Miles Platting
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| Miles Platting | |
  Miles Platting shown within Greater Manchester |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan borough | City of Manchester |
| Metropolitan county | Greater Manchester |
| Region | North West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MANCHESTER |
| Postcode district | M40 |
| Dialling code | 0161 |
| Police | Greater Manchester |
| Fire | Greater Manchester |
| Ambulance | North West |
| European Parliament | North West England |
| UK Parliament | Manchester Blackley |
| List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester | |
Miles Platting is a district of the City of Manchester, in North West England, located approximately one mile east of Manchester City Centre, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire. It lies along the A62 Oldham Road, its boundaries being marked by that road to the north, Hulme Hall Lane to the east, and Bradford Road with Ancoats Urban Village and New Islington to the south and west, comprising an area of 116 hectares.
Miles Platting first seems to have appeared on maps in the 1820s, when it had begun to grow rapidly during the industrial revolution. That industrial growth resulted in a population that became very large for the size of the district, resulting in densely packed back-to-back housing that had degenerated into slums by 1950.
Today, Miles Platting is part of the East Manchester Regeneration Scheme and is undergoing extensive redevelopment and regeneration as some of the last vestiges of the industrial revolution are removed.
Contents |
[edit] Geography and administration
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[edit] Geography
[edit] Civic history
Miles Platting was incorporated into the City of Manchester in 1838.
[edit] Political divisions
[edit] History
No early records have been found of Miles Platting, and indeed the area seems not to have appeared on maps until the 1820s.[1] Therefore the origin of the name remains uncertain, but one suggestion is that it may derive from the word platt, meaning a small piece of ground, with miles being a corruption of mills. Hence Miles Platting may mean "mills on a small piece of ground".
Miles Platting certainly did have many mills by the middle of the 19th century; Holland Mill, Victoria Mill and Ducie Mill being amongst the largest. By the 1870s a chemical works, timber yard, gas works and a tannery were also operating in the area alongside the many mills. This volume of industry in such a relatively small area inevitably led to the construction of densely packed back-to-back housing to provide homes for the necessary workforce. By the middle of the 20th century, with the decline in manufacturing industry and the closure of its local industries, Miles Platting had become a slum area inhabited by a deprived, largely white, community. Today, Miles Platting contains just under 2,000 housing units, many of them managed by Manchester City Council, including 12 multi-storey blocks.[2] The area, once recognised as being amongst the most deprived in the UK, has benefited greatly from the very substantial urban regeneration scheme for east Manchester initiated in the late 1990s.
Miles Platting once had a railway station at the junction of the lines from Manchester Victoria to Oldham and Stalybridge, but this closed in 1995, and the station was subsequently demolished. The railway line, which remains open for passenger traffic, separates Miles Platting from Collyhurst and Monsall.
[edit] Culture
[edit] Landmarks and attractions
A prominent building of Miles Platting is Victoria Mill, a huge former cotton mill which looms over the district and now houses offices and apartments. Its restoration was directed by Fr Dominic Kirkham of Corpus Christi.
[edit] Religion
Historically, much of the population of Miles Platting was of Irish Catholic or Italian descent, as evidenced by the large Corpus Christi Priory on Varley Street. The basilica has been served since 1889 by the Norbertine (Premonstratensian) Order, becoming an independent canonry of the order in 2004. Due to falling numbers and mounting repair and maintenance costs the basilica is now closed, the final Mass being celebrated by the Bishop of Salford on April 27th 2007.
The future of the basilica remains uncertain. The charity Age Concern has expressed an interest in building an activity centre on the site, as well as residential care, and is also looking at the possibility of building a new headquarters, community rooms and offices for people working and living in the area.[3]
From 1880, until the slum clearances of the 1970s, a Salvation Army corps existed here in Cash Street.
Miles Platting is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford,[4] and the Church of England Diocese of Manchester.[5]
- Further information: List of churches in Miles Platting
[edit] References
- ^ Miles Platting (HTTP). Districts & Suburbs of Manchester. Manchester UK. Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
- ^ Miles Platting (HTTP). New East Manchester. Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
- ^ Basilica closes after 118 years (HTTP). BBC. Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
- ^ Catholic Diocese of Salford (HTTP). Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
- ^ The Church of England Diocese of Manchester (HTTP). Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
[edit] External links
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