Wilmslow Road

Wilmslow Road in Fallowfield (The Curry Mile)

Oxford Road from Booth Street junction.

Wilmslow Road is a major thoroughfare in Manchester, England, running from Parrs Wood into Rusholme. There its becomes Oxford Road and the name changes to Oxford Street, when it crosses Portland Street and reaches the city centre.

The road runs through the centres of Didsbury, Withington, and Fallowfield to Rusholme. Oxford Road passes through the University of Manchester campus and the All Saints campus of the Manchester Metropolitan University. Wilmslow road passes through the major student residential campus of Owens Park. A number of hospitals such as the Christie Hospital have been built along the road. it also features important parks and gardens such as Fletcher Moss Gardens and Platt Fields.

The road part of a major bus corridor with bus movements of over one a minute at peak times and is a key centre for business, culture and education.

Route

This milestone in Withington was placed by the Manchester and Wilmslow Turnpike Trust. It stands opposite a public house named The Turnpike.

Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road and Oxford Street are part of an 18th-century route from Manchester to Oxford, and from there to the Southampton, which can be traced on modern maps by locating roads which are called (or used to be called) the A34. Wilmslow Road was designated the A34 until 1967. Many sections of the route have bee re-designated when motorways and bypasses took the A34 away from its original route: taking names such as the A3400 and A44. The ancient route goes via Cheadle, Wilmslow, Congleton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stafford, Birmingham, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Woodstock.

Boundaries and designations

Oxford Road and Oxford Street are the continuation of Wilmslow Road into the centre of Manchester. Oxford Street begins at St. Peter's Square.53°28′40″N 2°14′39″W The name changes from Oxford Street to Oxford Road as the road crosses the River Medlock53°28′25″N 2°14′24″W, interestingly placing Oxford Road railway station closer to Oxford Street then Oxford Road. Wilmslow Road starts at the junction with Hathersage Road 53°27′33″N 2°13′39″W and continues to Parrs Wood 53°24′21″N 2°13′06″W where it crosses the ancient county boundary into Cheshire.It crosses the River Mersey over the Cheadle Bridge into Cheadle. It route is then called Manchester Road for a short time when again it is named Wilmslow Road, Cheadle.

The B5117 consists of part of Oxford Road and part of Wilmslow Road. Though a continuous thoroughfare part of Wilmslow Road also contains part of the A6010, the whole of the B5093, part of the A5145 and the whole of the B5095.

History

The Turnpike trust

See also: Turnpike trusts in Greater Manchester

A 1910 oil painting of a foggy Oxford Road by Adolphe Valette. Construction of the Refuge Assurance Building can be seen in the background and the bridge remains the same.

Oxford Road, a century later in 2010.

In 1753 the Manchester and Wilmslow Turnpike Trust was created by Act of Parliament, with powers to build, maintain, and improve the most northerly stretch of the Manchester to Oxford route, funded by the collection of tolls. In 1755 the Trust built the first stone bridge over the Mersey. This collapsed in 1756 and was rebuilt in 1758. The bridge was replaced in 1780 and again in 1861.

The improved transport links spurred the development of villages such as Rusholme and Withington along the route. These villages eventually merged and became part of the city of Manchester. Chorlton-on-Medlock, the district nearest the town centre, was developed as a residential suburb in 1793–94 by the three landowners. Most of the important streets were given impressive names, Oxford Street, Cambridge Street and Grosvenor Street being three of these. Over the next fifty years residential development spread southwards as far as High Street (the old name of Hathersage Road). The very few remaining dwellings of that period include Waterloo Place, 323, 325, 327 and 333 Oxford Road, and Grove House (316–324).

In 1861 the Turnpike Trust was threatened with abolition but survived by offering to build Palatine Road from Withington to West Didsbury. All turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were abolished in 1881. Until some time in the 1880s all of Oxford Road and Oxford Street was called Oxford Street (as far south as High Street). The present street and road with different series of house numbers were introduced so that Oxford Street ended at the old township border of the River Medlock. The Chorlton on Medlock section became Oxford Road and from Rusholme to Parrs Wood remained Wilmslow Road.

