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Area of Manchester, England

Hulme (/h//j//uː//m/) is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historically in Lancashire, the name Hulme is derived from the Old Norse word for a small island, or land surrounded by water or marsh, indicating that it may have been first settled by Norse invaders in the period of the Danelaw.

The Industrial Revolution brought development to the area, and jobs to the poor, carrying coal from the 'starvationers' (very narrow canal boats), to be carted off along Deansgate. Many cotton mills and railway links to Hulme soon followed, with the town served by the Mid Cheshire line railway and the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway, as well as the Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company. Thousands of people came to work in the rapidly expanding mills in the city. The number of people living in Hulme multiplied 50 fold during the first half of the 19th century. Housing had to be built rapidly, and space was limited, which resulted in low quality housing interspersed with the myriad smoking chimneys of the mills and the railway. Reports of the time suggest that at times the air quality became so poor that poisonous fumes and smoke literally "blocked out the sun" for long periods. In the Irish Poor Report of 1836 the Deputy Constable of the Township of Manchester, Joseph Sadler Thomas, found that the Irish were so fiercely neighbourly in Little Ireland (located on the other side of the River Medlock, just north of Hulme Ward) and the larger Irish area of Angel Meadow (north east of Victoria Station, on the other side of central Manchester from Hulme) that: "if a legal execution of any kind is to be made, either for rent or debt, or for taxes, the officer who serves the process almost always applies to me for assistance to protect him; and, in affording that protection, my officers are often maltreated by brickbats and other missiles". Hulme Hall was demolished in 1840 with the construction of the Bridgewater Canal. By 1844, the situation had grown so serious that Manchester Borough Council had to pass a law banning further building. However, the thousands of "slum" homes that were already built continued to be lived in, and many were still in use into the first half of the 20th century. Friedrich Engels was the heir of a German cotton manufacturer who had come to work for the Ermen & Engels factory in Weaste, Salford, three miles from Hulme though he worked in the firm's offices in Manchester. He made Little Ireland infamous throughout the world as a disastrous slum despite it being relatively short lived (a little over 30 years) and other areas of Manchester having worse housing, poverty and disease. Little Ireland was a small slum between Oxford Road, the Medlock and the railway serving Oxford Road Station, mainly inhabited by Irish immigrant workers. Reinforcement of the Medlock to protect the factories raised the level of the river above the surrounding residential hovels leading to frequent flooding with filthy river water. In 1863 members of the Hulme Athenaeum club for working men established an association football club, believed to be the earliest example in the city and in the county of Lancashire. Records of association games in the 1860s and 1870s exist with the club surviving into the early 1870s. In the 1860s, as Hulme became more established, new facilities sprang up. Municipal buildings were developed on Stretford Road, including the Town Hall, baths and public library, and Chorlton Union Workhouse on Leaf Street. In 1913 it was said "It is probable that in no northern city is the divergence between classes so marked as it is becoming in Manchester. Among the 80,000 inhabitants, for example, of Hulme, the poorest and most neglected district of the city, is to be found only a tiny minority of persons of much education and refinement, these being with rare exceptions doctors, or ministers of the various religious denominations, and their wives"

In the early 20th century transport in Hulme was improved when the existing horse bus services were replaced by electric trams. These services connected Hulme with the suburbs further south, Moss Side, Whalley Range and Chorlton cum Hardy. Boston Street and Preston Street carried complementary single lines of track southwards from Jackson Street. From 1949 the tram services were withdrawn and replaced by the motorbuses of Manchester Corporation Transport.

Two existing conjoined theatres were built in Hulme, the Hulme Hippodrome and The Playhouse, opening in 1901 and 1902 respectively. The Playhouse was later used as a BBC studio for 30 years (1955 1986) and for a short time opened as the Nia Centre (1991 1997) but closed due to financial problems. It currently is run by Niamos CIC. Hulme Hippodrome was a variety theatre until 1960, then as a bingo hall followed by being a social club and snooker hall until 1988. After being dark for 15 years it was purchased by the controversial religious charity, Gilbert Deya Ministries in 2003. It was sold to a property developer in November 2020 and is currently shuttered and in poor repair. A campaign group exists, Save Hulme Hippodrome. Both theatres are Grade 2 listed buildings. Recent research in the BBC written files archives has shown Hulme Hippodrome was hired as a venue in 1950 1955 on Sunday afternoons to record around 20 radio show titles, including Morecambe & Wise's first series, You're Only Young Once. The modernist and brutalist architectural style of the period, as well as practicalities of speed and cost of construction led to building what became known as the "cities in the sky". In Hulme, a new and (at the time) innovative design for deck access and tower living was attempted with four blocks, designed for families. This consisted of curved rows of low rise flats with deck access far above the streets, known as the Hulme Crescents, designed to house 13,000. During the late 1980s Viraj Mendis, an asylum seeker from Sri Lanka, sought the right of sanctuary in the Church of the Ascension in Hulme and remained there until arrested in January 1989. (For further information, see below, Religion; Church of England)

