The name Deansgate probably emerged after the Romans left and the Anglo-Saxons arrived.

It is not known where the title came from, but it might have been named after the River Dene, long since lost, which might have connected the River Irk to the River Irwell.

The existence of a nearby deanery – the office or residence of the head of the chapter of a cathedral – could also explain the name, as Deansgate led from the Deanery to the Collegiate Church, which is now Manchester Cathedral.

It may even just be a form of ‘Dane’s gatten’, gatten meaning street in a few Scandinavian languages, as Manchester having once been under Dane law in Anglo-Saxon times.

Just south of Peter Street was Aldport Lodge, the manor house.

The surrounding area was called Aldport Lane, a name that stuck for hundreds of years until the Victorian era.

Fascinating archive pictures of Deansgate...

In 1642 the lodge was used by Lord Strange as the headquarters for the royalists, supporters of the king during the time of the English Civil War.

The lodge was an excellent spot for warfare - cannons planted outside around the grounds had a full command of Deansgate.

The battle against the parliamentarians raged for hours but finally the lodge was burnt down and the king’s forces were defeated.

If it hadn’t have been for a change of direction by the wind, the fire would have likely spread from the lodge to the rest of the town, burning Manchester to the ground.

For many years, Deansgate was just a relatively small road, as opposed to the mile-long stretch it is today.

With the exception of the odd house scattered along the high road to Aldport, the street didn’t extend much further than beyond the end of what is now King Street, and its primary function was leading to the residence of the Steward of the Court Leet.

Watch: Some of our favourite Deansgate videos

As well as this, the area itself was entirely rural until the early 1700s.

Deansgate started being urbanised in the 1730s, around the time that a large quay was built on the River Irwell by Edward Byrom.

By the 19th century it had become a busy, cluttered street barely 30 feet wide.

In 1869 it was widened and straightened under the terms of the Manchester Corporation Street Improvement Act.

The buildings of the west side of the street were preserved, at the cost of the buildings on the east side, which were all demolished.

The John Rylands Library was opened in 1899 in memory of John Ryland, Manchester’s first multi-millionaire, and contains around five million items.

(Image: Manchester Local Image Collection) (Image: Manchester Local Image Collection)

(Image: Manchester Local Image Collection)

These include the earliest known fragment of the New Testament dating back to the second century and an extremely rare copy of the ‘Wicked Bible’, so called because it omits the ‘not’ from the seventh commandment ‘thou shalt not commit adultery’.

Nowadays, Deansgate is mainly known for shopping, restaurants and bars.

In pictures: Modern Deansgate, at the heart of a great city

There are large stores, such as House of Fraser and Waterstones, the Barton Arcade, with its independent shops and cafe, and the Moon Under Water, which is the largest pub in Britain.

All archive pictures are from the Manchester Local Image Collection at Manchester City Council.

Watch: The Manchester Day Parade on Deansgate in three minutes