Thanks to Gavin Reid, a local history enthusiast that supplied this information on Blackfriars
The name and its medieval roots
Blackfriars takes its name from the Dominican Order of friars, who from the 13th century onwards wore a black cloak (a cappa) over their white habits - earning them the nickname "Black Friars." Their houses, and sometimes the districts where they lived, came to be called Blackfriars. The name travelled across England, attaching itself to this corner of Salford on the west bank of the River Irwell, opposite medieval Manchester.
The river and the early settlement
The park sits in the old district of Blackfriars, along the banks of the River Irwell, close to the traditional centre of Salford at Greengate, between Manchester city centre and Broughton. The Irwell - which forms the boundary between Manchester and Salford - shaped the area for centuries, first as a trading route and later as the artery of industry. During the Industrial Revolution the river became severely polluted by industrial waste, and fish stocks had disappeared completely by about 1850.
Richmond Hill and "the Diggle"
By the Victorian era the district was densely packed with terraced housing, workshops and schools. This neighbourhood was known locally as Richmond Hill - a name preserved in the old Richmond Hill School, which stood here until the 1890s. It was replaced by Blackfriars Road School - officially the ninth Board School - designed by architect Henry Lord and built between 1894 and 1895 to provide modern facilities for 666 children.
The slope down toward Blackfriars Road was remembered fondly by generations of local children, who knew it by the affectionate nickname "the Diggle" (also recalled as "Diggle Daggle Hill") - a favourite spot for sledging and play.
Slum clearance and the birth of the park
Like much of inner Salford, Richmond Hill and Blackfriars were transformed in the post-war decades. Due to slum clearance, very few buildings in Blackfriars now predate the 1960s. The dense Victorian streets were swept away in major redevelopment, and open green space - including the park - was created from the cleared land.
Blackfriars Park today
Now one of Salford's smaller parks, Blackfriars is popular with local residents as an attractive place to get fresh air and gentle exercise, equipped with seating areas, a multi-use games area and a small playing field. Recent community efforts have added life to the park: a local community group, working with children from the Friars and Cathedral School and supported by the RHS Bridgewater Outreach team and the council's Rangers, planted over 3,000 daffodils and crocuses for spring displays.
A survivor nearby
Just up Blackfriars Road stands one local landmark that escaped demolition: the Black Friar pub, a Grade II listed building rebuilt in 1886 for the Boddington's brewery, carrying its cheerful carved motto, "You may go further and fare worse." After lying derelict for over 15 years, it was lovingly restored and reopened in 2021.
On "Diggle" / "Diggle Daggle"
There's no formal documentary reference confirming the origin of the local "Diggle Daggle Hill" name - the strongest trace is a Salford community/history Facebook post titled "View of Blackfriars Road from 'Diggle Daggle Hill' in 1974," which confirms it was a genuine local nickname for the sloping ground here, but doesn't explain why.
What we can tell you about the word itself:
The surname/place-name Diggle is well documented and has two competing etymologies, both of which are interesting given this is a hill:
Habitational name from Diggle in Saddleworth, probably meaning "ditch hill" from Old English dīc ("ditch") + hyll ("hill") — though other sources give the Saxon word degle meaning "valley", or dic ("ditch/dyke") combined with halh ("a nook, recess, or secret place").
The honest position for: "Diggle Daggle" is almost certainly a piece of playful local rhyming slang - the kind of reduplicated, sing-song nickname (like "argy-bargy") that communities invent for a familiar spot, here a hill children played and sledged on. The "diggle" element may simply echo the old dialect sense of a ditch or dip in the ground, which fits a slope perfectly, but may be affectionate local coinage.
On what stood on the park land before
Richmond Hill was not open ground historically. The whole Blackfriars district was densely built up by the Victorian era and only became green space through 20th-century slum clearance.
The wider area combined both housing and industry. By 1832 houses stood by the Irwell between Adelphi Street and the river, with numerous churches and schools, and the district went on to fill with factories and mills, large engineering works, breweries, and other very varied industries. Salford as a whole reached housing densities as high as 80 homes per acre - the cramped terraced streets that were later condemned.
Specifically on/near this ground:
Richmond Hill School stood here until the 1890s - it was the school condemned and replaced by the new Blackfriars Road School, built 1894–95 to accommodate 666 children.
There was definitely industry in the immediate Blackfriars riverside zone. A documented example is Blackfriars Mills - two mills/factories on Blackfriars Street adjoining the River Irwell, with a weaving shed, engine house, warehouses and adjoining dwelling-houses, advertised for sale in 1852.
So the land the park sits on was a typical inner-Salford mix of Victorian terraced housing, a school (Richmond Hill), and nearby mills/works - all swept away in the post-war clearances, after which very few buildings in Blackfriars now predate the 1960s, and the cleared land was laid out as the park.
One caveat worth flagging for accuracy: "Blackfriars Mills" was on Blackfriars Street by the river, which may be slightly south of the park itself rather than literally on it. To say with certainty exactly which mills, streets and houses sat on the precise park footprint, the definitive source would be the Ordnance Survey large-scale town plans of Salford (1840s–50s and 1890s) and the Goad/Bacon maps, which would show the exact buildings on that plot.
View historic maps of the area
Side-by-side: historic map vs. today's satellite (the most useful view)
The left panel shows the Victorian map; the right shows the modern aerial. Drag both to compare exactly which old streets the park now covers.
Spy-glass/ swipe overlay (historic map laid directly over the modern map