Trams

Horse drawn omnibuses operated along Wilmslow Road from before 1850. In 1877 the Rusholme Board of Health gained Parliamentary approval to lay tramlines. The trams were horse drawn and operated by the Manchester Carriage Company. Rusholme was incorporated into the City of Manchester in 1885. The city electrified the route in December 1902 and operated the new trams. The Tram Sheds, a feature of Wilmslow Road at the time were no longer needed and became a riding school and later the Rusholme Theatre.

Congestion

The Kingsway was constructed in stages, from 1928, and completed in 1930. It was built as relief road to ease congestion on Wilmslow Road to the west. It was named after King George V and was originally numbered A5079. It was one of the earliest purpose-built roads especially for motor vehicles, and built as a dual carriageway In 1959, it was extended south across the river Mersey to bypass Cheadle and later renumbered to become the A34 in 1967.

Bus corridor

A Route 42 bus in Didsbury Village

Main article: Wilmslow Road bus corridor

Wilmslow Road is reputed to be the busiest bus corridor in Europe. Several bus companies operate services along all or part of the corridor, competing for the large numbers of passengers who use the route. The main operators are Stagecoach Manchester (along with their low cost brand Magic Bus) and Finglands. Other buses along sections of route are provided by companies including Arriva, Bullocks Coaches and First Manchester. The number of competing companies has reduced in recent years, as since bus deregulation in 1986 it had been common for four or five different operators to run services along the length of the route at any one time.

The bus corridor is popular with passengers for its frequent bus services, relatively low fares, and services that run at almost any hour of the day. Other factors responsible for the high patronage include the high density of students and the notable public facilities that can be found along the route. Wilmslow Road is designated a Quality Bus Corridor by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive.

Landmarks

Sorted from north to south, although there is some overlap.

Oxford Street

• The neoclassical Manchester Central Library stands on St Peter's Square at the beginning of Oxford Street
• Elisabeth House which is next to the Odeon Cinema adjoins St. Peter's Square and which is under demolition. The building will be replaced by a grade A office building for companies such as KPMG in 2014.
• The Odeon Cinema (derelict), originally the Paramount, 1931, in its later period converted to a multi-screen cinema. It once had a fine theatre organ.
• The St. James Buildings, which are offices for companies such as Arup.
• The Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee Building, Manchester (now Churchgate House)
• Palace Theatre on the junction of Portland Street.
• Oxford Road railway station - although is named after Oxford Road, the railway station is located on Portland Street which crosses Oxford Street.
• 17 New Wakefield Street - a 109 metre skyscraper located on Great Marlborough Street behind the railway, because of the skyscraper's height, it overlooks Oxford Street.
• The red brick and terracotta Refuge Assurance Building has a 217 foot tower and now houses the Palace Hotel.
• New Broadcasting House is the regional headquarters of the BBC in the North West of England. Soon to be demolished as the BBC move out of the city to MediaCityUK.

Oxford Road

The All Saints Building on the All Saints Campus of the Metropolitan University.

• The All Saints Campus of Manchester Metropolitan University, the fourth largest university in the United Kingdom.
  • MMUnion, the students Union for Manchester Metropolitan University
• The Royal Northern College of Music has a further 696 students.
• The University of Manchester is the largest "single-site" university in the United Kingdom with over 40,000 students. It includes the neogothic Manchester Museum.
• Manchester Royal Infirmary is the chief site for Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust.
• The Whitworth Art Gallery north of Whitworth Park.

Wilmslow Road

• The Curry Mile is the stretch of Wilmslow Road in central Rusholme: it boasts at least 50 restaurants, take-aways and kebab houses specialising in the cuisines of South Asia and the Middle East.
• Fallowfield Campus is the main residential campus of the University of Manchester.
  • Owens Park is a large hall of residence housing 1,056 students.
• Withington Public Library
• The Christie Hospital is one of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe.
• The Didsbury Campus of the Manchester Metropolitan University.
• Fletcher Moss Gardens
• Parrs Wood High School is the fourth largest secondary school in the UK with 2,480 pupils.
• The Towers Research establishment

See also

• List of notable streets and roads in Manchester

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Anderson, Bruce (2012). "Rusholme & Victoria Park Archive". Dale Street, Manchester.: author. http://rusholmearchive.org. Retrieved 19 February 2012.