The decision was made in the early 1990s to demolish Hulme's crescent blocks and replace them with low rise flats and houses. The total amount of public and private money spent on improving Hulme and neighbouring Moss Side between 1990 and 2002 has exceeded £400 million. The area by then had become popular and desirable, containing a mix of council and privately owned housing.

One part of Hulme, the Birley Fields (site of the former Birley High School, Chichester Road) has been partly developed for a series of office blocks and partly left as green urban waste land. The blocks house companies such as Michelin and Laing O'Rourke as well as the University of Manchester/IFL/Server Hotel data centre. The development site was the subject of a campaign by a group of Hulme residents which delayed the clearance of the site and the felling of a large tree. The "Birley Tree" was a 110 year old Black Poplar. In 2009, Manchester Metropolitan University announced plans for the redevelopment of Birley Fields as the site of a new £120 million campus. The proposed scheme, relocating the Faculties of Education and Health, would include new academic buildings, student accommodation for approximately 1,200 students, car parking and a community square. Work was due to start in 2011 but failed to do so. In March 2012 enabling works for this project (now estimated to cost £130 million) began. On completion the academic building is going to be open 24 hours each day and have facilities for the public as well as provision for the university. It is expected to have a marked effect on the local economy by providing more jobs.

A legacy of Hulme's post war council housing has been through the deadly effects of Asbestos dust. John Shiers, a campaigner and later a leading figure in Save The Children had moved to council housing in Hulme in the late 1970s, where he discovered he and thousands of his neighbours council properties were riddled with Asbestos. He had been one of the first to speak out about the asbestos in the properties, he campaigned for change and was a founding member of the Hulme Asbestos Action Group. He died in 2011 of mesothelioma, a type of cancer associated with Asbestos. Manchester City Council admitted limited liability for his death in their role as his landlord.

The reputation for anti social activity that Hulme acquired in the 1970s and 1980s has declined. The counterculture that the area fostered toward the 1990s survived the redevelopment and is evident in, for example, Hulme Community Garden Centre, a not for profit organisation underpinned by organic principles promoting, among other things, sustainability and urban gardening and food production, and Work for Change, a large complex of cooperatives containing artists, theatre, and a variety of NGOs. Hulme's nearness to the city centre has meant that it has become a popular place to live for a new generation of city dwellers. The area is popular with young professionals who are attracted by apartment prices that are lower than in the city centre and yet within a 15 minute walk of the centre and the university campuses. Local amenities include the Zion Arts Centre, Hulme Community Garden Centre and Hulme Park. Shopping needs are catered for by the Hulme Shopping Centre, which includes an Asda supermarket and an indoor market. In 2008, following a tenants' vote, the area's remaining council housing stock was transferred to the City South Housing Association along with that of several neighbouring areas.

Hulme emerged in the Middle Ages as a township and chapelry, in the ecclesiastical parish of Manchester in the Salford Hundred in the historic county of Lancashire. Under the terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Hulme was in Chorlton Poor Law Union which was established on 3 February 1837 until 1915 and in Manchester Poor Law Union from 1915 until 1930. From 1824 to 1845 commissioners had powers for the improvement of the area of the township, and it became part of the Borough of Manchester in 1838.

Hulme is south of Manchester city centre, beyond the River Medlock. The part of Hulme nearest to Old Trafford is known as Cornbrook from the Corn Brook, a tributary of the River Irwell. The area adjacent to Castlefield is known as St Georges. This area is named after the Church of St George, Chester Road. The Bridgewater Canal passes through Hulme.

