Ancoats is an inner city area of Manchester, in North West England, next to the Northern Quarter and the northern part of Manchester's commercial centre.
Historically a part of Lancashire, Ancoats became one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution, and has been called "the world's first industrial suburb".[1] For many years, from the late 18th century onwards, Ancoats was a thriving industrial district. The area suffered accelerating economic decline from the 1930s and depopulation in the years after the Second World War, particularly during the slum clearances of the 1960s.
Since the 1990s Ancoats' industrial heritage has been recognised and this, along with its proximity to the city centre, has led to investment and the development of substantial regeneration plans. The southern region of the suburb is being branded as New Islington[by whom?], while the north retains the Ancoats name, with redevelopment centred around the Daily Express Building, Manchester.
For the purpose of local government elections the area is part of the Ancoats and Clayton ward of the city of Manchester.
The name Ancoats is likely to have derived from the Old English ana cots, meaning lonely cottages. The settlement is first recorded as Elnecot in 1212.[2] In a survey of 1320, Ancoats was recorded as one of the eight hamlets within the township of Manchester in the ancient parish of Manchester within the hundred of Salford;[3] the hamlet probably consisted of a few cottages and farmhouses centred around what is now Ancoats Lane, Butler Lane, and Newton Lane.[3] During the medieval period, Ancoats Hall was built.[3] Land in Ancoats was bequeathed in the 14th century by Henry de Ancotes. The village covered the area of land that roughly lies between the River Medlock and the River Irk.
In June 1989, Manchester City Council turned the land bounded by Great Ancoats Street, Oldham Road, Kemp Street, Wadeford Close, Jersey Street and the Rochdale Canal into a conservation area. Additionally, a number of buildings were listed. While this move protected a number of historically significant buildings, it made regeneration more difficult. In 1990 the Eastside Regeneration was formed, the first organisation specifically created to regenerate the area. The Eastside Regeneration in turn spawned the formation of the Ancoats Build Preservation Trust in 1995 and the Ancoats Urban Village Company in 1996.[9]
Unfortunately, Manchester's bids for the 1996 and 2000 Olympics caused speculative buying of property in Ancoats in the early nineties. When the bids failed the buildings were abandoned and decay accelerated. By 1998 it was estimated that 80% of business floor space in Ancoats was vacant.[10]
In 2000 the government accepted the £250m New Islington Project to redevelop a 0.125 square kilometres (31 acres) section of land between the Rochdale and Ashton Canal. In order to assist regeneration by stopping speculative purchase of land the North West Development Agency made a compulsory purchase order of land in the area. A target population of 15,000 by 2010 was set for the Ancoats area.[9]
The first major residential development in the area was MM2 Apartments Manchester [2].[citation needed] These Italian inspired urban homes were built on land bounded by Great Ancoats Street - Henry Street and Jersey Street to Redhill Street. This former ice cream factory site is now home to 90 apartments which were completed in 2003, and is now just one of several developments in the area.
Information Care Of Wikapedia.com
