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mediumaevum:

Very little is known about Manchester during the Middle Ages, and it was by no means an important town as it had been during Roman times. Few Englishmen would have even heard of the place, though Salford would have been well known as would Wigan, Preston and Lancaster.

After the Norman Conquest of 1066, Manchester was a mere district of Salford, and the so-called Salford Hundred was a large Manor, covering all the lands between the River Ribble (Preston) in the north, and the River Mersey (at Stockport) in the south. The Salford Hundred and the barony of Manchester were in the ownership of the descendants of Rogier de Poitevin, a gift from William the Conqueror for services rendered in the invasion of Britain.

After the Black Death Plague in the late 14th century, the town began to grow as the textile industry began around the Cathedral area. In Hanging Ditch, (the remnants of a walkway between the Cathedral and the Corn Exchange - now ‘The Triangle’), evidence of fulling and tanning industries has been found.

photo by citizenandrew

(via medieval)