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Until about 1840 the gardens
of "the fair mansions forming The Crescent were famous for
the abundance and excellence of their fruits, the orchards were
crowded with peaches, nectarines, magnum bonum plums, cherries,
pears etc". This delectable scene was created a mile west
from the medieaval market place of Salford by the merchants seeking
to imitate that gracious standard of living brought into vogue
by the Georgians at Bath.
The sweep of Georgian houses
built in the 1820's as the first refuge from the dark satanic
mills of Manchester by the Merchant Princes created by King Cotton.
These were the families who
moved out of the heart of Salford, when the first waves of industrialisation
were felt. This came in 1795 when the Manchester, Bolton and
Bury Canal was completed carrying raw materials by bulk transport
overland for the first time, to meet with that brought by ship
to the quay on the Irwell. Less than 40 years later they were
once again on the move to Salford's leafier pastures of Ellesmere
Park and Irlams o'th' Height.. |
