The University of Manchester Research The very worst sites of filth and darkness.’ Exploring the evolving Industrial community of Angel Meadow Link to publication record in Manchester Research Explorer Citation for published version (APA): Marino, G. (2015). The very worst sites of filth and darkness.’ Exploring the evolving Industrial community of Angel Meadow. In Patrimonio (pp. 36-45). State Historic Preservation Office. Published in: Patrimonio Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on Manchester Research Explorer is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Proof version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version. 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Marino HELP FOR POVERTY: HISTORY AND BELIEFS mation of poor rate parishes into Unions, where The growth of populations in the developing economies of scale could be developed through urban communities of England caused major the new ‘workhouse’2 system. difficulties for the way the nation had tradition- An important basis of the contemporary debate ally provided support for the poor. England had was fuelled by beliefs about differences between a long history of organised1 support for the im- the ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor. A widely poverished. Prior to King Henry VIII dissolving held view was that the poor could be neatly clas- the monasteries (between 1536 and 1539), such sified into two distinct groups. One were those assistance had been provided by the Church. viewed as unfortunate in their poverty, through Once these institutions ceased to function, a causes such as accident, illness, or old age follow- gap existed in provision, until the First Poor Law ing a long period of work. A second were those introduced by Queen Elizabeth I in 1601. This or- who had the opportunity to rise above poverty ganised a levy on all residents in the parish, called but made a conscious choice not to do so – those the ‘poor rate’. The money was controlled by par- who made a lifestyle choice of being poor. These ishes, and provided support to destitute residents groups were characterised by the terminology of in the local community. It was the first national the ‘deserving’ and the ‘undeserving’ poor – the state-organised system of support for the poor deserving poor being those who had no choice and operated until the onset of industrialisation. in their condition whilst the undeserving were This emergence of extensive urban areas re- feckless, making life-style choices and choosing sulting in consequent population movements not to wok, but to live off the state. Allied to this meant established provisions often existed in the was a widely held belief that poverty could be con- wrong location. These huge increases in popula- tagious – spread from individuals, and especially tion had resulted in a disjunction between need from parents to children. This belief was used and provision, with many rural parishes now see- to justify the separation of families in the new- ing a reduction in population and demand for ly established workhouses – splitting husbands provision. By contrast, in the newly emerging and wives, and especially parents from children. urban areas the parishes saw a massive increase This dichotomy of the deserving and undeserv- in population, with consequential demand sup- ing poor, and belief in the contagion of poverty, ported by a very low level of inherent financial became major components of political belief that resource. This need for change prompted a de- shaped social policy of the day. bate about provision for the poor that was to have Whilst the physical conditions people lived significant implications for millions of people. in were bad, there were attempts through chari- The new arrangements, from 1834, saw amalga- table organisations to impact on the lives of the 1. British spelling and syntax have been preserved. [Ed.] harsh conditions, doing hard work, but had advantages such 2. Workhouses were places where the poor were offered ac- as the provision of free medical care and education for chil- commodation and employment. Workhouse inmates lived in dren, neither of which was available to the poor in England living outside workhouses in those days. [Ed.] 36 | OECH PATRIMONIO v6 2014 chester, symbol of a new age’. This new metropolis Visitors to Manchester was exciting and different, making the city a ma- were observing something jor tourist attraction as people came from across the world to see this new phenomenon. unique for the time, the Prior to industrialisation, Manchester was a small town on the banks of the River Irwell. It had birth of industrialisation no significant claim to fame, having been found- on a scale never before ed by the Romans and developed into a small medieval settlement. Its population growth due contemplated – the to industrialisation is staggering: start of the world’s first 1642: c3200 1788: 42,821 industrial city. 1821: 126,066 1841: 235,507 poor. Operating until the 1970s, the Ragged 1851: 303,382 School Movement3 was to become a major feature 1901: 347,495 in the lives of many of the poor. These charita- ble schools provided free education for the most Similar huge growth in population was experi- impoverished children, which included basic lit- enced across the many industrialising cities of eracy, numeracy and Christian morality. Between the world, as people migrated from rural to these 1844 and 1881, it is estimated that some 300,000 newly emerging urban communities. This mass children attended such schools across the country. influx of people was to cause serious problems They often became important centres for some of for the new cities. The demand for housing of- the most disadvantaged communities – and Angel ten meant existing properties were subdivided to Meadow was no exception. Many of the children provide space for the increasing number of fam- who attended were the sons and daughters of par- ilies. Older abandoned dwellings were brought ents who were regarded as the undeserving poor back into use. Many places were converted to use – parents who had ‘failed’ their children by being for human occupation – not least the notorious poor. This was the same driving philosophy that cellar dwellings. Speculative builders bought up led to the splitting up of families in workhouses. land and crammed as many houses as possible In order to maintain their existence many such onto sites. Little consideration was initially given schools were to depend on extensive support to health or hygiene. The implications of indus- from local industrialists, alongside other charita- trialisation for the landscape were consequently ble bequests. widespread and extensive. SHOCK CITY THE EARLY YEARS OF ANGEL MEADOW It was industrialisation that caused one discrete For many years, the area we now know as Angel district of a small town to develop into a major Meadow, the location of this study, were open conurbation of 2.5 million people. The onset of fields, the nearest communities being the city industrialisation was a huge international phe- centre and Collyhurst. In between was a pleasant, nomenon, with people journeying from all over verdant, arable land. Collyhurst was the nearest the world to witness this new spectacle of the mod- village we find a reference for as early as 1322 in ern world, this embryonic urban location. Visitors the ‘Extent of the Manor of Mamecestre’, when to Manchester were observing something unique Sir Roger de Pilkington rents 80 acres for a shil- for the time, the birth of industrialisation on a ling an acre. scale never before contemplated – the start of the The first reference to a major link with Manches- world’s first industrial city. In Victorian Cities,4 Asa ter comes in the Manchester Court Leet5 records Briggs titles his chapter about the city as ‘Man- of October 3rd, 1594, when in return for enclos- 3. Ragged schools were organisations that offered free ed- Berkeley/Los Angeles, 1965. ucation and other resources to poor (“raggedly clothed”) 5. In England, a yearly or half-yearly court of record that the children in low-income areas. [Ed.] lords of certain manors held. [Ed.] 4. Asa Briggs, Victorian Cities, University of California Press, SHPO | 37 ing part of Collyhurst Common the people of located in the Angel Meadow community. The lo- Manchester: cal area saw the first Manchester Workhouse. It was the initial location of the Manchester and Sal- when any infection of the plague shall happen ford Juvenile Reformatory. Saint George’s Chapel, in Manchester, should have the right and liber- the Manchester Industrial School, public houses, ty to erect and build cabins, for the relief and philanthropic buildings, a large number of rag- harbouring of infected persons, upon six acres ged schools and a host of pawn brokers alongside of Collyhurst aforesaid next to Manchester, industry and housing made for a heady mix in and to bury the dead there.6 what was one of the world’s first industrialised communities. Certainly living in the area was not It is apparent that by 1638 the cabins are still a pleasant experience.