Ordsall, Greater Manchester

Ordsall
Ordsall Hall
Ordsall  Ordsall shown within Greater Manchester
OS grid reference	SJ815975
Metropolitan borough	Salford
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SALFORD
Postcode district	M5
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Salford and Eccles
List of places UK England Greater Manchester

Coordinates: 53°28′26″N 2°16′41″W / 53.474°N 2.278°W / 53.474; -2.278

Ordsall is an inner city area of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It is situated chiefly to the south of the A57 road and close to the River Irwell, the main boundary with the city of Manchester. Ordsall is bound to south by Salford Quays and the Manchester Ship Canal, which divides it from Stretford and the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford.

Historically a part of Lancashire, Ordsall was the birthplace of the bush roller chain and is home to Ordsall Hall. As of 2007, the area is being extensively re-developed in a joint urban regeneration scheme between Salford City Council and property developer LPC Living.

History

The name Ordsall has Old English origins being the personal name ‘Ord’ and the word ‘halh’, meaning a corner or nook, which has become the modern dialect word ‘haugh’.^[1] This, indeed, describes the position of the manor of Ordsall, for its boundary on the south side is a large bend in the River Irwell which later became the site of the docks for the Manchester Ship Canal. Ordsall first appears in records in 1177 when ‘Ordeshala’ paid two marks towards an aid, a feudal due or tax.

Antiquarian and Geologist, Samuel Hibbert-Ware gave a different etymology for the name; 'ord' is a Saxon word for 'primeval' or 'very old' and 'hal' meaning 'den' - hence the name 'Ordeshal' could mean 'very old den'. His reasoning for this was the location in the area of the cave known as 'Woden's Den'.^[2]

Woden's Den

Before the River Irwell was deepened to make it navigable there was an ancient paved ford at Ordsall known as 'Woden's Ford' and nearby, in a lane leading to Ordsall Hall, was a cave known as 'Woden's Den'. The cave was of great interest to 19th Century Antiquarians but their constant trespassing to view the site prompted the landowner to completely destroy it early in the century, and no trace of the feature remains. However, the cave was described and sketched by Thomas Barret in about 1780:

Worden's or Woden's Ford is a paved causeway across the River Irwell from Hulme-field, where Medlock loses itself in the aforesaid river, to the opposite bank, but now lost to every observer since Irwell was made navigable. Woden's Den is the spot I wish to throw light upon, although obscured by darkness, perhaps of many ages. Tradition supposes it to have been the den or woody habitation of the priest or priests of Woden, the much esteemed war deity of the idol Saxons...What might be the extent, or bounds, of this supposed idol temple, or place of sacrifices, we know not; but certainly it was once of a much larger extent. What remains of its height is now about 6 feet, and the length of the whole, as it now appears is about 22 yards. At the South, and near the great tree, as may be seen by referring to the drawing, is a hole about 3 feet wide, much resembling an oven, and near the middle is another excavation, not so deep in the rock as the former, at the northern extremity. The margin of the rock, just above the surface of the Earth, is ornamented with a sort of regular Gothic tracery, and gently curves into a cavity of about double the size of the aforesaid recesses. The range of the rock is all along shaded with overhanging bushes, which much obscure the same from the notice of passengers. Admitting the above to be in a devoted place for pagan superstitions in the Saxon times, it again presents itself under the character of a place dedicated to the retirement and devotion of a professor of Christianity. On one part of the rock much labour has been distilled into ornamenting it with root characters, which have been called runic, but which plainly appear upon closer examination, to have the letters J.H.S. the Latin initials of Jesus the saviour of men in rude church text. The above letters show themselves in three or four places, and, in one part, the letters appear about 3 feet longer a-piece. Some few shields ornamented with crosses may be seen in different places wrought upon the rock. Near the south end are the faint remains of a shield with the like of a sword handle near it. At what period of time a change of worship happened here I cannot say, but many places devoted to heathen worship were afterwards dedicated to Christianity.^[2]

Hibbert was convinced that the cave was a temple to Odin, saying in his book History of the foundations in Manchester of Christ's College, Chetham's Hospital and the Free Grammar School (1830), "There can be little question but that in this recess the sacrifices, divination and compacts appertaining to worship of the hero of the Edda were regularly practised".^[3] He postulated that, as this part of the Irwell was subject to regular flooding, travellers would have made offerings to Odin, the protector of travellers, before attempting the crossing.^[2] He also said that there were strong grounds to suppose that Cluniac monks of Lenton Priory, who had a cell called "St Leonards" at nearby Kersal, converted the cave into a Christian hermitage and served as guides to the crossing at Woden's Ford and the surrounding marshes in order to supplant the earlier pagan practices.^[2][4]

Regeneration project

As of 2007, the area is undergoing urban regeneration under a joint venture agreement between Salford City Council and property developer LPC Living. The "Heart of Ordsall" framework, agreed in 2005, means that over the next five years extensive environmental and infrastructure improvements will be made to the Ordsall estate at a cost of around £150 million.

