Wilmslow Road
Wilmslow Road is a major road in Manchester, England, running from Parrs Wood northwards to Rusholme where it becomes the Oxford Road. The name of the road changes again to Oxford Street when it crosses the River Medlock before reaching Manchester city centre.
The road runs through the centres of Didsbury, Withington and Fallowfield, including the major student residential campus of Owens Park and Rusholme. Oxford Road passes through the University of Manchester campus, the Institute for Contemporary Theatre campus of BIMM University and the All Saints campus of the Manchester Metropolitan University. Several hospitals including the Christie Hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary have been built along the road. It also features several parks and gardens such as Fletcher Moss Gardens, Platt Fields and Whitworth Park.
The road is part of a major [|bus corridor] with bus movements of over one a minute at peak times and is a key centre for business, culture and higher education.
Route
Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road and Oxford Street are part of an 18th-century route from Manchester to Oxford, and from there to Southampton, which can be traced on modern maps by locating roads which are called the A34. Wilmslow Road was designated the A34 until 1967. Many sections of the route have been re-designated when motorways and bypasses took the A34 away from its original route and they took names such as the A3400 and A44. The ancient route goes via Cheadle, Wilmslow, Congleton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stafford, Birmingham, Stratford-upon-Avon and Woodstock.Boundaries and designations
Oxford Road and Oxford Street are the continuation of Wilmslow Road into the centre of Manchester. Oxford Street begins at St Peter's Square and the name changes from Oxford Street to Oxford Road as the road crosses the River Medlock, placing Oxford Road railway station closer to Oxford Street than Oxford Road. Wilmslow Road starts at the junction with Hathersage Road and continues to Parrs Wood where it crosses the ancient county boundary into Cheshire. It crosses the River Mersey over the Cheadle Bridge into Cheadle. Its route is then called Manchester Road for a short time but there is a Wilmslow Road on the other side of Cheadle.Oxford Street and a section of Oxford Road together form part of the A34. The B5117 consists of part of Oxford Road and part of Wilmslow Road. Though a continuous thoroughfare, part of Wilmslow Road also contains part of the A6010, the whole of the B5093, part of the A5145 and the whole of the B5095.
History
Turnpike trust
In 1753, the Manchester and Wilmslow Turnpike Trust was created by Act of Parliament, with powers to build, maintain, and improve the most northerly stretch of the Manchester to Oxford route, funded by the collection of tolls. In 1755 the trust built the first stone bridge over the Mersey. This collapsed in 1756 and was rebuilt in 1758. The bridge was replaced in 1780 and again in 1861.The improved transport links spurred the development of villages such as Rusholme and Withington along the route. These villages eventually merged and became part of the city of Manchester. Chorlton-on-Medlock, the district nearest the town centre, was developed as a residential suburb in 1793–1794 by the three landowners. Most of the important streets were given impressive names, Oxford Street, Cambridge Street and Grosvenor Street being three of these. Over the next fifty years residential development spread southwards as far as High Street. The very few remaining dwellings of that period include Waterloo Place, 323, 325, 327 and 333 Oxford Road and Grove House.
File:Withington Milestone2.jpg|thumb|right|A milestone in Withington which was placed by the Manchester Turnpike Trust. It stands opposite a public house named The Turnpike.
In 1861 the turnpike trust was threatened with abolition but survived by offering to build Palatine Road from Withington to West Didsbury. All turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were abolished by 1881. Until some time in the 1880s all of Oxford Road and Oxford Street was called Oxford Street. The present street and road with different series of house numbers were introduced so that Oxford Street ended at the old township border of the River Medlock. The Chorlton-on-Medlock section became Oxford Road and from Rusholme to Parrs Wood remained Wilmslow Road.
