Salford Timeline

1226 - First recorded mention of a bridge over the River Irwell connecting Salford and Manchester.
1228 - Henry III grants Salford the right to hold a weekly market and annual fair.
1535 - Trinity Church is completed.
1761 - The first Blackfriars Bridge is constructed.
1761 - The Bridgewater Canal opened. The world’s first man-made canal and a catalyst for the Industrial Revolution.
1773 - The first steam boat operated on the Bridgewater Canal.
1806 - Philips and Lee factory and a portion of Chapel Street were lit by gas - the first use of gas lighting in the world.
1810 - James Prescott Joule is born in New Bailey Street, moving later to Acton Square.
1824 - First horse drawn bus service.
1825 - The foundation stone of Salford Town Hall, Bexley Square is laid.
1844 - Friedrich Engels publishes his book, ‘Condition of the Working Class in England’, describing life in Salford & Chapel Street.
1846 - One of the first free public parks, Lark Hill, later Peel Park,
established by public conscription in Salford.
1850 - The Royal Museum and Public Library in Salford was said to be the first free public library in the UK. Salford Borough Library opens on the Crescent.
1850 - First beam of electricity shone from Buile Hill.
1851 - Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visit Salford, a choir of 82,000 children greet them with song in Peel Park.
1873 - Manchester and Salford Tramway Company opens.
1931 - Battle of Bexley Square.