Editing Rusholme (section)

===Early history===
Late in the Roman occupation of Britain a hoard of about 200 gold coins was hidden in the valley of the Gore Brook. These date from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE and were found where Birchfields Road crosses the brook in the 1890s. They are now held in the [[Manchester Museum]].<ref name="Sussex 1984; p. 3">Sussex (1984); p. 3.</ref>

The name Rusholme first appears in the mid-13th century, when "Russum" is mentioned. A house is known to have existed at Platt at that time, which was replaced by a larger one of black-and-white construction. This remained the home of the Platts until the present classical building replaced it in the mid-18th century. An early record of the Platt estate mentions the [[Nico Ditch]], an 8th or 9th-century Anglo-Saxon linear earthwork running east–west through the area and probably marking an administrative boundary.<ref>{{Citation |last=Nevell |first=Mike |year=1998 |title=Lands and Lordships in Tameside |publisher=Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council with the [[Manchester University|University of Manchester Archaeological Unit]] |pages=40–41 |isbn=1-871324-18-1}}</ref> Tales of battles between Danes and Normans associated with the road names Danes Road and Norman Road are not accepted by historians. Another black-and-white hall at Birch was probably built in the 16th century.<ref name="Sussex 1984; p. 3"/>

The economy of the area was dependent on agriculture until the 18th century; however during the 17th and 18th centuries there was a growth of cottage industries such as spinning, weaving and brickmaking.<ref>Sussex (1984); pp. 3–4.</ref>