Oldfield Buildings, Salford

 

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

Baptism: 6 Jul 1894 St Stephen, Salford, Lancashire, England
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

Baptism: 18 Sep 1895 St Philip, Salford, Lancashire, England
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

Baptism: 29th Oct 1897 St Stephen, Salford
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.