Ethnic Group (UV09) Hulme Ward Percentage All People 10449 100.00 White 7102 67.97 White: British 6037 57.78 White: Irish 346 3.31 White: Other White 719 6.88 Mixed 622 5.95 Mixed: White and Black Caribbean 276 2.64 Mixed: White and Black African 120 1.15 Mixed: White and Asian 86 0.82 Mixed: Other Mixed 140 1.34 Asian or Asian British 563 5.39 Asian or Asian British: Indian 206 1.97 Asian or Asian British: Pakistani 213 2.04 Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi 36 0.34 Asian or Asian British: Other Asian 108 1.03 Black or Black British 1587 15.19 Black or Black British: Caribbean 836 8.00 Black or Black British: African 597 5.71 Black or Black British: Other Black 154 1.47 Chinese or Other Ethnic Group 575 5.50 Chinese or Other Ethnic Group: Chinese 373 3.57 Chinese or Other Ethnic Group: Other Ethnic Group 202 1.93
From the 2001 UK Census results, Office for National Statistics, Neighbourhood Statistics.

In 1801 the population of Hulme was only 1677 but it was the largest of the townships surrounding Manchester. By 1831 it had increased to 9624 and then there was a greater increase to 26,982 by 1841 and roughly doubling again by 1851. The peak number was reached in 1871 when it was 74,731 and the next 30 years saw some decline to 66,916 in 1901.

In 1884, Henry Royce started a domestic electric fittings factory at Cooke Street. He made three cars (the Royce 10) in a corner of what was his dynamo and electric crane workshops. In 1904, Royce and Charles Stewart Rolls created a business partnership after meeting at Manchester's Midland Hotel and started to build their own motor car (a relatively new invention). Hulme was the location of their first Rolls Royce workshop, though operations were moved to Derby shortly afterwards. The Silver Ghost was designed and produced in Hulme. The Rolls Royce V 8 was designed in Hulme in 1905 to compete with the popular electric town cars which were quiet, easy to start and free of smells, smoke and vibration. Many names in Hulme commemorate this era, such as Royce Road, Rolls Crescent and the Bentley House Estate. The Royce public house, and occasional venue for music and stand up comedy had a distinctive ceramic historical 'mural' but was razed for the creation of modern flats, in the 1990s regeneration of Hulme. In August 2007, "Temple 2000", a sculpture based on a Rolls Royce radiator grille by George Wyllie RSA MBE was unveiled in Hulme Park on the site of the old Royce factory at Cooke Street off Stretford Road. The Scottish artist was inspired by the memories of Hulme's older residents, many of whom worked at the factory.

Public parks are St George's Park in the northwest and Hulme Park (29 acres) established near Jackson Crescent in 2000. Hulme Community Garden Centre is run as a community benefit society. Their mission is to bring the local community together through gardening, education and volunteering. Hulme was served by a Unit Four cinema, one of the three in the North West. It opened in 1970 and contained four mini cinemas housed within a much earlier building.

Rowland Detrosier, a radical politician, preacher and educator, was brought up in Hulme in the early 19th century. John Foulds (1880 – 1939), a composer of classical music, was born in Hulme. He was largely self taught as a composer, and belongs to the English Musical Renaissance. Albert Hill won a Victoria Cross in the First World War. Noel Aspinall was an Anglican priest who was Archdeacon of Manchester, Rector of St Edmund, Whalley Range, and of St George's, Hulme. Morrissey, lead singer of the Smiths, spent his childhood in Hulme and neighbouring Stretford. Jazz trumpeter Kevin Davy lived in Hulme during his time as a student at Manchester Polytechnic. Poet and BBC Radio 4 presenter Lemn Sissay spent the first 17 years of his life in care, in Hulme and its surrounding areas. Musician, author and TV presenter John Robb lives in Hulme. Billy Duffy (guitarist with The Cult) grew up in Hulme. Film critic Mark Kermode lived in Hulme while he was a university student in Manchester. Alfred Garth Jones the illustrator was born in Rutland Street, Hulme, on 10 August 1872. Actor Alan Igbon, known for playing Loggo in Alan Bleasdale's TV drama Boys from the Blackstuff, was born in Hulme. Albert Scanlon, who played as a winger for Manchester United between 1950 and 1960 and was a survivor of the Munich air disaster in 1958, was born in Hulme in 1935. Jonathan Nall, the first secretary of Hulme Athenaeum's association football club, was born and raised in Hulme and went on to become a significant promoter of the game in Manchester and a president of the Manchester Football Association.