Castlefield, Manchester M3 4
Castlefield is the site of the original Roman fort of Mamucium.
The arrival of the Bridgewater Canal in Castlefield in July 1761, marked the start of the Industrial Revolution. The price of coal was halved, making steam power commercially viable. The Rochdale Canal, and a network of private branch canals joined the Bridgewater at Lock 92 in Castlefield. The Bridgewater Canal company connected their canal to the adjacent Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the Rochdale Canal Company constructed its Manchester and Salford Junction Canal. The centre of this complex was the Giants Basin. Surviving warehouses are the Merchants Warehouse built at the entrance to the Giant's Basin around 1827. This was a four storey warehouse with two shipping holes. Badly damaged by fire it has since been rebuilt and converted into offices. The other surviving warehouse is the Middle Warehouse built in 1831 by the Manchester Ship Canal company on the south bank, off the Middle Basin canal arm. It was in use to store maize until the 1970s. It has been converted into a restaurant, offices and flats.
The canal basin is crossed by four large railway viaducts. The southern viaduct in the group of three is the 1849 red brick viaduct of the Manchester, South Junction & Altrincham Railway with its cast iron arch bridge over the Rochdale Canal. It carried the double tracks between Manchester Piccadilly via Oxford Road railway station and Knott Mill railway station, then turns south west, crossed the canal basin and headed for Altrincham. It forms part of the long brick viaduct taking the Altrincham branch of the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway through Knott Mill Station. The bridge was designed by William Baker. The MSJ&A Railway was Manchester's first suburban railway line.
The central viaduct in the group of three southwest of Deansgate Station is the high-level iron truss girder viaduct of 1877 built for the Cheshire Lines Committee by the Midland Railway. It is known as Cornbrook Viaduct. The viaduct is of red brick and wrought iron truss girder construction. When it opened in 1877, it carried trains coming from a temporary station to Irlam and Warrington, and Chorlton via a branch line. The temporary station was replaced by Sir John Fowler's Manchester Central Station in 1880, which operated until 1969.
To the north is the 1894 Great Northern viaduct. The high-level tubular steel viaduct is decorated with turrets. It was built for the Great Northern Railway Company and carried GNR trains to the company's Deansgate warehouse until 1963. Richard Johnson who was a Chief Engineer of the GNR was responsible for the design.
The Cornbrook and Great Northern viaducts stood disused for many years. When a route for the Metrolink trams was investigated, the Cornbrook Viaduct was found to be in much better condition than the 1894 one. It was chosen for refurbishment (1990-1991) and is currently used by Metrolink trams going to Altrincham.
The Salford branch viaduct, the fourth viaduct, was separate from the others. It was also built by the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway in 1848-9. It uses a brick arch to cross the Staffordshire arm of the basin, before passing under the later Cornbrook and Great Northern viaducts and formed a junction with the then main line to Altrincham at a point about 300m west of Knott Mill Station. The whole viaduct from Piccadilly to Ordsall Junction is 1.75 miles (2.82 km) long and consists of 224 brick arches.
During the regeneration of the Castlefield basin, a spectacular footbridge was built from Slate Wharf to Catalan Square. This is the Merchant's Bridge, where the 3m wide deck is hung by 13 hangers from the steel arches. The span is 40m. The designers, Whitby and Bird, acknowledge the influence of Santiago Calatrava.
By Road or Boat: The whole complex is close to the city centre south of Deansgate and is best observed on foot or by boat.
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