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Burnage is an area of
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, in
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
, England, south of the
city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
and bisected by Kingsway. The population at the 2011 census was 15,227. It lies within the
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
Metropolitan area, in the historic county of
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, between
Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington had a population at the 2011 ce ...
to the west,
Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish, halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6 road (England), A6. Levenshulm ...
to the north, Heaton Chapel to the east and
Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...
and Heaton Mersey to the south.


History


Toponymy

The name Burnage is thought to have stemmed from "Brown Hedge", from the old brown stone walls or "hedges" which were common there in medieval times. In a survey of 1320, the district is referred to as "Bronadge".


Middle Ages

During the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, Burnage was an area of common pasture and marsh land. Burnage did not have its own manor but the land was shared between the farmers from the Manors of
Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington had a population at the 2011 ce ...
and
Heaton Norris Heaton Norris is a suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is one of the Four Heatons, along with neighbours Heaton Chapel, Heaton Mersey and Heaton Moor. Originally within the boundaries of the Historic ...
as it was a border district between two neighbouring lordships. A survey of 1320 records 356 acres of common pasture land under the Manor of Heaton. As the population began to expand, the land was reclaimed for
arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...
. In a survey of 1322, the Lord of Manchester was permitted to appropriate more land for arable use, provided he left enough common pasture land for the commoners to graze their animals. Named arable farmers of this time included Thomas Grelley, Sir John de Byron, Sir John de Longford and Dame Joan de Longford, who farmed 136 acres of land subject to the Lord of Manchester. There are records of a sale of land, which refer to "that moiety of the place called Burnage lying next to Heaton", when John La Warre and his wife Joan granted 100 acres of moor and pasture in Heaton and Withington to a Thomas de Trafford. The Withington land belonging to the de Longford family later passed to the Mosley family and subsequently to the Egerton family. Because the Mosleys were former Lords of the Manor of Withington, the Mosley family's
heraldic crest A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm. Originating in the decorative sculptures worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, battles, crests became solely pictorial after t ...
was used as the crest of Withington. A carved Mosley crest can still be seen above the door of the old Withington Town Hall (1881) on Lapwing Lane in West Didsbury. In recognition of the connection with the Withington Manor, the Mosley crest was also adopted in the 20th century as the badge of Burnage High School.


17th—19th centuries

By 1655, Burnage had become a township. The Egerton family were major landowners in Burnage; in 1798, the politician William Egerton was recorded as the largest contributor to the land tax, paying over a third, and by 1844, William's eldest son and heir Wilbraham Egerton owned about half of the land in Burnage. In 1894, the Irish writer
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
described Burnage as the prettiest village in Manchester. Burnage had an established cottage industry in hand
weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
. Many of the original
weavers' cottage A weavers' cottage was (and to an extent still is) a type of house used by Weaver (occupation), weavers for cloth production in the putting-out system sometimes known as the domestic system. Weavers' cottages were common in Great Britain, often ...
s survive today.