Trams
Horse-drawn omnibuses operated along Wilmslow Road from before 1850. In 1877 the Rusholme Board of Health gained Parliamentary approval to lay tramlines. The trams were horse drawn and operated by the Manchester Carriage Company. Rusholme was incorporated into the City of Manchester in 1885. The city electrified the route in December 1902 and operated the new trams. The Tram Sheds, a feature of Wilmslow Road at the time were no longer needed and became a riding school and later the Rusholme Theatre.Congestion
was constructed in stages, from 1928, and completed in 1930. It was built as relief road to ease congestion on Wilmslow Road to the west. It was named after King George V and was originally numbered A5079. It was one of the earliest purpose-built roads especially for motor vehicles, and built as a dual carriageway. In 1959, it was extended south across the River Mersey to bypass Cheadle and later renumbered to become the A34 in 1967.Bus corridor
Wilmslow Road is reputed to be the busiest bus corridor in Europe. Several bus companies operate services along all or part of the corridor, competing for the large numbers of passengers who use the route. The main operators are Stagecoach Manchester and First Greater Manchester. Other buses along sections of route are provided by companies including Arriva North West and Bullocks Coaches. The number of competing companies has reduced in recent years, as since bus deregulation in 1986 it had been common for four or five different operators to run services along the length of the route at any one time.The bus corridor is popular with passengers for its frequent bus services, relatively low fares, and services that run at any hour of the day. Other factors responsible for the high patronage include the high density of students and the notable public facilities that can be found along the route. Wilmslow Road is designated a Quality Bus Corridor by Transport for Greater Manchester.
Oxford Road Corridor
The Oxford Road Corridor innovation district is a square mile in the south of Manchester's city centre where two of the UK's largest universities, the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, are based alongside Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. These organisations oversee the area in a partnership incorporated in 2007 alongside Manchester City Council and Bruntwood.In 2015, The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy invited consortia, formed around geographic and technological themes, to apply to be involved in the science and innovation audit process. The Greater Manchester and East Cheshire SIA highlighted that 50% of the City Region's science and innovation assets were located in the Oxford Road Corridor. Recognising the region's 'Core Strengths' in Health Innovation and Advanced Materials, and 'Fast Growth Opportunities' focused on the future potential of Digital, Energy, and Industrial Biotechnology.
In 2018, Manchester City Council adopted a Strategic Spatial Framework for the Oxford Road Corridor to guide future development and protect the area's unique innovation eco-system.
The Oxford Road Corridor is home to a wide concentration of public, private, academic, and clinical institutions, generating 20% of Manchester's GVA and providing 79,000 jobs. It is home to 50% of Manchester's life sciences businesses, 74,000 students including 16,220 international students, with 42% of all students studying STEM related disciplines. Property companies Bruntwood and Bruntwood SciTech have invested significantly into assets in the area, acquiring the Manchester Technology Centre in 2003 and developing Manchester Science Park and Citylabs, both of which have designated Life Sciences Enterprise Zone status, and Circle Square which is home to over 35 digital tech businesses including Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Northcoders, Blair Project and Tootoot.
The Oxford Road Corridor partnership shapes the direction of Oxford Road, using cultural activity to animate the area such as 2021's Corridor of Light.
Landmarks
Sorted from north to south, although there is some overlap.Oxford Street
- One St Peter's Square, a 14 storey office building on the junction of Oxford Street and Mosley Street adjacent to St Peter's Square which was completed in 2014. Previously Elisabeth House, which was demolished in 2012.
- Odeon Cinema, originally the Paramount, opened on 6 October 1930, in its later period converted to a multi-screen cinema. It once had a fine theatre organ, and was where comedy duo Morecambe and Wise first met. The cinema closed in 2004, and it was believed the interior was deliberately destroyed to avoid listing of the building which would create difficulty if the owners wanted to demolish the building. In 2012, the building remained empty and derelict. In 2017 it was demolished to provide space for the Landmark office development.
- St James's Buildings, at no. 65, contain offices for various companies with shops and other facilities at street level. This building was designed by architects Clegg, Fryer & Penman for the Calico Printers' Association and built in 1912–13. It is high and broad and the façade is all of Portland stone. The central entrance block is crowned by a tower; the entrance hall is the most opulent in surviving Manchester warehouses. It has green marble columns and the walls are clad with grey and white marble.
- Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee Building, Manchester at no. 56. Originally built as a cotton warehouse.
- Palace Theatre, on the junction of Whitworth Street. One of the premiere theatres in the United Kingdom outside of the West End.
- Manchester Oxford Road railway station : although named Oxford Road, the railway station is located on Whitworth Street West which begins at 68 Oxford Street; access to the station is by Station Approach.
- Bridgewater Heights is a tall building on Great Marlborough Street south of the railway line.
- Artisan Heights is a tall student accommodation tower.
- Red brick and terracotta Refuge Assurance Building has a tower and now houses the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel.