Timeline

1343 The earliest historical references to a bridge known as the ‘Hengand Brigge’ date back to 1343.

1421–22 The present structure of the bridge was built; probably around the Hanging same time when the parish church in Manchester became a Collegiate church.

1458 The bridge is mentioned in the last Bridge will of John Huntingdon, the first warden who served from 1422 to 1458, since he acquired land near A scheduled ancient monument the Hanging Ditch for an almshouse. of Manchester constructed in 1421 1600 The Hanging Ditch was condemned as an unsanitary open sewer and culverted; the bridge buried and built over.

1682 The bridge disappears from records.

1772 A published directory recorded that nine houses had been built along the line of the bridge.

1800s Rediscovery and subsequent

excavation of the bridge as a result 1421 of demolition work carried out.

2002 The bridge goes on display, after Manchester Cathedral Visitor Centre being uncovered again, as a main 10 Cateaton Street attraction of Manchester Cathedral’s Manchester newly built Visitor Centre. M3 1SQ Call 0161 817 4817 Visit www.manchestercathedral.org/cvc Follow @MCVisitorCentre For many years, the bridge was completely hidden, At the River Irwell end, the Hanging Ditch was Hanging Bridge is remembered only in the name of the area where 120 feet (37m) wide and 40 feet (12m) deep. it had stood, until its rediscovery and subsequent A stream flowed through the ditch, from the Irk to excavation as a result of demolition work carried the Irwell – possibly the lost River Dene, which a medieval bridge out in the 1880s. gave its name to Deansgate. The bridge has two arches and was built using sandstone from At that time, the bridge was opened to the public spanning the Collyhurst. It is 108 feet (33m) long and 9 feet and in three months had about 32,000 paying (2.7m) wide. Hanging Bridge formed part of visitors. It was then covered up during the Victorian Manchester’s medieval defences, when it was the Hanging Ditch, expansion of Manchester. More than 100 years later main route from Manchester to the Cathedral, it was rediscovered, and following restoration work then a Collegiate church. which connected went on display in 2002 as a main attraction of Manchester Cathedral’s newly built Visitor Centre. In 1600 the Hanging Ditch was condemned as an unsanitary open sewer, and in the following years the rivers Irk Today the bridge is largely hidden by modern buildings, the ditch was culverted and the bridge buried and but it can be seen in the basement of Manchester built over. A directory published in 1772 recorded Cathedral Visitor Centre. The bridge is listed as a and Irwell in that nine houses had been built along the line of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. bridge, suggesting that it may have been covered Manchester. The earliest reference to a bridge dates from 1343, over during the first phase of Manchester’s town when it was called Hengand Brigge, but the present planning, sometime in the 1770s. structure was built in 1421. Material taken from Manchester’s Roman fort may have been used in its construction. It has been speculated that the Hanging Ditch may be of Roman origin, part of a defensive circuit between the rivers Irk and Irwell.

In the late 1800s the bridge was put on display, and in A stream three months had flowed through the ditch, about 32,000 from the Irk to the Irwell – possibly the paying visitors lost River Dene, which gave its name to Deansgate