Oldfield Buildings were built in 1893 by the Yorkshire and Lancashire Railway Company. These working class tenements once housed sixty separate units. The structure was also known as Oldfield Road Buildings, Oldfield Road Dwellings, or, as they were simply called in my youth, "The Dwellings". They were located at the top end of Oldfield Road, toward Chapel Street, next to what was once the Borough Market (see 1850 map below), which sold vegetables and earthenware pottery and later became a recreational ground, though reduced in size. The site of Oldfield Buildings is marked on the maps below, and was built on a narrow strip of land between Graythorn Street and Oldfield Road.
'Oldfield Road Dwelling', drawing by L.S. Lowry 1929
This is the back of the dwellings on Gaythorn Street
L.S. Lowry, Tate Gallery 1927 oil on wood
L.S. Lowry on Gaythorn Street. We are looking at the back of Oldfield Road Dwellings.
The frontage on Oldfield Road. Photo credit: Russ (Flickr)
looking up Oldfield Road toward Chapel Street
The apsidal part of the structure, resembling the tower of castle, is at the southern end
< The Crescent * Chapel Street * Sacred Trinity Church >
OS 1850 sheet 27
OS 25" 1922
Oldfield Buildings coloured
The old Salford Royal Hospital is at the top of the map
The parish records cited below are from the Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks website, and show the same family living in "the dwellings". Note the name variation in the 'abode' field
Thomas Henry Glennie - [Child] of Thomas Glennie & Ruth
Born: 27 Jun 1894
Abode: 45 Oldfield Road Dwellings
Occupation: Labourer
Baptised by: J.T. Thompson-Jones
Source: LDS Film 1408728
John Glennie - [Child] of Thomas Glennie & Ruth
Abode: 45 Oldfield Buildings
Occupation: Carter
Baptised by: E. L. Hicks
Register: Baptisms 1883 - 1914, Page 180, Entry 1431
Source: LDS Film 1408660
Peter Glennie - Child of Thomas Glennie & Ruth
Born: 18th Oct 1897
Abode: 45 Oldfield Road Buildings
Occupation: Carter
Baptised by: A. W. Davies
In the middle of Oldfield Road, at the junction with Chapel Street (see 1922 map), there was a Boer War Memorial to the Lancashire Fusiliers by the sculptor, George Frampton. In 1990, it was moved from the centre of the road, out of harm's way.
bronze 1905
The Oldfield Road Dwellings were demolished around 1970.