The regeneration is very much community led and has already delivered a new £6.5 million primary school and children's centre. The school accommodates 315 pupils and also incorporates an 83 place children's centre providing education, health, social care and day care facilities for the local community. A dedicated street sweeper, designed by local children, cleans around Ordsall three times a week in addition to the council services as a result of local concern over litter.

Between 800 and 1,000 new homes for local families and first-time buyers will be delivered, a new community hub will cover the whole of Ordsall including Salford Quays; improvements to Ordsall Park and plans for other play areas and small open spaces are also in the pipeline for 2008.

The estate will be opened up to shoppers, with the former Radclyffe School site on Trafford Road, earmarked as a new retail centre, replacing the existing district centre. There will be new pedestrian routes and cycle lanes, visibility across the area will be improved to reduce the fear of crime, and there will be improved access to nearby Metrolink stations for the Quays and the city centre.

Over £40 million has already been privately invested into the area, with the creation of hundreds of homes aimed toward first-time buyers and local residents, including Gresham Mill situated on the River Irwell, Radclyffe Mews on Taylorson Street and Quay 5, a £24 million scheme of 231 flats which sold out in just six weeks.

Economy

Despite its notorious past, Ordsall's location between Manchester city centre and Salford Quays has led to a regeneration boom. Average house prices have risen over 100% in the past 5 years, with the area in the centre of key regeneration visions such as the Irwell City Park scheme. A study commissioned by insurers More Than, published in June 2007, revealed that Ordsall had become one of the United Kingdom's property hot spots, ranking 17th out of the 35 identified. The study rated areas by looking at homes occupied by young, affluent professionals.^[5]

Landmarks

Ordsall Hall

Ordsall Hall is a Tudor mansion that was for over 300 years the home of the Radclyffe family. In more recent times it has been a working men’s club and a school for clergy, the forerunner of the Manchester Theological College, amongst other uses. Like many old buildings, Ordsall Hall is said to be haunted, in particular by "the White Lady", who it is said threw herself off the balcony overlooking the Great Hall. An episode of the TV programme Most Haunted was filmed at the hall in 2002.

Salford Lads Club

Ordsall is home to Salford Lads Club, which is featured on the inside cover of the album The Queen Is Dead by the pop band the Smiths. The club is on the corner of St Ignatius Walk and Coronation Street.

St Clement's Church

St Clement's Church is the Anglican parish church of Ordsall. The church was opened in 1877 and is now a Grade II listed building.^[6][7]

St Joseph's Church

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church is one of the few buildings to have survived the Ordsall slum clearances. The church was designed by W. Randolph and cost £5,000 to build, equivalent to £470 thousand today.^[8] It was opened on Sunday 20 April 1902. The building was severely damaged during the Manchester Blitz of Christmas 1940. The interior has been largely reconstructed and modernised since then.

Education

St. Joseph's RC Primary School^[9] was rated as outstanding in its 2007 Ofsted report, and one of the 100 top performing schools in the UK.^[10] Notable developments include a new primary school for the area, Primrose Hill, as well as an inner-city academy to be affiliated with MediaCityUK at Salford Quays.

Cultural references

In 1959 a young Tony Warren got an idea of a drama set on the streets of Ordsall, which ended up into the longest running soap opera in UK history Coronation Street, the whole area since then has been demolished.

The BAFTA award-winning British comedy film East is East, released in 1999, was set in Monmouth Street, now demolished.

Notable people

• Mark Addy (1838 – 1890), recipient of the Albert Medal (lifesaving) and a number of other honours, was the landlord of the Old Boathouse Inn, Everard Street off Ordsall Lane until his death in 1890.
• Television actor Joe Gladwin, best known for his role as Wally Batty in the BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, was born and brought up in Ordsall. He attended Mount Carmel RC School.

References

External links

• www.salford.gov.uk - Ordsall housing regeneration
• www.newordsall.com - LPC Living's Ordsall Regeneration Website

Areas and suburbs of Salford Blackfriars Broughton Claremont Greengate Irlams o' th' Height Kersal Langworthy Ordsall Pendleton Seedley Wallness Weaste