Kersal

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Kersal
Kersal Cell, built in 1563, was a cell for the Cluniac order of monks.
Kersal shown within Greater Manchester
OS grid reference	SD815015
Metropolitan borough	City of Salford
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SALFORD
Postcode district	M7
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Salford
List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester

Coordinates: 53°30′36″N 2°16′42″W / 53.510062, -2.278237

Kersal is an area of the city of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. The centre of Kersal is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northwest of Manchester City Centre, and 2.2 miles (3.5 km) north-northwest of Salford City Centre.

Historically a part of Lancashire, Kersal houses the second oldest building in Salford, namely "Kersal Cell" which was built in 1563. Kersal is home to Kersal Dale Country Park which has been designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and Kersal Moor which is designated as a Site of Biological Importance (SBI) and a Local Nature Reserve.

Contents 1 History 2 Governance 3 Geography 4 Demography 5 Religion 6 Education 7 Health 8 Sports 9 Community Facilities 10 Industry 11 Future Plans 12 External links 13 References 14 Bibliography

[edit] History

Kersal is an area with a long history during which it has been variously known as Kereshale, Kershal, Kereshole, Carshall and Kersall.^[1] In 1142 Kereshale was given to the Priory of Lenton, an order of Cluniac monks, who established an early cell there named St Leonard’s. On the suppression of the monasteries in 1540 Henry VIII sold the priory and its lands to one Baldwin Willoughby. It was sold eight years later to Ralph Kenyon, who was acting on behalf of himself, James Chetham of Crumpsall and Richard Siddall of Withington. The Kenyon third was sold about the year 1660 to the Byroms of Manchester, whose line terminated on the death of Miss Eleanora Atherton in 1870. All the land eventually descended to, or was bought by, the Clowes family (the Lords of the Manor of Broughton) who began to sell off the land for development in the 19th and early 20th century. The most famous resident of Kersal Cell was John Byrom (1692–1763). It is said that he wrote the hymn Christians Awake there, but it is more likely that it was written at his home in the Old Shambles in Manchester above what is now the Wellington Inn.^[1]

In the seventeenth century the Kersal Moor races were the great event of the year. They usually took place around Whit Week when large numbers of people turned the area into a giant fairground for several days.^[2] The moor was also used for nude male races, allowing females to study the form before choosing their mates. Indeed in the 18th century, Roger Aytoun, known as "Spanking Roger" who was later a hero of the siege of Gibraltar, acquired Hough Hall in Moston, through marriage after such a race.^[3] Kersal Moor was also host to one of the great political events of the 19th century, when it was the meeting place for the largest of the Chartist Assemblies attended by at least 30,000 people in September 1838 and again in May 1839. It was also the site of one of the first golf courses to be built outside Scotland. Kersal Links opened in 1818, and was the oldest golf course between the Thames and the Tweed until it closed in 1960.^[4] The Kersal Moor races began prior to 1680 and continued, with various interruptions, until 1847 when the course was switched to the other side of the Irwell, where it remained until 1963. In 1961 the Members Stand at the Castle Irwell racecourse was opened and contained the world’s first executive boxes. The architect for the racecourse, Ernest Atherden, showed this to the directors of Manchester United F.C. who opened their first executive box in 1965 and hence began the modern corporatisation of sport.^[5]

Kersal remained a rural area until about 1840 when the Clowes family, who owned most of the land in the area, began to sell it off for development and merchants and manufacturers began to build their mansions in the green fields of Higher Broughton and Kersal. In keeping with their own ideas of social engineering they imposed strict covenants on how the land was used, reserving the higher ground for more well-to-do residents and the lower ground for workers' cottages.^[6] The number of public houses was severely restricted and then, only beer houses that didn’t sell spirits were allowed. Singleton Road and Moor Lane were the only roads connecting Bury Old Road and Bolton Road and there was a toll bar on the corner of Bury Old Road. When Bury New Road was built in 1831 a gate or bar was erected and travellers had to pay a toll to the turnpike trust to pass through. A toll house was erected on Bury New Road with a bay window projecting out so that the toll collector had a clear view of the road. By 1848 the local authority had taken over the road, the tolls were abolished and toll collector's house became a newsagents. This was the only shop in an area where the landowner's restrictive covenants prevented commercial development. The exterior of the house remains pretty much unchanged to this day, although it was renovated in 2007 with a two-storey extension being added to the rear.^[7] The Toll House is now a Grade II listed building.^[8]

