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Barton upon Irwell
The Barton Swing Aqueduct carries the Bridgewater Canal over the Manchester Ship Canal.
Barton upon IrwellLocation within Greater Manchester
Population	12,462 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SJ762978
Metropolitan borough	Salford
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M30
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Worsley and Eccles
Councillors	David Jolley (Labour) Michele Barnes (Labour) John Mullen (Labour)
List of places UK England Greater Manchester 53°28′34″N 2°21′36″W / 53.476°N 2.360°W / 53.476; -2.360

Barton upon Irwell (also known as Barton-on-Irwell or Barton) is a suburb of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 12,462 in 2014.

History

Barton Old Hall, a brick-built house degraded to a farmhouse, was the seat of the Barton, Booth and Leigh families. The church of St Catherine, built in stone with an octagonal spire rising to 100 feet (30 m), was consecrated in 1843. The church was demolished in the 1970s due to dry rot and the parish was merged with the neighbouring church of St Michael & All Angels, Peel Green.

Governance

Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire. Barton upon Irwell is currently represented in Westminster by Barbara Keeley MP for Worsley and Eccles South.

Barton-upon-Irwell was formerly a township in the parish of Eccles and a chapelry, in the hundred of Salford. In 1866 Barton upon Irwell became a separate civil parish, in 1894 the parish was abolished and merged with Eccles, Irlam, Davyhulme, Barton Moss and Pendleton. In 1891 the parish had a population of 35,826. Barton was joined with the municipal borough of Eccles in 1933 which was at the time part of the Lancashire administrative county. Eccles joined the City of Salford, Greater Manchester in 1974.

Councillors

From 2004 to 2021 the area was represented on Salford City Council by three councillors serving the ward of Barton.

  indicates seat up for re-election.

Boundary changes coming in to effect at the 2021 Salford City Council election abolished the Barton ward and the Barton and Winton ward was created in its place.

Geography

Barton is about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of Manchester, on both banks of the River Irwell from Trafford Park to Davyhulme, and includes the hamlet of Dumplington, now the site of the Trafford Centre. The Irwell was the boundary as far as the River Mersey, which with the Glazebrook were also boundaries.

Religion

The Lords of the Manor; the de Traffords were Roman Catholics and the Grade I listed All Saints' Church was built at their expense between 1865 and 1868 by Edward Welby Pugin. It ceased to be a parish church in 1961 and was taken over by the Friars Minor Conventual. Land for its graveyard given by the de Traffords is on the far side of the ship canal.

The de Traffords believed in religious freedom and paid for churches and chapels of other denominations. Between 1865 and 1868, the Church of England St Catherine's Church was built at their expense to the rear of All Saints' Church. It was demolished in the late 1970s. The graveyard remains and is the last resting place of Marshall Stevens.

Barton upon Irwell Methodist Chapel, built in 1796, was a short distance from the bridge. The buildings were taken over in 1973 by the Church of the Nazarene, but were later abandoned and demolished in 2001 for housing, causing controversy over the treatment of the graveyard by the developers.

Transport

Barton is on the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Irwell. A pair of ship locks is on the western edge of the district. It is also home to Barton Swing Aqueduct, which carries the Bridgewater Canal over the Manchester Ship Canal. From the late 19th century, the road from Barton to Stretford was carried over the canal by a low-level swing bridge, the opening of which for shipping to pass caused lengthy traffic delays to vehicles.

Before the Manchester Ship Canal was built, the Bridgewater Canal crossed the Irwell by a stone aqueduct of three arches, which was the first constructed in England over a navigable river.

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830, passes through the township. Barton Aerodrome was opened on 1 January 1930 and was the first permanent municipal airfield in the United Kingdom. Scheduled internal passenger flights operated in 1930 and again from 1934 to 1938, when the services were transferred to the new larger Ringway Airport (now Manchester Airport). Several charter airlines and flying clubs were based at the airport prewar.

During the Second World War over 700 aircraft were built here by F. Hills & Son and over 1,000 military aircraft were repaired by several firms. In 1946, the Lancashire Aero Club, founded in 1924 and the oldest flying club in the UK, moved here from Woodford Aerodrome, Cheshire. Barton is now a thriving general aviation airfield owned by Peel Holdings and is the base for over 150 private and club aircraft.

Culture and cultural references

Featured in the last scene of the 1961 film A Taste of Honey, the Barton Aqueduct and Swing Bridge are seen as the character of Tom sails away. In the film's opening scenes of street life in Salford, two young children are seen playing. One of them, the 5-year-old Hazel Blears, grew up to become the Member of Parliament for Salford and a Cabinet Minister. Whilst the Barton Swing Bridge does feature in the 1961 film A Taste of Honey, the scene featuring Tom the sailor on the rotating bridge is in fact the Trafford Road Swing Bridge – in the background of the shot the now demolished Henshaw's Blind Asylum can be seen as the bridge turntable shifts.

Sport

The 12,000-capacity AJ Bell Stadium, home ground of Salford Red Devils Rugby League and Sale Sharks Rugby Union, opened in 2012.

References

Notes

1. Barton Ward Profile (PDF). Salford City Council. March 2016. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
2. ^ Lewis, Samuel, ed. (1848), "Barton-Upon-Irwell", A Topographical Dictionary of England, British History Online, pp. 633–638, archived from the original on 29 June 2011, retrieved 11 October 2010
3. "St Catherine's Church, Barton on Irwell". www.canalarchive.org.uk. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
4. "Barbara Keeley MP". parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
5. "History of Barton upon Irwell, in Salford and Lancashire". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
6. "Relationships and changes Barton upon Irwell CP/Tn through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
7. "Barton upon Irwell Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
8. "Population statistics Barton upon Irwell CP/Tn through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
9. "GENUKI: All Saints, Barton on Irwell, Roman Catholic, Lancashire". Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
10. "St Catherine's Church, Barton on Irwell". www.canalarchive.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
11. Flynn, Tony (27 August 2009). "Barton upon Irwell graveyard controversy (Part 1 of 2)". SalfordOnline. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
12. Grice, Andrew (23 February 2007), "'Street socialist' Blears joins battle to replace Prescott", The Independent, archived from the original on 30 September 2007, retrieved 16 September 2008
13. "Frame from the movie "Taste Of Honey"". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
14. "Henshaw's". Archived from the original on 16 February 2016.

External links

• History on Barton Aerodrome

• Areas of Salford
• Salford City Council Wards
• Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester
• Eccles, Greater Manchester