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150:) with the medieval city centre. It previously led directly into the churchyard, and in 1554 the court leet appointed guards to prevent people using it as a shortcut for driving livestock. Hanging Ditch was also used as a rubbish dump; archaeologists discovered leather, wood, bone, metalwork and pottery in the channel dating from between the 13th and the early 15th centuries. The practice continued in the 16th century, in spite of edicts forbidding it in 1561 and 1663. Some adjoining residents had privies that overhang and discharged directly into the ditch.
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85:. At its Irwell end, Hanging Ditch was 120 feet (37 m) wide and 40 feet (12 m) deep. The ditch formed part of the city's defences in medieval times. It has been speculated that Hanging Ditch may be of Roman origin, part of a defensive circuit between the rivers Irk and Irwell. The last known documentation of the ditch as an open watercourse was in 1682.
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monument was open to the public for free. The room containing the bridge was used by a theological bookshop from 2011 to 2018. The space closed to the public in 2018 for renovation. As of
February 2024, it is not openly accessible to visitors. From the outside it is possible to see part of one arch via a sunken garden.
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Today the bridge structure is still largely hidden by buildings built on either side of the bridge, though the passageway over the arches is still in use and retains the name "Hanging Bridge". The two exposed arches of the bridge are part of the basement of
Manchester Cathedral Visitor Centre and the
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In 1600, the
Hanging Ditch was condemned as an insanitary open sewer, and in the following years the ditch was culverted and the bridge buried and built over. A directory published in 1772 recorded that nine houses had been built along the line of the bridge, suggesting that it may have been covered
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The bridge was presumed lost until it was rediscovered in 1880 during demolition for the building of
Hanging Bridge Chambers, now part of the Cathedral Visitor Centre. The site was subsequently excavated and the bridge was put on display. In three months it had about 32,000 paying visitors. It
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More than 100 years later it was uncovered again. The site was excavated and studied by archaeologists from the
University of Manchester in 1997. Following restoration work, Hanging Bridge went on display in 2002 as a main attraction of Manchester Cathedral's newly built visitor centre.
69:, England. It was built in 1421, replacing an earlier bridge at the same location. Eventually completely obscured by buildings over time, the bridge was rediscovered in the 1880s and the structure is now partially exposed. The bridge is listed as a
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records refer to "Hengynge dyche" 1552. It has been speculated that "Hanging" may refer to a previous Roman drawbridge, a steep slope or elevated land, or a site of executions by hanging. The name may also derive from the
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Hanging Ditch was a natural post-glacial channel. A stream flowed through the ditch, from the Irk to the Irwell – possibly the lost River Dene, which gave its name to
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The only part of
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which used to run alongside (or partially at a lower level inside) the ditch still bears the name "Hanging Ditch".
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In 1343, an earlier bridge over the ditch was recorded with the name "Hengand Brigge". The
Manchester
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311:"THE MEDIEVAL CULTURAL QUARTER, MANCHESTER - AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESK-BASED ASSESSMENT - 2011"
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Hanging Bridge exposed arches inside
Manchester Cathedral Visitor Centre building in 2014
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over during the first phase of
Manchester's town planning, some time in the 1770s.
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arched bridge spanning
Hanging Ditch, a watercourse which connected the rivers
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Although the ditch was covered in 17th century, the thoroughfare in front of
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392:(N.S. 16 ed.). Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society. 1901
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Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society
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475:"The Hanging Ditch Bridge - Manchester Cathedral Visitor Centre"
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may also have been used in its construction. The bridge has two
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Transactions of Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society
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The first reference to a bridge at this location, called
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Gill, Richard (1890). "The Hanging Bridge, Manchester".
449:"Sadness at closure of Manchester's St Denys's bookshop"
244:. Manchester Cathedral Visitor Centre. Archived from
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The Hanging Bridge in 1890 – from the
495:: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
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613:Scheduled monuments in Greater Manchester
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146:The bridge linked the parish church (Now
171:The Hanging Bridge was excavated in 1892
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19:For the type of bridge that hangs, see
608:Buildings and structures in Manchester
550:. Chichester: Phillimore and co. Ltd.
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427:"Bridge to Manchester's past revealed"
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176:was once again covered up during the
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112:, meaning between two hills.
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531:. Breedon Books Publishing.
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309:Arrowsmith, Peter (2011).
206:Scheduled Ancient Monument
204:The bridge is listed as a
180:expansion of Manchester.
71:Scheduled Ancient Monument
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318:chethamsschoolofmusic.com
117:Manchester Corn Exchange
21:Simple suspension bridge
548:A History of Manchester
546:Hylton, Stuart (2003).
527:Cooper, Glynis (2003).
429:. BBC. 18 December 2001
137:Manchester's Roman fort
584:53.484482°N 2.243345°W
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123:Construction and usage
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453:www.churchtimes.co.uk
218:History of Manchester
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589:53.484482; -2.243345
242:"The Hanging Bridge"
148:Manchester Cathedral
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141:four-centred arches
277:. Pastscape.org.uk
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529:Hidden Manchester
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459:12 February
413:, p. 3
411:Hylton 2003
396:12 February
370:Cooper 2003
341:Cooper 2003
323:12 February
188:Present day
100:Old English
602:Categories
572:53°29′04″N
229:References
163:Excavation
133:Collyhurst
95:court leet
67:Manchester
575:2°14′36″W
522:: 97–111.
353:Gill 1890
281:7 January
252:7 October
178:Victorian
83:Deansgate
38:newspaper
491:cite web
212:See also
154:Covering
55:medieval
433:4 April
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63:Irwell
314:(PDF)
107:Welsh
53:is a
552:ISBN
533:ISBN
520:VIII
497:link
483:2024
461:2024
435:2008
398:2024
325:2024
283:2008
254:2008
89:Name
61:and
110:gan
103:hen
65:in
59:Irk
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