20th century

1906 saw plans to build a "garden suburb" in the district. Burnage Garden Village was created by building many new semi-detached houses as well as open recreational spaces, including lawns, gardens, a bowling green, tennis courts, allotments and a children's playground. Hans Renold established an engineering works at Burnage from 1906 to manufacture
roller chain Roller chain or bush roller chain is the type of chain drive most commonly used for transmission of mechanical power on many kinds of domestic, industrial and agricultural machinery, including conveyors, wire- and tube-drawing machines, pr ...
. The factory closed during the late 1980s. The site lay abandoned for several years, but now has been developed and a Tesco supermarket and a development of flats and retail units sit on the site. Construction of Kingsway (the A34) began in 1928. It was named after
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...
and was originally numbered A5079. Like Princess Road further to the west, Kingsway was laid out as a dual carriageway for motor vehicles with a segregated tram track along the
central reservation A median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also ap ...
which allowed Manchester Corporation Tramways to run
tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
s into
Manchester City Centre Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England, within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way, which collectively form an inner ring road. The City Centre ward had a ...
. A large
housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...
was built by
Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...
along the Kingsway route, mostly characterised by brick semi-detached houses laid out in avenues and octagons. Today, only parts of Burnage Lane still survive as original weavers' cottages. A cinema, the Lido, was built in the 1920s on Kingsway. This was renamed the Odeon in the 1940s and then became the Classic in the 1960s, before finally becoming the Concorde cinema in the 1970s which then also included a bingo hall in the premises. The cinema closed in the early 1990s, and has since been demolished and a supermarket built on the site. Mauldeth Hall in Green End was the dwelling of the
Bishop of Manchester The Bishop of Manchester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Manchester, Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.) The current bishop is David Walker (Bishop of Manchester), David Walker who w ...
for more than 20 years, before his move to
Higher Broughton Broughton is a suburb and district of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. Located on the east bank of the River Irwell, it is northwest of Manchester and south of Prestwich. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, the form ...
. ;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. This completed the first ever powered flight from London to Manchester, with a short overnight stop at
Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...
, (195 miles/298 km), and he won a £10,000 prize offered by the
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
, beating the British contender, Claude Grahame-White. Two special trains were chartered to Burnage railway station to take spectators to the landing, with other spectators waiting through the previous night. Paulhan was followed throughout by a train carrying his wife, Henri Farman and his supporting mechanics. Today, a blue plaque recording Paulhan's achievement is displayed on a house in Paulhan Road, which forms part of the site where he landed. ;Babies' Hospital In 1919 the Manchester Babies Hospital moved to Cringle Hall in Burnage having previously been in
Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish, halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6 road (England), A6. Levenshulm ...
and
Chorlton-on-Medlock Chorlton-on-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, Chorlton-on-Medlock is bordered to the north by the River Medlock, which runs immediately south of Manchester city cen ...
. It then had 50 beds; the number of patients increased from 82 in the first year to 430 in 1929. After the building of a new pavilion on the open-air principle with glass wards specially designed for the treatment of
rickets Rickets, scientific nomenclature: rachitis (from Greek , meaning 'in or of the spine'), is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children and may have either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stun ...
in 1925 the number of cots rose to 80. In 1935 a new hospital wing with much improved surgical facilities was opened by the Duchess of York in June 1935. The name of the hospital was changed to the Duchess of York Hospital for Babies. Until the creation of the National health Service in 1948 the hospital was supported by the Corporation of Manchester and by voluntary contributions. It closed in 1986 and a new Duchess of York ward was then opened in Withington Hospital.


Present day

Burnage is a mainly residential area, mostly
semi-detached A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single-family Duplex (building), duplex dwelling that shares one common party wall, wall with its neighbour. The name distinguishes this style of construction from detached houses, with no sh ...
houses built in the 1930s and 1940s.


Geography

Burnage is a suburb of South Manchester, approximately from
Manchester City Centre Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England, within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way, which collectively form an inner ring road. The City Centre ward had a ...


Governance


Civic history

Burnage was a
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
in the ancient parish of
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in the
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
hundred of
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
( historic boundaries). In the early 13th century it lay within the Manor of Withington, a feudal estate which also encompassed the townships of
Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington had a population at the 2011 ce ...
,
Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...
,
Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...
,
Moss Side Moss Side is an Inner city, inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. It had a population of 20,745 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Cho ...
,
Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, two miles south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. The population of the ward at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorl ...
, Denton and Haughton, ruled by the Hathersage, Longford, Mosley and Tatton families. Burnage remained under the manor of Withington for several centuries. Burnage was in Chorlton Poor Law Union (together with most of south Manchester but named after
Chorlton-on-Medlock Chorlton-on-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, Chorlton-on-Medlock is bordered to the north by the River Medlock, which runs immediately south of Manchester city cen ...
) from 1837 to 1915, and in Manchester Poor Law Union from 1915 to 1930. In 1866 Burnage became a separate
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
, in 1876 it was included in the area of
Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington had a population at the 2011 ce ...
Local Board of Health. Under the Divided Parishes Act 1882 there was an exchange of areas with Withington township and part of Didsbury township was added to Burnage township. In 1894 it became part of Withington Urban District in the
administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...
of Lancashire. In 1904 it became part of the County Borough of Manchester, on 1 October 1910 the parish was abolished and merged with South Manchester. In 1901 the parish had a population of 1892. In 1974 it became part of the metropolitan borough of
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
within the
metropolitan county Metropolitan counties are a Subdivisions of England, subdivision of England which were originally used for Local government in England, local government. There are six metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyn ...
of
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
.


