Editing Castlefield (section)

{{Short description|Conservation area in Manchester, England}}
{{distinguish|Castlefields (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox UK place
| static_image_name        = Bridgewater Canal, Castlefield Basin (geograph 6966336).jpg
| static_image_caption     = Castlefield, Central Manchester
| country                  = England
| official_name            = Castlefield
| coordinates              = {{coord|53.475|-2.255|display=inline,title}}
| population               =
| metropolitan_borough     = [[Manchester]]
| metropolitan_county      = [[Greater Manchester]]
| region                   = North West England
| constituency_westminster = 
| post_town                = MANCHESTER
| postcode_district        = M3
| postcode_area            = M
| dial_code                = 0161
| os_grid_reference        = SJ830976
| london_distance          =  
}}
'''Castlefield''' is an inner-city [[conservation area]] in [[Manchester]], North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the [[River Irwell]], [[A34 road|Quay Street]], [[Deansgate]] and [[A56 road|Chester Road]]. It was the site of the [[Roman Empire|Roman era]] [[castra|fort]] of [[Mamucium]] or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester. It was the terminus of the [[Bridgewater Canal]], the world's first industrial canal, built in 1764; the oldest canal warehouse opened in 1779. The world's first passenger railway terminated here in 1830, at [[Liverpool Road railway station (Manchester)|Liverpool Road railway station]]<ref>{{cite web|title=First in the world: the making of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway|url=https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/making-the-liverpool-and-manchester-railway|publisher=Science and Industry Museum|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502233609/https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/making-the-liverpool-and-manchester-railway|archive-date=2 May 2020}}</ref> and the first railway warehouse opened here in 1831.

The [[Rochdale Canal]] met the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield in 1805 and in the 1830s they were linked with the [[Mersey and Irwell Navigation]] by two short cuts. In 1848 the two viaducts of the [[Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway]] crossed the area and joined each other, two further viaducts and one mainline station [[Manchester Central railway station]] followed. It has a tram station, [[Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop]] (formerly G-Mex) providing frequent [[Manchester Metrolink]] services to [[Eccles, Greater Manchester|Eccles]], [[Bury, Greater Manchester|Bury]], [[Altrincham]], [[Manchester Piccadilly station|Manchester Piccadilly]], [[Didsbury|East Didsbury]] and [[Rochdale]].

Castlefield was designated a [[conservation area]] in 1980 and the United Kingdom's first designated [[urban heritage park]] in 1982.<ref>{{Harvnb|Woodside|2004|p=286}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Manchester Firsts |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1148 |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |access-date=15 July 2008}}</ref>