Middle Ages In
Anglo-Saxon times the area was sparsely settled by
Mercians and
Danes and Didsbury may have been established in King Edward the Elder's reign as a fortification against the Danes. Following the
Norman Conquest the lands of south Lancashire were granted to
Roger of Poitou and by the early 13th century the Manor of Withington appears to be a sub-manor of the Manor of Manchester. The first recorded description of Withington referred to the area as a willow-copse farmstead, and giving rise to the
Anglo-Saxon name
Wīðign-tūn, with
withy meaning "willow branch used for bundling". In the early 13th century, the
Manor of Withington covered a wide area including Withington,
Didsbury,
Chorlton-cum-Hardy,
Moss Side,
Rusholme,
Burnage,
Denton and
Haughton. The first Lord of the Manor of Withington is thought to have been William, son of Wulfrith de Withington. , meeting place of the
Court Leet Withington was one of the
townships of the
ancient parish of Manchester in the
Salford Hundred of
Lancashire, and a sub-manor of the Manor of Manchester. In the 13th century, Robert Grelle (sometimes Grelley), Lord of the Manchester Manor, granted
free warren in Withington to Matthew de Hathersage (or Haversage), son of William, in exchange for one
knight's fee. Little is known of the Hathersage family, except that they descended to the Longford family, and are connected with the manors of
Hathersage and
Longford, both in Derbyshire. The lordship of Withington remained in the Hathersage/Longford family for over 300 years. There are still today some remnants of this moat underneath Old Moat Primary School, on Old Moat Lane. In the early 18th century, the Withington Manor was once again sold, this time to the Egertons of Tatton. Withington as a village developed around
Wilmslow Road, a main road, connecting Manchester to Wilmslow which was the only direct route between
Manchester and
Wilmslow at the time. Farming still dominated the area, although there is evidence in maps of a substantial cotton house on Cotton Lane, which later appears to become Withington Hall. Some historians dispute the cotton house as there is little record of it, and claim
"Cotton Lane" comes from land in the area which was jointly held by the townships of Withington,
Didsbury and
Burnage (a relic of the
medieval open field system). This area was the old village centre however, although the only relic of its former importance is the small flower display on the corner of
Wilmslow Road and Cotton Lane.
Victorian and later periods The trade in Withington, and consequent traffic on Wilmslow Road, increased steadily as the city of Manchester flourished in the early 19th century.
Turnpike roads subsequently became increasingly unpopular, and were abolished completely in 1881. Cheaper transport in and out of Manchester became an important factor in the growth of the area. The
Withington and West Didsbury railway station on the
Manchester South District Line, run by the
Midland Railway, provided train services to
Manchester Central railway station. The railway station closed to passengers in 1961. Withington's
Parish Church of St Paul was built in 1841; the architects of St Paul's Church were Hayley & Brown and it was extended in 1864. Many other chapels and churches proliferated, including
Methodist,
Presbyterian and
Roman Catholic. As the population increased, the need for schools grew. A day school was held in a schoolroom underneath the Wesleyan chapel on Old Hall Lane, until the
Church of England established a new church school with public donations next to its new parish church in 1844, St Paul's Primary School, on land donated by
benefactor Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton. Withington had a
Huguenot population with family and commercial ties to Germany. Among them was the Souchay family, who lived at Withington House on Wilmslow Road (the present site of the telephone exchange at Old Broadway). Charles (or Carl) Souchay and his wife Adelaide (or Adelheid) were benefactors of St Paul's church school, and the first wedding to take place at St Paul's was the marriage of the eldest Souchay daughter in 1850. The Souchays were related to
Cécile Mendelssohn Bartholdy, wife of the German composer
Felix Mendelssohn. In the 1840s, Mendelssohn made several visits to Britain, and stayed on occasion with friends in the Withington/Didsbury area. Mendelssohn wrote a number of letters to friends from Eltville House, the residence of another member of the Souchay family, John D. Souchay, which was situated on the south-east corner of Fog Lane and Wilmslow Road (later renamed Didsbury Priory). An account exists of an occasion in April 1847 when Mendelssohn visited St Paul's Church to play the newly installed
pipe organ. The composer was suffering from ill health, and this proved to be his last British tour; less than six months later, on 4 November, aged 38, Mendelssohn died in
Leipzig. The Souchays are buried in St Paul's churchyard. In 1861, a public library and village hall were opened.
Aviation On 28 April 1910, French pilot
Louis Paulhan landed his
Farman biplane in Barcicroft Fields, Pytha Fold Farm on the borders of Withington, Burnage and Didsbury, at the end of the first powered flight from London to Manchester, with a six-hour overnight stop near
Lichfield,
Staffordshire. Paulhan beat the British contender,
Claude Grahame-White, winning a £10,000 prize offered by the
Daily Mail. Two special trains were chartered to
Burnage railway station to take spectators to the landing. Paulhan's progress was followed throughout by a special train carrying his wife,
Henri Farman and his mechanics. A house in Paulhan Road is marked by a
blue plaque to commemorate his achievement. A large aerodrome was built in 1917–18 on the westerly edge of Withington, to the southwest of the junction of Mauldeth Road and Princess Road, on what is now the site of Houghend Playing Fields. The official name was
Alexandra Park Aerodrome, but it was also variously referred to as "Withington" and "Didsbury". Closure came in autumn 1924 when
Lord Egerton of Tatton would not agree to the site's continued use for flying. The large hangars were then demolished and Princess Road extended southwards through the eastern edge of the site. ==Governance==