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Wythenshawe


New estate was mainly completed after the Second World War in the late 1940's however it's planning began in 1927. It has continued to be planned; developed and built ever since.

It was to be one of the famous Garden Cities. ( Ebenezer Howard's 1920's Welwyn Garden City one of the first examples of modern Town Planning ; George Cadbury Bournville; Ebenezer Howard's  Letchworth 1903.)
The estate consisted of various manors  Peel Hall, Poundswick, Newall Green and Baguley Hall and not forgetting what is now Wythenshawe Hall. See this link from Wythit.com and Peter J Massey's comprehensive website, wythenshawehistoryof some of the halls and farms:
wythenshaweimages
 
"Wythenshawe Hall is a dramatic timber-framed Tudor house set amid beautiful gardens.
Today the historic building houses a fine collection of paintings and drawings administered by the City Art Galleries.The original house was built by Robert Tatton in around 1540 on the site of a medieval building.  During the English Civil War, the Royalist Robert Tatton defended Wythenshawe Hall against a siege by Parliamentarian troops.  When the house fell it was confiscated by the Parliamentarians but a few years later was returned to the Robert Tatton on the payment of a substantial fine.Over the next four centuries the hall was enlarged by fourteen generations of the Tatton family.

However, in 1926 the hall and estate of 2,500 acres of farmland were sold to Lord Ernest Simon of Wythenshawe, who immediately donated them to the City of Manchester.

The Hall became an art gallery and several of the historic rooms were opened to the public including the Dining Room and the Withdrawing Room.  There is also a new display illustrating the history of the house and the Tatton family.To the rear of the building are charming Victorian gardens and facing the Hall is a monument to Oliver Cromwell, whose troops occupied the property in 1644.The rest of the estate was used to provide new housing for the people of Manchester.  Designed in the 1930s the Wythenshawe Housing Estate was one of the largest 'garden cities' in Europe.The 270 acres of  Wythenshawe Park became a recreational area for south Manchester and for the residents of the housing estate in particular. " http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/house-manchester_wythenshawe-hall.htm


 

Population of 90,000 never quite reaching the 100,000 as far as l know.
My family moved in soon  after the new houses were built, our house was made of concrete!  And we were one of the first families in our road.
My mother told us that when we were young, the chickens used to wander into the back garden from the farm at Poundswick.
(Later the farm was no longer and replaced by the Poundswick Grammar School).

We had lots of places to play ~ acres of open fields still and woods and streams it was great fun for us all especially when the weather was good.

For mornings out we could walk up to Ringway Airport to view the planes or to Wythenshawe Park to see the horticultural gardens and the aviary.


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