Salford (hundred)

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For other uses, see Salford (disambiguation).
Salford
Salfordshire superimposed
Geography
Status Hundred
1831 area 212,170 acres (859 km²)
HQ Salford
History
Created 12th century
Abolished 31 January 1971

The hundred of Salford was an ancient division of the historic county of Lancashire, in northern England. It was established in the 12th century as Salfordshire – the name alluding to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (the suffix -shire meaning the territory was appropriated to the prefixed settlement). It is also known as the Royal Manor of Salford[1] and the Salford wapentake.[2]

Salford was used in matters of taxation and justice. It had a court used for various transactions of public business and cases of small debts. Exceptionally for hundred courts, Salford survived until the 19th century.[2]

The area it occupied, 212,170 acres (859 km²), corresponds loosely to the modern metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, though excludes those parts from the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, as well as most of that that forms the modern Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. Its area also extended into territory north of what is now Greater Manchester, including parts of Rossendale and Todmorden.

The parish of Manchester formed part of Salfordshire. It has been suggested that a Manchester-shire hundred was not favoured over one centred at Salford because Manchester had been ravaged as part of the Danish occupation.[3]

The parish of Rochdale, in Salfordshire, included the chapelry of Saddleworth from the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire.[2][4]

[edit] Parishes and townships

Salfordshire comprised several parishes and townships during its history. These were not static, and changed according to the construction of churches and chapels and increases in population. For example, the township of Hundersfield was one of Rochdale parish's four original townships, but was itself split into four.[1] Simillarly, Prestwich-cum-Oldham was later split into two separate parishes of Prestwich and Oldham. In 1830, Salfordshire was documented to consist of the following parishes and townships:[5]

Hundred Parish Townships Notes
Salford Ashton under Lyne Ashton under Lyne
Bolton le Moors Great Bolton, Little Bolton, Tonge-With-Haulgh, Sharples, Little Lever, Darcy Lever, Breightmet, Harwood, Bradshaw, Turton, Edgeworth, Entwisle, Quarlton, Longworth, Rivington, Anglezarke, Blackrod, Lostock [2]
Bury Bury; Elton, Heap, Walmersley (with Shuttleworth), Tottington Higher End, Tottington Lower End, Musbury, Cowpe, Lench, Newhall Hey, Hall Carr [3]
Deane Rumworth, Horwich, Heaton, Halliwell, Westhoughton, Little Hulton, Middle Hulton, Over Hulton, Farnworth, Kearsley
Eccles Barton, Pendleton, Clifton, Worsley, Pendlebury [4]
Flixton Flixton, Urmston [5]
Manchester Ardwick, Beswick, Blackley, Bradford, Broughton, Burnage, Cheetham, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Crumpsall, Denton, Didsbury, Droylsden, Failsworth, Gorton, Harpurhey, Haughton, Heaton Norris, Hulme, Levenshulme, Manchester, Moss Side, Moston, Newton, Openshaw, Reddish, Rusholme, Salford, Stretford, Withington [6]
Middleton Middleton, Pilsworth, Hopwood, Thornham, Birtle-With-Bamford, Ashworth, Ainsworth, Great Lever
Prestwich-cum-Oldham Alkrington, Chadderton, Crompton, Great Heaton, Little Heaton, Oldham, Pilkington, Prestwich, Royton, Tonge
Radcliffe Radcliffe
Rochdale Castleton, Spotland, Butterworth, Wuerdle and Wardle, Wardleworth, Blatchinworth and Calderbrook, Todmorden and Walsden. Rochdale also included the chapelry of Saddleworth from the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Derby Wigan Aspull Aspull was a township in Salfordshire, but attached ecclesiastically to the Wigan parish of West Derby hundred.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Salford City Council (2004-05-25). Salford's Local History (http). salford.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
  2. ^ a b c Anon (2003-07-31). A select gazetteer of local government areas, Greater Manchester County. Greater Manchester County Records Office. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  3. ^ Salford. 1911encyclopedia.org (1911). Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
  4. ^ British History Online. The Hundred of Salford. Victoria County History. Retrieved on 2007-04-07.
  5. ^ Cooper, Salford: An Illustrated History, p. 8

[edit] External links

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