Ashton House Women’s Lodging House. Corporation Street Angel Meadow

Ashton House stands on Corporation Street in the area of Ancoats known as Angel Meadow. In the nineteenth century this was one of the worst slums of the Victorian city and many attempts were made to improve the conditions of the poor. One such attempt, Ashton House, was designed as model lodgings for women. It was built by the Corporation, 1908-10, to the designs of the City Architect H. Price. Named after Councillor Margaret Ashton, who had much to do with the project, Ashton House was officially opened on 1 September 1910. Designed as a hostel or lodging house for the exclusive use of women and girls requiring decent shelter, it evidenced the increasing involvement of the municipal authorities in matters of social housing. A men's hostel had already been established in Manchester, but this - Sir William Crossley's housing experiment - had been both expensive and a private undertaking. However, the city council were not totally lacking in experience, having already opened the Walton Lodging House for Women in Ancoats. The report in the Manchester City News of 13 August 1910 continued:

So far as outlay is concerned, the citizens can surely have no reasonable cause for complaint. The triangular wedge of building looking out upon the new railway viaduct at the far end of Corporation-street, Angel Meadow, is plainness itself as to the exterior, nor does the interior contain anything in the form of useless ornament. The object of Mr H Price, the city architect, who prepared the designs, has been to make the best possible use of the site by providing the necessary amount of accommodation and conveniences from basement to roof. For all this the total cost is £13,000.

It catered for 222 women, who occupied dormitories with individual cubicles and cooked for themselves in communal kitchens. A lodging house for men existed nearby on Pollard Street. It stands on an island site, with a very narrow rounded end to the junction with Crown Lane. Free Style, red brick and cream terracotta. Details include ironwork with flower motifs, lettering in the gable to the corner with Aspin Lane and voussoirs of tiles laid on edge. It was university student accommodation, but Ashton House has recently been sold and refurbished and is currently used as a boutique Hostel and aparthotel.

Reference    Manchester City News 6 June 1908 Page 3  with illustration - approval by city council
Reference    Building News 5 June 1908 Page 810 - report to sanitary committee
Reference    Manchester Guardian Saturday 7 November 1908 Page 4 (Contracts)
Reference    Manchester City News  13 August 1910 Page 5 Column 4. –Description
Reference    Manchester City News 20 August 1910 – Photograph
Reference    Manchester Guardian 2 September 1910 Page 4-5 opening
Reference    Manchester City News 3 September 1910. Page 5 -Details of official opening