Withington history
Old maps
This is a guide to old maps of Withington, Old Moat and Ladybarn. Included is a collection of maps for you to view or download
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Click on each image for a larger view. 
 To browse in detail, click on the enlarged view to get a highly magnified view.
  • William Johnson's Plan of the Parish of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster (1820): Withington and Didsbury. 
    From a survey made in the years 1818 and 1819 by William Johnson, Manchester. Published by William Johnson, Surveyor, Faulkner Street, July 1st, 1820. 

    The area was entirely rural at the time. Some of the road system is established and Withington is recorded as "Withington Green".


From the Egerton family archives
The following three maps (supplied by Cliff Pelham) are provided courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives (Greater Manchester County Record Office, Manchester Archives) and come from the Egerton family archive. If you download these, please acknowledge their source.
  • Withington O.S. map, 1862, annotated with plots for sale. The Egertons were the major landowners in the area at the time. Notice Cotton House and Withingon Cottage both with gardens, St. Paul's Church and also Withington Green.
  • Part of the Withington Demesne, 1758. Withington Old Hall and the moat can be seen middle right and the area extends towards Chorlton, covering part of what is now Old Moat and Hough End. The brooks from the east converge and flow through Hough End Clough in the centre of the map. To orient with the modern road system, Princess Road now runs between Withington Old Hall and Hough End Clough just to the left of the Hall.
  • The Cotton-field and Barcicroft Doles - part of the old field system in the Cotton Lane area, 1799.

Yates' Survey of Lancashire
The County Palatine of Lancaster, surveyed by William Yates (1786). This has been reprinted by Neil Richardson (Swinton) in 1982 and is available on CD.
It is an early map of the area and despite the size of the region covered, it is very detailed with individual buildings marked. The map is available here from the Lancashire County Council (again click on the image for a magnified view).

Other maps of Lancashire, covering the Withington area, from the Lancashire County Council archive are:
  • 1818 (click to magnify).
  • 1828-1830. Withington is in sector G6 - click on the map twice to get a fully magnified image.
  • John Speed's (1610) decorative map of Lancashire - again clickable. Marking "Diddesbury" and "Hughhall" but not Withington.
  • The "Gough Map" of 1360 (which is clickable). The orientation is with North to the left. This version of the map gives up at Manchester - an "MA..." is visible above "Fluvium Mersee". The County archive says: "The so-called Gough Map is the earliest surviving map of Britain dating from c.1360. Its origins are unknown and owes it name to Richard Gough (1735-1809), in whose collection it was found. This extract is from the OS 1935 facsimile which is reasonably legible. The original is coloured and is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford but is much less legible. An online version of the original has now been made available by Queen's University, Belfast". See The Digital Gough Map for an online version of a coloured Gough map of Britain.
The Tithe Maps
Tithe maps of the area (1839-1848) provide a detailed record before major urbanisation began.

Copies of the tithe maps for villages/townships in South Manchester and N.E. Cheshire have been redrawn and annotated by Frank and Teretta Mitchell (Gatley). These are both attractive and informative. Some are available in local libraries, all are in the map collection of the University of Manchester Library, which also includes an interesting copy by the same authors of A true Mappe or Topologicall Description of the Lordshippe of Northenden (1641). The following tithe map copies (as well as copies of tithe maps for Didsbury, the Heatons, Cheadle, Northenden and others) are available for purchase (proceeds go to local charities) from Diana Leitch (diana.leitch@googlemail.com).
  • Tithe Map of Withington NW (1839-1848)
  • Tithe Map of Withington NE (1839-1848)
  • Tithe Map of Withington SW (1839-1848)
  • Tithe Map of Withington SE (1845-1848)
Index to Tithe Survey, Sheet 81 North West. Electrotype 1864. Reproduced by courtesy of the University Librarian and Director, The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester:

Ordnance Survey Maps

Important records of the Victorian and Edwardian development of Withington are the Ordnance Survey maps of the late 19th century and early 20th century. Large scale (1:2500) OS maps of 1892 and 1916 have been republished in an attractive form, with historical notes, by Alan Godfrey Maps (the historical notes are particularly interesting as they include names and occupations of householders). 

Ordnance Survey County series 6” to 1 statute mile, Lancashire Sheet III (1848).  Surveyed by Captain Tucker and Lieut. McKerlie R.E. Survey 1845, Engraved and Published 1848. Reproduced by courtesy of the University Librarian and Director, The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester:


An annotated copy of the 1862 Ordnance Survey is available above. 

Recommended as a visual record of the urbanisation of Withington, and Manchester in general, is the Past and Present Map (1842-present) Manchester (Central) 1:50 000, which aligns 4 Ordnance Survey maps from 4 periods - the Old Series, the Revised New Series, the Popular Edition and the current 1:50 000. It is available from Cassini Maps.


More recent maps

Maps of the 1930s are of considerable interest as they retain many of the Victorian buildings, now lost, but also twentieth century expansion, especially council-led housing schemes.

OS County Series, 22" to 1 mile, Lancashire 111.7, 1934 Revision:

Ordnance survey map, 1934, Withington

As usual, click once on the map to enlarge, and then on a position in the map to get full magnification.

This map covers an interesting period. Notice the large Victorian and Edwardian villas such as Withington Hall, Jersey House, Ballbrook, Withington Cottage, Gwynant etc. - all now lost. Christies hospital was newly built. There were two cinemas, one in the centre and one on Palatine Road. There was a full set of milestones and mileposts at 1/3-mile intervals on Wilmslow Road and Palatine Road - all but one are now lost. Notice also the remains of rural  Withington: to the west of the village, and surrounded by public housing schemes, are Hough Farm  and Bradshaw Fold (between Burton Road and Old Moat Lane) and Yew Tree Farm (between Yew Tree Road and Hill Street). These no longer survive.

From a social history perspective, notice the large number of outdoor sports facilities at this period. There are 7 sets of tennis courts and 6 bowling greens on this map, as well as sports grounds and this excludes Ladybarn Park!

Covering a larger area and published just before the Second World War: Ordnance Survey County Series, 1/4 Sheet NE (Lancashire) 6" to 1 mile 1933-34 Revision (with additions 1938):

Ordnance Survey, 1938, Withington
Both maps reproduced by courtesy of the University Librarian and Director, The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester.
For collections of old maps of the Manchester area, including specialist maps, see The Manchester City Archives and John Rylands Map Library.