Political representation

The current city councillors for the ward are Azra Ali ( Labour), Ben Clay ( Labour) and
Bev Craig Bev Craig is a Labour politician serving as the leader of Manchester City Council, and the councillor for Burnage. As leader she is also a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and is the combined authority's portfolio lead for E ...
( Labour). Burnage is in the parliamentary constituency of Gorton and Denton, currently represented by
Andrew Gwynne Andrew John Gwynne (born 4 June 1974) is a British politician who is Member of Parliament (MP) for Gorton and Denton, previously Denton and Reddish, since 2005. He was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Preventi ...
MP ( Labour).


Public services


Schools

Burnage is home to three primary schools and one secondary. Acacias Primary School, Green End Primary School and St Bernard's RC Primary School cater for younger students.
Burnage Academy for Boys Burnage Academy for Boys, formerly known as Burnage High School for Boys, is an 11–16 boys secondary school with academy status, located in Burnage, Manchester, England. The school was founded in September 1932 as Burnage High School on its ...
(previously named Burnage High School) is a former grammar school and Media Arts College which converted to an academy in 2014. Green End Primary School was rebuilt in 2006 and converted to academy status in 2013. Nearest schools, include Levenshulme High School and MEA Central.


Police

Burnage is covered by the South Manchester division of
Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England. , Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
.


Transport

Burnage is served by two railway stations: Burnage railway station, which is located on Fog Lane, and Mauldeth Road, which is to the north of the area and also serves Ladybarn. Both stations are on the Styal Line, a suburban railway line that provides local services between and , with peak-hour trains to . Journey time from Burnage to Piccadilly is approximately 12 minutes. Interchange with the
Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...
tram system is available one stop south at (which is close to with East Didsbury tram stop). Bus 25 runs between Stockport and the Trafford Centre, via Burnage, Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Stretford. Burnage is close to junction 5 of Manchester's
ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...
, the
M60 motorway The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through all of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolt ...
.
Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2024, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passengers (the busiest outside of London) ...
, the busiest airport in the UK outside London, is about to the south.


Notable people

Writer
Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (1886), ''A Little Princess'' (1905), a ...
, who wrote ''
Little Lord Fauntleroy ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was published as a serial in ''St. Nicholas Magazine'' from November 1885 to October 1886, then as a book by Charles Scribner's Sons, Scribner's (the publisher of ...
'', spent most of her early childhood in Burnage. Actors David Threlfall and Max Beesley are from Burnage. Martin Lings, a renowned Islamic philosopher and Shakespearean scholar, was also born in Burnage. The district is notable for being the childhood home of
Liam Liam is a short form of the Germanic name William, or its Irish variant Uilliam. Etymology The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these ...
and
Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...
(
Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentThe Barlow Roman Catholic High School) on Parrs Wood Road. Lead singer and bassist of the 1960s and 1970s pop band
the Fortunes The Fortunes are an English harmony beat music, beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US, Canadian, and UK Top 40, Top 10s. Aft ...
, Eddie Mooney has lived in Burnage for many years. Alumni of Burnage High School (including the old Burnage Grammar School) include
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
and England footballers Roger Byrne, who captained United's "
Busby Babes The "Busby Babes" were the group of footballers, recruited and trained by Manchester United chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of the ...
" and was one of the victims of the 1958
Munich air disaster The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United F.C., Manche ...
, and Wes Brown; as well as
Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...
, noted international architect. Dave Rowbotham, former guitarist of local post-punk groups Durutti Column,
The Invisible Girls The Invisible Girls were a British rock band, formed in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1978, to provide a musical backdrop to the recorded output of Salford punk poet John Cooper Clarke. The band's nucleus was Joy Division and New Order produc ...
and The Mothmen, lived there in a flat until November 1991, when his dead body was found, having been killed by an axe murderer. Controversial speaker Asif Hussain Farooqui was previously based at a mosque in Burnage.


See also

* Listed buildings in Manchester-M19 *
Burnage Academy for Boys Burnage Academy for Boys, formerly known as Burnage High School for Boys, is an 11–16 boys secondary school with academy status, located in Burnage, Manchester, England. The school was founded in September 1932 as Burnage High School on its ...


References


External links

* *
British History Online: BurnageBurnage High SchoolThe Barlow School2001 Census results for Burnage
{{Authority control Areas of Manchester Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester