Cliff

Designation date	1976
Extension date	August 1994
Area	26.03 ha (64.42 acres)
Listed buildings	12

Background information

The Cliff Conservation Area is situated to the west of Great Clowes Street and to the north of Great Cheetham Street West, lying on high ground that overlooks the River Irwell and the former Manchester Race Course at Castle Irwell.

There is no evidence of the earlier properties that existed at the Cliff due to the gradual change of the area from a rural one to a residential one. The oldest house that now exists is Cliff House dating from 1817, which was the first of a number of large houses to be erected overlooking the River Irwell.

In the mid-19th century the majority of residents at the Cliff were members of the professional classes but a number of merchants also resided there. The Cliff was one of the earliest residential suburbs for “commuters” into Manchester and Salford. Whilst the layout of the Cliff was not as formal as areas such as Victoria Park, Manchester, it was a prototype for such later developments.

As the 19th century progressed the character of the area change, due partly to improvements in the transport system which enabled people to live further away from the commercial centre and allowed clerical and similar workers to enter the area of Great Clowes Street and Lower Broughton Road.

Update

In the 20th century the area has undergone further changes in that many of the larger properties have been converted for multi-occupation. However, the majority of the twelve listed buildings within the conservation area have remained in single ownership, ensuring that the eastern boundary which overlooks the River Irwell resembles that which appeared on the 1848 Ordnance Survey map.

Cliff Extension - 1994

A number of residents in the area to the south of Hugh Oldham Drive petitioned Salford City Council to include the playing fields, The Polygon, Grecian Street School and the properties in between. After careful consideration these were included and now form part of the Cliff Conservation Area. In 1996-97, a review of the listed buildings within the old city of Salford Parish was carried out by English Heritage and, amongst other things, it decided that 399-411 Cotswold Terrace (odd numbers only), Lower Broughton Road, no longer met the revised criterion for Grade II Listed Buildings and were removed from the list.

Listed building	Grade
388 (Ivy Cottage), Lower Broughton Road	Grade II
390 Lower Broughton Road	Grade II
464/466 Lower Broughton Road	Grade II
435 (Scarr Wheel House), Lower Broughton Road	Grade II
461 (Cliff House), Lower Broughton Road	Grade II
437 Lower Broughton Road	Grade II
451/459 (odd) Lower Broughton Road	Grade II
The Sports Pavilion, Broughton Playing Fields, Lower Broughton Road	Grade II