Kersal Moor – The Manchester Racecourse That Closed in the 1960s

With lovers of horse racing who live in Manchester having to cross over into enemy territory and head to the likes of Aintree Racecourse or Haydock Park Racecourse in Liverpool in order to get their fix of the sport, it might be something of a surprise for them to learn that the area actually used to have a racecourse of its own. Part of the reason why the course didn’t last the test of time is the fact that it wasn’t based in just one location, instead being found in numerous locations around the area before eventually being shut down altogether. It is also worth noting that, in spite of its name, it was never actually located in the township or city of Manchester.

The History of the Sport in Manchester

In the area of Manchester, the earliest known horse racers of any sort were recorded in 1647, taking place in Barlow Moor. They were also recorded as having taken place in the area between 1697 and 1701. The area of Kersal Moor had racing taking place between the second and the fifth of May in 1687, as recorded in the London Gazette. A number of other steeplechases were believed to have taken place at Heaton Park between 1827 and 1838, Eccles in 1839, Harpurhey in 1845 and in Stratford, firstly in 1841 and then again between 1852 and 1854. Yet it is Kersal Moor that is considered to be the city’s main racing venue.

Racing at Kersal Moor

In the May of 1687, the following appeared in the London Gazette, talking of some horse racing that would be taking place in Manchester:

On Carsall Moore near Manchester in Lancashire on the 18th instant, a 20£. plate will be run for to carry ten stone, and ride three heats, four miles each heat. And the next day another plate of 40£. will be run for at the same moore, riding the same heats and carrying the same weight. The horses marks are to be given in four days before to Mr. William Swarbrick at the Kings Arms in Manchester.

An undulating course that was about a mile in circumference and ran around three low hills, the Kersal Moor course was actually opposed by John Byrom, the owner of Kersal Cell, who wrote a pamphlet in opposition to it. Irrespective of what he had to say, racing took place there for the following 15 years, only drawing to a close in 1746. That was probably due to Byrom’s influence, with the cessation of racing coming in the same year as the Jacobite uprising. Even with that being the case, there was at least one race run in 1750 and regular fixtures resumed in 1759, taking place every year for a time after that.

Such was the popularity of racing in Manchester at the time, a grandstand was built in 1777 thanks to a subscription. What followed was a ladies’ stand that was equipped for refreshments three years later. By 1840 the course was considered to be well established, having a grandstand and numerous other buildings as well as boasting a ‘fine run-in’. Two meetings were being held on an annual basis, with the first being Whit races that saw more than 100,000 spectators turning up, whilst the other was in August. In 1847, the Manchester Racecourse Committee’s lease ran out on Kersal Moor and, for some reason, wasn’t renewed, leading to racing stopping there altogether.

Racing After Kersal Moor

Whilst the closure of Kersal Moor was disappointing for horse racing fans in Manchester, it wasn’t the end of the sport in the area. Firstly it moved across the River Irwell to an area that was known as Castle Irwell, with the land there being leased for £500 per annum on a 20-year lease. The course itself was boggy, prone to Heavy Going, yet it could all be seen from the grandstand that could seat 1,000 people. The lease was in the name of John Fitzgerald and when he died it passed to his son. The son, also called John Fitzgerald, refused to renew the lease when it ran out in 1867, citing ‘just and Christian reasons’.

With Castle Irwell’s course close, race meetings got transferred to New Barns in West, a suburb of what is now known as Salford. Between 1888 and 1893, the course hosted the Lancashire Plate over seven furlongs. It became the host of the final meeting of the flat racing season, with racing continuing there for 30 years, only coming to an end when the Manchester Ship Canal company purchased the land and took possession of it in 1902. Dock number 9, along with its warehousing and the railway sidings, were built on the site of the steeplechase course and where the spectator stand had once stood.

Castle Irwell

When John Fitzgerald died, the Race Committee bought the site of Castle Irwell from his executors and formed a company that looked to build a sporting site fit for the new century. The new course was eventually inaugurated on the Easter weekend of 1902, with the first meeting being over jumps. The right-handed course was close to central Manchester and well-served by trams, with three separate tracks on the site allowing for flat racing, hurdles and steeplechase events. A hotel was built next to it in the 1930s and in 1952 Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed her first winner as monarch on the site.

By the time that the 1960s came about, the problems with the course were showing through. That was manifested in the club stand being found to be riddled with rot and therefore unsafe. A new stand was built in its place, being one of the first fully cantilevered stands reinforced with contract built in the UK, but the cost of building it but the course under immense financial pressure. It was soon decided that it made sense to sell the site off to developers, with the final race at Castle Irwell being run on the ninth of November 1963. It was watched by over 20,000 people, with Lester Piggott winning The Goodbye Consolation Plate.