7.004       BRA 1849 REG

Material: paper        Scale: 30 yards = 1”

Size: 65*50 cm       Condition: Fair.

I often have to estimate the dates of plans or maps so it is a relief to have this information provided for once. This map has Bradford’s railway connection from the north-west at its heart: it is described as ‘Regina v The Midland. Railway Company, plaintiff’s plan, showing Commercial Street previous to 1849’. The map can be reasonably regarded as showing the street plan of this part of Bradford at the time of the 1851 census.

In 1847, just before the date of the map, Bradford had become a Borough.  In the mid-nineteenth century the skeleton of the modern city was in the process of erection.  Bradford Infirmary had been built on its Westgate site in 1844: the building itself has been long demolished but Infirmary Field survives as a green space. In the 1850s St George’s Hall, Peel Park, and Sir Titus Salt’s Saltaire were all created.

The Bradford canal had opened much earlier in 1774 and, as you can see, ended at a canal basin and a large warehouse. Nearby, at the end of Well Street, is a large coal staithe. This had been present for many years and also features in a map of c.1825 where it is identified as ‘J.J. & Co’. I assume this is John Jarratt, one of the original Low Moor Iron Works partners. The company had extensive coal mining interests.

The movement of coal was an important consideration in the minds of the original canal promoters, but by 1849 water transport of goods was being superseded by the railway. The Leeds-Bradford Railway, in which George Hudson ‘the Railway King’ was closely involved, arrived via Shipley in 1846. The route to Keighley was created the following year. To construct the line’s terminus Dunkirk Street was razed to the ground and on 5 March 1846 the Bradford Observer noted the ‘deserted and desolate’ street. Two years earlier a famous resident had died there at the age of 46. This was Reuben Holder who was noted, as the same newspaper observed, for ‘eccentric rhymes with which ‘he was wont to create lights and shadows for the monotonous occupations of brick maker and bill sticker.’

Our map of 1849 describes the building as ‘Leeds & Bradford Railway Station now called Midland Station’ which strongly suggests that the great Midland Railway Company acquired the line soon after that year. The 1850 Bradford directory still uses the Leeds-Bradford name and gives the address as ‘bottom of Kirkgate’. Its superintendent was then Mr M Crabtree. The map would seem to have been drawn up for litigation purposes but what the action involved I cannot yet establish. The whole district between the station and Cheapside seems to have been known as Bermondsey in 1849 and this appellation survives as a road in a later map from 1863. Is the name Bermondsey ever used today?

In the second map of 1863 you can see Manor Row which had been constructed in 1820. Salem Street, with its listed early nineteenth century terraced houses, was presumably named after the nearby Congregationalist Chapel. ‘Salem’ is a shortened form of Jerusalem and was a popular name for non-Conformist places of worship. This classical revival building was constructed in 1835-6 using sandstone ashlar. It was one of the earliest designs of the Lockwood & Mawson architectural partnership who later moved on to St George’s Hall and Saltaire, which I have already mentioned. William Cudworth records that Salem’s minister during the mid-19^th century was Rev J C Miall. A new chapel was opened in Oak Lane in 1888 after which the Manor Row building was reused as school board offices, and a school clinic for many years. It still exists as Kenburgh House.

While considering churches the 1863 map shows Christ Church in Darley Street which was built as a chapel of ease for the Parish Church and consecrated in 1815. It was close to Bradford market but I believe that the site was eventually needed for a Darley Street extension. The building was demolished in 1879 and Rawson Square exists at its former site. The church was moved to nearby Eldon Place where it survived until 1940.

Naturally there is a great deal of history locked up in street names. Market Street must reflect the old market. But look at the streets at the top right of the second map. A water source is the obvious explanation for Well Street. The older map indicates that Collier Street (or Gate) was named for its closeness to the coal staithe. The Swaines and the Booths were wealthy local families and Charles St, Booth St, and Swaine St probably all derived their names from Charles Swaine Booth Sharp (1734-1805) who owned land in the area of Hall Ings and married Hannah Gilpin Sharp, who had inherited the famous scientist Abraham Sharp’s Horton estate, via his niece Faith Sawrey. Only the names Well St and Market St have survived to the present day.