In the 1930s a large council estate was built to the east of Littleton Road. Twelve high-rise tower blocks, known as Kersal flats, were constructed for Salford Council in the 1960s. Eight of these were demolished in 1990. The other blocks were sold to private developers to renovate for private sale. The Housing Act 1980 gave tenants the right to buy.^[9] Since then much of the council estate has been sold to sitting tenants and by 2001 almost 47% of homes in the Kersal Ward were in owner-occupation.^[10]

[edit] Governance

Kersal was originally a hamlet in the township of Broughton.^[11] In 1853 the township amalgamated with Salford despite much opposition from its residents, who didn't wish to "assimilate the cotton of Manchester or the filth of Salford".^[12] Kersal is now a ward of the City of Salford. In 2007 there were three Labour councillors, Anne-Marie Humphreys, Peter Connors and George Wilson.^[13]

[edit] Geography

Kersal is bounded on the north by Singleton Brook, which defines the border with Prestwich, on the south and west by the River Irwell and on the east by Broughton, although the exact position of the border with Broughton is difficult to determine. The west and south of the district lie in the flood-plain of the River Irwell, and consequently have historically been subject to flooding. Serious floods were documented in 1866, 1946, 1954 and 1980.^[14][15] The River Irwell Flood Defence Scheme, officially opened in 2005, uses levees and the playing fields alongside the river as an emergency water catchment area to alleviate this problem.^[16]

The land in the north-east rises steeply before flattening out into a series of rolling hills. At one time it was a pastoral area (said to be of 100 acres (0.4 km²)) known as Kersal Woods or Kersal Moor. Much of it has now been developed for residential purposes or as a football ground, and the open land known today as Kersal Moor comprises an area of only 12 acres (0.05 km²).

[edit] Demography

The total population of Kersal Ward in the 2001 census was 11,940 with 94.6% of people describing themselves as white, 1.88% Chinese, 1.6% Asian or British Asian, 1.31% Black and 0.85% mixed. The area is predominately residential.^[10]

The religious mix is mainly Christian and Jewish with 40.53% of the population describing themselves as Christian and 33.71% as Jewish. 1.79% describe themselves as Muslim with none of the other faiths exceeding 1%.^[10]

[edit] Religion

Churches in Kersal include the Church of England Saint Paul's Church on Moor Lane, built at the instigation of Colonel William Legh Clowes and Miss Atherton of Kersal Cell "for the benefit of the poor of Rainscow" (Rainsough - a hamlet just across the border in Prestwich) in 1851-1852.^[17]

The only Church in Lower Kersal is the Church of England St Aidan's on Littleton Road, a brick-built church opened in 1972 which seats about 120 people.^[18]

There is also the Roman Catholic Church Our Lady Of Dolours, on Bury New Road served by Servite Friars and known locally as "The Servites". The building adjacent to the church at number 500 Bury New Road, now used as the Servite Priory for the church, was originally the Greek Consulate and still has many Greek motifs adorning its internal decor.

The former Catholic Chaplaincy at St Philip's Church on Northallerton Road, Lower Kersal, is now home to the "Just Youth" ministry of the Holy Ghost Fathers.

There are convents of the Roman Catholic Sisters of the Cross and Passion on Bury New Road and Faithful Companions of Jesus on Singleton Road, and there was also a closed order of nuns at a Carmelite Convent on Vine Street for many years.

Synagogues in Kersal include the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue (Shaare Tephillah), founded in 1873,^[19] and North Salford Synagogue. Manchester has the largest Jewish community in the United Kingdom outside London^[20] and Kersal, along with Higher Broughton and Prestwich, is home to most of the Orthodox Jewish community.

[edit] Education

There are three schools serving the area, St Philip's Roman Catholic Primary School on Cavendish Road, Lower Kersal Community Primary School on St. Aidans Grove, off Littleton Road and St. Paul's Church of England Primary School on Nevile Road which replaced a school of the same name built in the nineteenth century on Kersal Moor and demolished in the twentieth century. There was also a High School on Oaklands Road, Kersal High School, which was replaced in 2003 with The Albion High School, based on Lissadel Street, Charlestown. Kersal High was demolished in 2006 and its site used for housing, some of which was still under construction in 2008.

[edit] Health

The mortality rate in Lower Kersal and Charlestown is more than twice the national average and approximately one-third of the population has a chronic illness.^[21] Although 52 GPs serve the area, only three are located within it and there is just one pharmacy and one part-time dentist.^[21] New Deal for Communities (NDC) is a programme that is part of the Government strategy to regenerate deprived neighbourhoods in England. The two neighbourhoods covered by the Salford NDC are Charlestown and Lower Kersal. A grant of £53m has been awarded to the area and a 10-year plan developed. It focuses on health, crime, education and employment, young people, building communities and the physical environment. Plans for new health services in Kersal, including two GP practices, a pharmacy, a Healthy Living project, children and young people's health services and community health services, were implemented with the opening of the Horizon Centre, part of the Willow Tree Healthy Living Centre, at 94 Littleton Road in 2007.^[22]

[edit] Sports

The Salford City Football Club ("The Ammies") is based at the Moor Lane ground in Kersal. The club, founded in 1940, moved into this historic ground in 1978, a location with a fascinating sporting legacy including horse racing, golf, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, tennis and archery, going back as far as 1681.^[23] Kersal's long association with sport continues with the building of Salford Sports Village, a major sports facility centred on Littleton Road which opened in March 2006. This facility is a £4.7m flagship project for the Charlestown and Lower Kersal New Deal for Communities Partnership, Salford Community Leisure and Manchester Football Association. The football facilities include mini, junior and adult grass pitches, a third generation artificial floodlit pitch, a 60 metre x 40 metre artificial pitch, 18 adult grass pitches and players and officials changing rooms. There is also a community suite with a meeting room/social facility with catering facilities, office accommodation training room and an ICT suite.

The Riverbank Park, a neighbourhood park and children's play area, opened next to the Sports Village in 2007.

[edit] Community Facilities

Kersal Dale Country Park occupies about 32 hectares of countryside^[24] straddling a large meander of the River Irwell to the east of Kersal. Approximately half of the park is Beech Woodland on the side of the Irwell Valley and half is flat land on the flood-plain of the river, which occupies part of the area formerly taken up by The Irwell Castle Racecourse and Kersal Links golf course. The park is designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR). ^[25] The Salford Ranger Team organise environmental walks and talks, educational programmes for schools and other activities. There is also a permanent orienteering course.

Kersal Moor is an eight hectare recreation ground to the north of Kersal which consists of open moorland popular with dog walkers and schools. Kersal Moor is designated as a Site of Biological Importance and a Local Nature Reserve (LNR).^[26]

The Lower Kersal Activities Centre, Northallerton Road, Lower Kersal, runs a variety of community activities for different age groups, including holiday play schemes. Salford College also runs community courses for over 16's at the centre.

There is a sports and social club The Lower Kersal Social Club on Stamford Road.

The Community Groups' Network gives local community groups, residents' groups and volunteers in Charlestown and Lower Kersal the chance to meet and share information.

The Lower Kersal Young People's Group is a Greater Manchester youth network.

The Y-Talk Website has been designed with, and for, young people in Charlestown and Kersal. The site is produced and managed by Salford Youth Service.

[edit] Industry

A soap factory was established in Kersal Vale, by the side of the Irwell on the border with Prestwich, in 1920 by Alexander Tom Cussons. The factory produces the famous brands of Carex, Cussons Imperial Leather and Morning Fresh.

[edit] Future Plans

The Charlestown and Lower Kersal New Deal for Communities has made many improvements to the area including the Sports Village and improvements to housing and the local environment. There is much work yet to be done, including the demolition of old housing stock to make way for new development. The New Deal Team is working closely with Salford City Council, partner agencies and a network of well-established community groups with their stated aim being to "make sure that the area can become a prosperous and thriving part of Salford." The plans have not been universally welcomed and action groups have been formed to protest at the perceived lack of consultation and the threat to existing homes.^[27]

[edit] External links

• Salford Sports Village
• History of Kersal Dale
• Video of Kersal Dale's History
• The Community Groups' Network
• The Lower Kersal Young Peoples Group
• Y-Talk Website
• The Charlestown & Lower Kersal New Deal for Communities
• Salford New Deal for Communities Delivery Plan 2001-2011
• Website about Kersal and Kersal Flats

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

Broughton and Cheetham Hill in Regency and Victorian times by Monty Dobkin Second Edition Published by Neil Richardson 1999 ISBN 1 85216 131 0