About this website

Eccles Old Road – from the Woolpack to the White Horse. 

The Eccles Old Road website focusses on the 2.2 miles of the current A576 in the City of Salford stretching from Pendleton in the East to Gilda Brook in the West. Part of the Township of Pendleton until 1853, the road has been known variously as  Sandy Lane, Broomhouse Lane, Eccles Road and the High Road to Warrington. Originally a section of the Turnpike Road from Manchester to Warrington, the road was surrounded by farmland, small holdings and estates and some early textile related activity before large-scale industrialisation took hold in nearby Manchester and Salford. From the 1820s the road became the home for the business classes, their families and households, encouraged by the healthy aspect and semi-rural environment just two miles from central Manchester. The large estates were bought up and later subdivided and sold for housing, a large public park and infirmary. Meanwhile, whilst the road has been smoothed out and widened, it has retained its essential topography and character. History can still be recognised on the ground in estate walls, original architecture and gate posts.

To date there has been no single detailed analysis of the road, its occupants, buildings and institutions. Much of the information we have is mainly photographic dating from the late nineteenth century onward, supplemented with a few brief biographies of some of the more influential figures. The aim is to provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the local and national significance of the road, its occupants and communities and to encourage a dialogue amongst interested parties.

Read on, contribute and correct any of the inaccuracies. We look forward to hearing from you.