History of Trafford Part 1: Partington

In this series we explore the history of all parts of Trafford, this article is dedicated to Partington.

Partington was first known in 1260 in the medieval parish of Bowdon, the name derives from the words ‘Old English’ and in 1664 because of the wetlands on all sides the earliest known population was 99.

In 1894 with the completion of the Manchester Ship Canal transformed Partington in to a major coal transporting town and so attracted big names to the area.

Coroners Wood as it is still known, is very interesting as many locals think there is a buried graveyard just off Oak Road, it is in fact further south on a farm in Warburton, the burial ground has not been ever touched, and can be seen under a mound covered in grass.

The farmhouse near Warburton Park is where the old monastery used to be, we still to this date why Partington claims this ancient burial ground, with HS2 planning to go over the ancient burial ground, N4T has contacted HS2 LTD about the burial ground and must not be disturbed, we promise everyone now, even if we fight alone, we will try our hardest to make sure that the burial ground remains in tact and undisturbed.

Partington has some history still on show, at the Green, just off Hall Lane and Lock Lane is a bit of infrastructure where police used to lock up people to what looks like a gigantic pair of hand cuffs held by two huge stones.

The area has a couple of Grade 2 listed buildings, one of them being St Mary’s Church on Manchester Road.

Partington was developed further when Manchester Council built flats as an overspill, the estate got further developed, and in 1974 Trafford Council took over and neglected it ever since.

Shell Chemicals was the biggest employer until 2007 when it shut its doors, the area has only a couple of roads in and out, and this is to become a serious problem in the near future because of deluded councillors nodding their heads at planning without ever thinking about residents views.

Partington has more history than many people are aware, and people who are creative in the area might want to one day explore the idea of showing off to the world the history of the area.

It would now be a good idea to get something done about the abandoned railway, although not much is left of the line or Partington train station, anything will be of use before the line re-opens in 2019.

In the wars Partington was the location of an aircraft battery, it was positioned in the south-west corner of Cross Lane Park.

If you wish to add to this please contact us, if anyone has any old photos more so of the war days, or of the burial ground we will publish them, make sure you send with the photo so we can credit you.