Manchester cellar dwellings - a Victorian housing scandal
In 1850s Manchester, more than 16,000 people lived underground in cellars
As families flooded into Victorian Manchester in search of work, the city’s landlords saw a unique opportunity.
They turned the cellars of old houses that had been used as workshops and storage spaces into rented “homes”.
By 1854, more than 16,000 people in Manchester were living underground in 4,600 cella…