I have shown this map before. On that occasion I concentrated on the right-hand section. The plan is undated, but St Paul’s Church (constructed 1847-48) is clearly marked. The year 1847 was the date in which Manningham was incorporated into the new Borough of Bradford and I imagine that the plan was drawn up soon after. The later Victorian terraced housing, now present throughout this location, is of course unbuilt. I believe that this is a sale plan, and the vendors are trustees acting for the late James Brougham (Mary Brougham, Rev. Thomas Austin and Ann Idle). Cudworth records that these trustees sold much of the estate to Sir Titus Salt and Henry Forbes in 1851, so this is the date I have taken for the plan.

One of the fascinating aspects of such sale plans is the snapshot they provide of local owners and occupiers. For a family historian the date of this plan would fit well with the 1851 census reports. So, in a large font, we have landowners James Wilson, William Cowgill, Joshua Patchett, and (F J) Lace Esq. In a smaller font we have cottagers and occupiers.

So where are we exactly? The general view is easily seen in a detail of the first OS map of the area (published 1852). In the second map section the real orientation of The Pasture is W-E. Manningham Town Street is now called Church Street: Heaton Road retains its name. Their junction is a couple of hundred yards from Toller Lane.

On this occasion I am more interested in the first section of the plan (lot 5). This part of the plan is in the correct N-S orientation and Lumb Lane retains its name to the present day. At the bottom of this section the premises of James Wilson may represent a company name. James Wilson & Sons were joiners, builders and brickmakers with a works in White Abbey. When James Wilson died on 15^th April 1867 the Bradford Observer describes him as ‘the senior partner of the old and respected firm’. The junction between Lumb Lane and Back Lane can be identified on the 1852 6” OS map. Immediately to the right of the junction was Manningham Old Hall (not drawn).

I think that Fig 2 illustrates this building although I have seen the same name applied to the oldest manifestation of Manningham Hall in modern Lister Park. Leaving Back Lane in a northerly direction are East Squire Lane and Tong Lane. Near to where they join is a farming complex, complete with: house, two barns, a cottage, a well (or spring perhaps) and seemingly formal gardens. It is also present on the 1852 map. Within 40 years the whole area is developed for housing and Back Lane has become Carlisle Road. The section of ‘Tong Lane’ drawn is now Church Street but East Squire Lane retains its name. There was Victorian terrace construction throughout the entire area which may have disrupted the existing road network. It is clear that Manningham is starting to emerge from a distinctly rural past.

The Local Studies Library has a beautifully drawn, but unlabelled and undated, map of the whole of Manningham. Figure 3 is a detail including the area we have discussed. The index suggests a date of 1811 for this map, but it cannot be this early. It certainly pre-dates the construction of the parish church, but it shows the first Manningham Mills which were mot constructed by Ellis Cunliffe Lister until the 1830s.

Oh yes, ‘Tong’. This name has been applied to several areas in Bradford. Place-name scholars say it simply is old English for ‘tongue’, and would be an appropriate designation for a piece of land formed by a dividing road or river.