HULME
Overholm and Noranholm, 1226; Hulm, 1310.
The township of Hulme is bounded on the north,
west, and south, in the main, by the Medlock, Irwell,
and Cornbrook respectively. It has an area of
477½ acres (fn. 1) and is wholly urban. There was a
population of 66,916 in 1901.
The principal thoroughfare is the Chester Road,
starting at Knott Mill and proceeding south-west to
Stretford. (fn. 2) It is on the line of the old Roman road
to Chester. Almost parallel to it are City Road,
from Gaythorn to Stretford, and Stretford Road from
Ardwick to Stretford. Across these runs Jackson
Street, and there are, of course, a multitude of minor
streets intersecting each other. Apart from Hulme
Hall, which stood beside the Irwell, the earliest dwelling-houses (fn. 3) seem to have been erected on the south
side of Chester Road, streets being planned there as
early as 1793 and a considerable suburb existing in
1830.
The Bridgewater Canal has its terminus in Hulme
at the Medlock, where there are quays, docks, and
warehouses. The Cheshire Lines railway and the
Manchester South Junction and Altrincham railway
run side by side through the township near the Irwell.
The district is served by the Manchester electric
tramways.
The public buildings include the cavalry barracks
in City Road, first erected in 1799; a town hall in
Stretford Road, built in 1865, a public library being
added next year; baths, 1860–5; and the Gaythorn gas works, erected in 1825–6; also a drill-hall.
A dispensary was founded in 1831.
The industries are varied, including iron works,
cotton mills, saw mills, and printing works.
Hulme obtained a Police Act in 1824. It was
included within the municipal borough of Manchester
in 1838 by the first charter, and then divided into
two wards—St. George's on the west and Medlock
Street on the east. In 1896 its independent existence
ceased, it being merged in the new township of South
Manchester.
The old Chorlton Union Workhouse, built about
1840, stood in Stretford Road, opposite Holy Trinity
Church.
MANOR
The early descent of HULME is obscured by the number of places of this
name in South Manchester and Eccles,
and by its being included either in Salford or in
Manchester. It seems clear that Jordan, Dean of
Manchester, in the 12th century held it of the
manor of Salford in thegnage by a rent of 5s., (fn. 4)
and that in 1212 Henry de Chetham held it by the
same service, it being assessed as four oxgangs of
land. (fn. 5) The same tenure is alleged in the later inquisitions touching the manor. On the other hand
Hulme is included within the boundary of the manor
of Manchester in the survey of 1320, (fn. 6) at which time
Robert de Ashton held a moiety of the manor of
Hulme by Alport by a rent of 5s. at the four terms,
payable to the lord of Manchester. (fn. 7) It seems possible, therefore, that the Grelleys had secured the
mesne lordship of the manor, but that in course of
time this mesne lordship was, as in many similar
cases, forgotten, and the immediate tenants were considered to hold directly of the honour of Lancaster,
paying their rent at Salford manor-house. Another
explanation is that one moiety became absorbed in
the lordship of Manchester, the other moiety being
that afterwards known as the manor of Hulme, held
of Salford.
Whatever may be the solution of this difficulty, (fn. 8)
the actual possessors adopted the surname of Hulme (fn. 9)
and were succeeded early in the 14th century by the
Rossendales, (fn. 10) and these by a branch of the Prestwich
family, who also held lands in Oldham, perhaps a
portion of the Hulme inheritance. (fn. 11) Of the Prestwich family little is known (fn. 12) until the 16th century,
when Ralph son of Ellis Prestwich entailed the lands.
Edmund, his son and heir, being without issue, gave
them 'by deed and fine' to his cousin Edmund son
of Edmund Prestwich deceased. (fn. 13) The elder Edmund died on 27 November 1577, holding the
manor of Hulme and extensive lands in Manchester
and Oldham; Hulme was held of the queen as of
her manor of Salford in socage by the ancient rent of 5s.,
and its clear annual value was
£10. (fn. 14) His successor, the
younger Edmund Prestwich,
died in 1598 holding the
manor as before, and leaving
as heir his son Edmund, then
twenty-one years of age. (fn. 15)
The last-named Edmund died
at Hulme in February 1628–9,
holding the family estates,
and leaving a son and heir
Thomas, aged twenty-eight. (fn. 16)
Prestwich of Hulme. Gules a mermaid proper crined or holding a glass and comb of the last.
