwell	1909	Both paintings in fact depict the Irwell Street Bridge, not Windsor Bridge
WINDSOR BRIDGE	Under Windsor Bridge on the Irwell	1912

References

Martin, Sandra (2007), Adolphe Valette – A French Impressionist in Manchester, London: Scala Publishers

Webb, Poul, Arts and Artists: Adolphe Valette (accessed 23/11/2024)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & SOURCES

This book has largely been compiled through desk research – gathering the work of earlier scholars rather than carrying out any original research. The works of the standard authors on the place names of Britain and north-west England over the past 150 years have all been consulted. These are listed below and I readily acknowledge my great debt to them. However, many smaller and more recently-named places are not included in these books and so I have spent countless hours searching countless websites to explore such place names. Especially useful were those of the many local historians, archaeologists and conservationists who have researched the place names of Greater Manchester in great detail and depth. This is not intended to be a scholarly reference work and these websites are too numerous to list here, but particular mention should be made of the following: Aidan O’Rourke, Allan Russell, Andrew Simpson, the Bolton News, British History Online; the English Place Name Society, the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service, Grace’s Guide, the Manchester Evening News, National Heritage List for England, the Oxford English Dictionary, Surname DB, Wikipedia.

I should particularly like to thank Dr Ann Cole and Dr Wendy Scarlin for scrutinizing and correcting the original text, and for their invaluable advice. All errors and omissions are my own responsibility.

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