A New Plan of Manchester and Salford, with their Vicinities captures the metropolis at its 1844 industrial zenith, when “Cottonopolis” bound the world’s first modern city to the engines of commerce. The River Irwell cleaves Manchester from Salford, its course acting as both boundary and conduit, while the Bridgewater Canal threads mercantile districts to inland ports. Early railways—including the pioneering Manchester to Liverpool line—announce a new age of velocity and scale. This is an unusually vivid city map: a dense, legible portrait of growth where grid-like streets mass around mills and markets, and new suburban avenues radiate from the core. It is a documentary of momentum, recording how waterways, rail, and streets interlocked to power an urban transformation without precedent.

The heart of the city is rendered with a surveyor’s precision. Market Street and High Street run through the retail and trading core, while St. Ann’s Square and King Street testify to civic pride and financial ascendancy—King Street still housing the town hall of the era. Piccadilly gathers the great thoroughfares into a theatrical urban stage, spilling into Portland Street and Oxford Street. Northward, Shudehill and Withy Grove mark older market quarters, with Long Millgate and St. Mary’s Gate tying the medieval fabric to modern frontages. Great Ducie Street and London Road act as arterial spines, while Queen Street, Windmill Street, and Town Hall Square knit together the commercial and administrative center that powered a global textile economy.

Transportation is the animating geometry of this plan. The Bridgewater Canal funnels raw cotton and coal to warehouses and yards along the Irwell, its basins threaded to streets optimized for cart and dray. The Manchester to Liverpool Railway, a marvel of its age, is inscribed alongside the burgeoning urban grid, converging at London Road—an early intercity gateway that presages the modern rail hub. The cartography registers goods depots, sidings, and the urban seams they create, especially near Great Ducie Street and along lower approaches such as Lower Mosley Street. In the east, Great Ancoats Street and Ashton New Road herald industrial Ancoats and the outward march of mills, mapping how iron rails and stone canals synchronized production, labor, and exchange.

The map chronicles a city swelling from roughly 75,000 to over 300,000 inhabitants, and makes that demographic drama legible in streets and blocks. Hulme and Chorlton emerge as expanding suburbs, their grids accommodating both working-class terraces and aspirational middle-class rows. Upper Brook Street traces Chorlton-on-Medlock’s rise, connecting academic, medical, and residential precincts to the city’s core via Oxford Street and Portland Street. Stockport Road and Ashton New Road radiate to satellite towns and mill villages, while residential parcels appear at the edges as new neighborhoods coalesce. This is social history in plan-view: a record of how capital and migration etched themselves into brick, lane, and courtyard.

Authored by J. Fothergill and issued in variant states by publishers J. Ambery and J. Ainsworth, the plan’s changing imprints hint at continuous updating and strong contemporary demand—appropriate for a city that reinvented itself by the decade. Its intricate 19th-century drafting, likely complete with period cartographic flourishes, excels at reconciling mercantile cores, river and canal infrastructure, and the newly disruptive railways into a coherent urban image. Bibliographically, it is scarce; the only identified example is recorded at the University of Manchester, underscoring its rarity and significance. As a city map, it stands out for uniting civic topography with the machinery of industry, distilling Manchester and Salford at the very moment they became the modern city’s global archetype.

Streets and roads on this map

• Albert Street
• Ashton New Road
• Upper Brook Street
• Great Ancoats Street
• Great Ducie Street
• High Street
• King Street
• London Road
• Long Millgate
• Lower Mosley Street
• Market Street
• Oxford Street
• Piccadilly
• Portland Street
• Queen Street
• Shudehill
• St. Ann's Square
• St. Mary's Gate
• Stockport Road
• Town Hall Square
• Windmill Street
• Withy Grove

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Canals such as the Bridgewater Canal.
• The River Irwell marking the boundary between Manchester and Salford.
• Railways, including the significant Manchester to Liverpool Railway.
• The grid-like street patterns characteristic of dense urban areas in the mid-19th century.
• Residential areas showing early suburban development.

Historical and design context

• • Map Title: A New Plan of Manchester and Salford, with their Vicinities.
• • Creation Year: 1844.
• • Mapmaker/Publisher: Originally by J. Fothergill, with different publishers noted as J. Ambery and J. Ainsworth. This diversity suggests the map existed in various print forms or states.
• • Historical Period: The map illustrates Manchester and Salford during a key period of industrial expansion, capturing urbanization between 1800 and 1850.
• • Urban Development: Highlights the dense urban fabric and infrastructure growth, including street layouts, canals (e.g., Bridgewater Canal), and railways (e.g., Manchester to Liverpool Railway).
• • Transportation Significance: Depicts Manchester as a major transportation hub, emphasizing its role in the cotton and textile industries, referred to as "Cottonopolis."
• • Demographic Changes: Indicates a stark population increase from 75,000 to over 300,000, reflecting migration driven by employment opportunities in the booming textile mills.
• • Suburban Growth: Shows developing neighborhoods like Hulme and Chorlton, catering to a mix of working-class and middle-class populations.
• • Map Style: Features intricate detailing characteristic of 19th-century cartography, possibly including ornate borders or cartouches typical of the period.
• • Rarity: Noted as a rare item, with the only identified example located at the University of Manchester.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.

