Deansgate Conservation Area - Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

Mealhouse Lane recalls a large grain warehouse that once fronted Deansgate at its
northern end. Ridgway Gates, between Numbers 80 and 82 Deansgate was named
after James Ridgway, a dyer and bleacher. There were gates here at one time to protect
his open bleaching grounds in the vicinity of the present Market Hall.
Fig.1: Deansgate from the 1793 map of Bolton (Bolton Archives).
Bolton and Deansgate in the 19 th century
In the early 19th Century many of the long narrow burgage plots and alleyways at the
rear of properties facing Deansgate were developed to provide courtyard housing for
working people. These are clearly shown on the 1849 OS maps (Appendix 1), and
formed short rows of one-up, one-down cottages, with a single-aspect and often back-to
back, facing narrow lanes or courts. The lack of sanitation and cramped dwellings in
close proximity to industry created poor living conditions.
During the nineteenth century Deansgate began to develop into a major shopping,
commercial and social centre. For most of the Century it contained a wide variety of
small local retailers dealing in products such as medicines, paints, dress fabrics,
millinery, clothing, automobiles and tools. The 2-3 storey buildings occupied narrow plots
with cramped rear yards. At one time there were twenty-six public houses and in 1908
The Empire Theatre (later the Hippodrome Theatre) was opened at the western end of
the street. In the mid Nineteenth Century the south bank of the river Croal was lined by
timber yards, a saw mill, cotton and flax mills a foundry and a gas works.
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