The story of Manchester began when...

The Romans built a wooden fort on a plateau, about one mile south of the present cathedral, in around 80 AD. The Romans called their new outpost Mamuciam (breast-shaped hill) and rebuilt the fort in stone in 200 AD. The fort and its accompanying civilian settlement prospered until the end of the Roman occupation in 407 AD, after which it was deserted and fell into ruin. The Saxons created a small new village near the remains of the fort in the 7th century, which they called Mammcaester. In 1086 the Domesday Book recorded the settlement as Mamecester, from which the present name has evolved.

One of the most notorious episodes in Manchester's history occurred on August 16th in 1819. Tens of thousands of people had gathered on St Peter's field to hear radical speakers, including Henry Hunt. The local magistrates sent the Manchester Yeomanry to arrest the speakers, but harassment from the crowd caused them to draw their swords and a fight began. The 15th Hussars were then sent in to disperse the crowd, resulting in eleven people dead and over 600 wounded. The people called the massacre Peterloo, after Waterloo.

The nineteenth century saw Manchester make tremendous strides, becoming a city in 1853. Piped water, gas street lights, horse-drawn buses and rail links became commonplace, but it was the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 that concentrated the city's wealth-creating opportunities in the original docklands area on which XQ7 is now being built. The construction of the Ship Canal was a huge undertaking, necessitated by the exorbitant handling charges imposed by the Port of Liverpool. The construction equipment included over 100 steam excavators, seven earth dredgers, 6,300 railway wagons, 173 locomotives, 124 steam cranes and a workforce of 16,000 men and boys. Once complete, the Ship Canal allowed ocean-going vessels to reach Salford and Manchester, 35 miles away from the coast. Docks 1 to 4, known as Pomona, were built on the south bank to handle coastal trade and docks 5 to 9, known as Salford Docks on the north bank, were the departure point or destination for ships from around the globe.

Today Salford Quays represents a large, prestigious inner city area of quality waterside housing, commerce, entertainment and recreational complexes. In the heart of the area, the Quays has certainly enjoyed a colourful docklands history, yet it is tomorrow's opportunities for a luxury lifestyle, superb transport links, plus world-class cultural and sporting attractions, virtually on the doorstep, that will make living at "the big seven" the vibrant address such an easy decision to make for discerning, forward-thinking buyers.