For most orders, delivery time is about 3 working days. Personalised and customised products take longer, as I have to do the personalisation and send it to you for approval, which usually takes 1 or 2 days.

Please note that very large framed orders usually take longer to make and deliver. 

If you need your order to arrive by a certain date, please contact me before you order so that we can find the best way of making sure you get your order in time.

I print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world. This means your order will be made locally, which cuts down on delivery time and ensures that it won't be damaged during delivery. You'll never pay customs or import duty, and we'll put less CO2 into the air.

All of my maps and art prints are well packaged and sent in a rugged tube if unframed, or surrounded by foam if framed.

I try to send out all orders within 1 or 2 days of receiving your order, though some products (like face masks, mugs and tote bags) can take longer to make.

If you select Express Delivery at checkout your order we will prioritise your order and send it out by 1-day courier (Fedex, DHL, UPS, Parcelforce).

Next Day delivery is also available in some countries (US, UK, Singapore, UAE) but please try to order early in the day so that we can get it sent out on time.

Read my full delivery and local production guide

My standard frame is a gallery style black ash hardwood frame. It is simple and quite modern looking. My standard frame is around 20mm (0.8in) wide.

I use super-clear acrylic (perspex/acrylite) for the frame glass. It's lighter and safer than glass - and it looks better, as the reflectivity is lower.

Six standard frame colours are available for free (black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white and antique gold). Custom framing and mounting/matting is available if you're looking for something else.

Most maps, art and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte (not shiny) cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced box wood frame, and then 'float' the piece within a wood frame. The end result is quite beautiful, and there's no glazing to get in the way.

All frames are provided "ready to hang", with either a string or brackets on the back. Very large frames will have heavy duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

See some examples of my framed maps and framed canvas maps.

Alternatively, I can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag and other materials.

If you want to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read my size guide first.

My maps are extremely high quality reproductions of original maps.

I source original, rare maps from libraries, auction houses and private collections around the world, restore them at my London workshop, and then use specialist giclée inks and printers to create beautiful maps that look even better than the original.

My maps are printed on acid-free archival matte (not glossy) paper that feels very high quality and almost like card. In technical terms the paper weight/thickness is 10mil/200gsm. It's perfect for framing.

I print with Epson ultrachrome giclée UV fade resistant pigment inks - some of the best inks you can find.

I can also make maps on canvas, cotton rag and other exotic materials.

Learn more about The Unique Maps Co.

Map personalisation

If you're looking for the perfect anniversary or housewarming gift, I can personalise your map to make it truly unique. For example, I can add a short message, or highlight an important location, or add your family's coat of arms.

The options are almost infinite. Please see my map personalisation page for some wonderful examples of what's possible.

To order a personalised map, select "personalise your map" before adding it to your basket.

Get in touch if you're looking for more complex customisations and personalisations.

Map ageing

I have been asked hundreds of times over the years by customers if they could buy a map that looks even older.

Well, now you can, by selecting Aged before you add a map to your basket.

All the product photos you see on this page show the map in its Original form. This is what the map looks like today.

If you select Aged, I will age your map by hand, using a special and unique process developed through years of studying old maps, talking to researchers to understand the chemistry of aging paper, and of course... lots of practice!

If you're unsure, stick to the Original colour of the map. If you want something a bit darker and older looking, go for Aged.

See some amazing examples of Aged maps.

If you are not happy with your order for any reason, contact me and I'll get it fixed ASAP, free of charge. Please see my returns and refund policy for more information.

I am very confident you will like your restored map or art print. I have been doing this since 1984. I'm a 5-star Etsy seller. I have sold tens of thousands of maps and art prints and have over 5,000 real 5-star reviews. My work has been featured in interior design magazines, on the BBC, and on the walls of dozens of 5-star hotels.

I use a unique process to restore maps and artwork that is massively time consuming and labour intensive. Hunting down the original maps and illustrations can take months. I use state of the art and eye-wateringly expensive technology to scan and restore them. As a result, I guarantee my maps and art prints are a cut above the rest. I stand by my products and will always make sure you're 100% happy with what you receive.

Almost all of my maps and art prints look amazing at large sizes (200cm, 6.5ft+) and I can frame and deliver them to you as well, via special oversized courier. Contact me to discuss your specific needs.