Cheetham Hill - History

History

Neolithic implements have been discovered at Cheetham Hill, implying human habitation 7–10,000 years ago.

Unmentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, Cheetham does not appear in records until 1212, when it was documented to have been a thegnage estate comprising "a plough-land", with an annual rate of 1 mark payable by the tenant, Roger de Middleton, to King John of England. From the Middletons the estate of Cheetham passed to other families, including the Chethams and Pilkingtons.

By the early 20th century, the southern end of Cheetham had a large Jewish population, and nine synagogues. Michael Marks was a Jewish immigrant who lived in Cheetham Hill with his family. He and Thomas Spencer opened the first Marks and Spencer store on Cheetham Hill Road in 1893. The business grew considerably over following years and in 1901 the companies first headquarters was built on Derby Street.

During the Madchester phase of the history of Manchester, narcotic trade in the city became "extremely lucrative" and in the early 1980s a gang war started between two groups vying for control of the market in Manchester city centre - the Cheetham Hill Gang and The Gooch Close Gang, in Cheetham Hill and Moss Side respectively. During this period Manchester acquired a reputation for gun crime, and was nicknamed "Gunchester" and the "Bronx of Britain" after a series of murders linked to turf wars and drug dealing associated with both Cheetham Hill and Moss Side.