Salford (town)

Salford (town), city, administrative centre of Salford borough, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, north-western England, on the River Irwell. Salford is a textile centre with manufacturing industries that include rubber products and electrical equipment. The city is linked to the Irish Sea by the Manchester Ship Canal (opened 1894) and contains part of the Manchester docks. In the city are the 14th-century half-timbered Ordsall Hall and the Roman Catholic cathedral of St John (1848). Salford is the seat of the University of Salford (1967).

The city received a charter in 1230. Its growth dates from the late 18th century, when it became a cotton-spinning centre. Rejuvenation of the docklands area began in the 1980s, creating new residential and commercial buildings and new links to the Ship Canal in the area known as Salford Quays. James Joule, a Victorian physicist, was born in Salford; L. S. Lowry, the painter, studied at the Salford School of Art and spent much of his life in the city. In 2000, the largest public collection of his paintings—previously housed in the Salford Museum and Art Gallery—was moved to a brand new arts centre, the Lowry, which opened on Salford Quays. Population 224,300 (2000 estimate).