Thomas Prestwich, who was
educated at Oxford, (fn. 17) compounded for the two-thirds
of his estate liable to sequestration for recusancy in
1632, his annual fine being £6 13s. 4d. (fn. 18) He
zealously espoused the king's side during the Civil
War; was a commissioner of array in 1642; fought
in the wars with varying fortune, being made a
baronet in 1644, and a knight afterwards on the field
of battle. (fn. 19) He compounded for his estates in 1647, (fn. 20)
but his exertions in the king's cause resulted in the
ruin of his house, (fn. 21) and in 1660 Hulme was sold to
Sir Edward Mosley of Hough End in Withington. (fn. 22)
Passing to the Mosleys of Ancoats, (fn. 23) the Hulme estate
descended to Lady Bland, and was sold by her son
Sir John Bland in 1751 to George Lloyd. (fn. 24) In 1764
a portion was purchased by the Duke of Bridgewater. (fn. 25)
Hulme Hall stood on a rise of red sandstone rock
overlooking the River Irwell just below where it is
joined by the Medlock, and about half a mile above
Ordsall. It is described by Aikin in 1795 as 'an old
half-timbered house,' and from the evidence of sketches
and drawings made while the building was still standing seems to have been a good specimen of the
domestic timber architecture of the county. (fn. 26) It was
of two stories and built round a quadrangle, but no
plan has been preserved showing the disposition
and arrangements of its various parts. The river
front facing north-west appears to have been the most
picturesque side of the house, presenting an irregular
line of building, one of its three gables containing 'an
oriel window with a projecting story above.' (fn. 27) The
approach was by an avenue of fine elm trees, and the
entrance seems to have been by an archway under a
tower on the south-east side of the quadrangle, on
one side of which the building was only onestoried. The timber work to the quadrangle is said
to have been more ornate than that in the front
of the building, but some parts of the house appear
to have been of brick covered with plaster. It is
not easy to reconcile the various views of the hall
taken by different people at different times, or any
of them with the block plan of the hall as shown in
Green's map of Manchester (1794). In the 18th
century the gardens of Hulme Hall 'were celebrated
for their beauty, and decorated with various works of
art and antiquity, among which were several Roman
altars and other remains of the former domination of
that warlike race, which had been discovered from
time to time in the immediate neighbourhood.' (fn. 28) The
portion of the hall facing the gardens, consisting of
two or three gables of two stories with the porch on
the extreme right, is described early in the 19th century as containing 'a staircase of large dimensions and
massy appearance. It is composed of ancient oak,
which age had turned to a dark brown or black
colour. The upper rooms are panelled and have large
fireplaces with chimneypieces and twisted pillars in a
grotesque style. The interior is more perfect, and the
exterior more decayed, than the other parts of the
hall.' (fn. 29) The hall was 'fast falling into decay' in
1807 (Britton), and was then let out in tenements to
poor families. In one of the rooms was a series of
16th-century oak panels sculptured with carved heads
and figures, but these were removed to Worsley Old
Hall about 1833 (or before), and are now in the new
hall there. (fn. 30) Hulme Hall was pulled down about
1840 to give place to buildings and works in connexion with the Bridgewater Canal, and murky smoke
begrimed workshops and mills now cover the site.
It is said that in front of the hall, at the river
side, was a red sandstone rock called Fisherman's
Rock, in the face of which was a cave known as
Robbers' Cave. (fn. 31)
In 1787 the chief proprietors were George Lloyd,
the Duke of Bridgewater, and William Egerton,
together paying four-fifths of the land-tax; Thomas
Bullard or Bullock also had a fair estate. (fn. 32)
The increase of the population as Manchester expanded from the end of the 18th century has led to
the erection of a number of places of worship. In
connexion with the Established Church, St. George's,
built in 1826–7, was consecrated in 1828; (fn. 33) Holy
Trinity, 1843; (fn. 34) St. Mark's, 1852; (fn. 35) St. Paul's,
1857; (fn. 36) St. Mary's (fn. 37) and St. John Baptist's, (fn. 38) both
in 1858; St. Philip's, 1860; (fn. 39) St. Michael's, 1864; (fn. 40)
St. Gabriel's (fn. 41) and St. Stephen's, (fn. 42) both in 1869.
The incumbents, who are styled rectors, are appointed
in five cases by bodies of trustees; the Crown and
the Bishop of Manchester nominate alternately to
St. Mark's, the bishop alone to St. John's, the Dean
and Canons of Manchester to St. George's and
Holy Trinity, and Earl Egerton of Tatton to St.
Mary's. St. Michael's and St. Philip's have mission
rooms.
A Methodist chapel existed in Hulme in 1842.
The Wesleyans had chapels in Radnor Street and
George Street. The Methodist New Connexion has
one church, and the United Free Church two; the
Primitive Methodists also have one. The Baptists
have a church in York Street with a mission chapel.
The Welsh Baptists formerly had one. The Congregationalist church in Chorlton Road, Stretford, has
three dependencies in Hulme, their principal church
is Zion in Stretford Road, and there are two others. (fn. 43)
The Salvation Army has two stations. The Church
of United Friends has a meeting place; the
Catholic Apostolic Church (Irvingite) also has one.
The Unitarians have a mission to the poor.
The Roman Catholic Church of St. Wilfrid was
opened in 1842. The large convent and school of
Our Lady of Loreto is in this township.