A Walk Along the Cornbrook Part 3: The Villas
Original content by Dr John Piprani. Edited by Grant Collier.
The section of the Cornbrook that runs under Charles Halle Road passes ‘The Villas’, one building that now houses the Cornerstone Homeless Centre and the Morning Star Hostel. This is one of the oldest remaining buildings in the area and has played an important social role for many different communities over the past seventy years or so.
Charles Laurent’s map shows this area as full of fields in 1793, at a time when Manchester was rapidly industrialising. By 1851 The Villas had been constructed, one of many homes built on the outskirts of the city for the Victorian elite. The urbanisation of the surrounding area was complete by the end of the nineteenth century, with row upon row of terraced houses constructed to house the rapidly expanded population.
In the 1960s, The Villas were repurposed as St Gerrard’s Overseas Centre, part of a group of centres which provided accommodation, training and social spaces for members of the local black community. It was supported by Sir Arthur Lewis, Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester and Britain’s first black professor. The Villas today are inhabited by the Cornerstone Centre, which supports vulnerable people without shelter.
Discussion points:
- Can you find The Villas on the historic maps linked in this blog? What are the benefits and the challenges of using maps to learn about places in the past?
- What role did Greenheys and The Villas have in Sir Arthur Lewis’ research and activism? In what ways is this work still relevant today?
