Buildings of Manchester

These are some of my favourite buildings in and around Manchester. Most are open to the public at certain times - follow the links to the websites for details. They are all worth a visit.

Some pictures will appear on this page... when I get around to taking them.

• Chetham's Library. Housed in a 15th century monastery, this library of 100,000 volumes includes thousands from before 1800, many in Latin & Greek. Right in the centre of Manchester, it has survived since 1653 almost untouched while all around it a medieval market town, the industrial revolution, the railways, and magnificent Victorian buildings have been built and have mostly gone again. Now it stands next to the ultra-modern Urbis gallery - still retaining the furniture and fittings from 1655, including the seats where Daniel Defoe, Karl Marx and many others worked.

  Chethams Library is in the grounds of Chethams School of Music, across the road from Victoria Station.

• Manchester Town Hall. Famous as one of the finest Victorian buildings in the country (built 1867-77), it is well worth taking a tour. Amongst the 350 rooms, there are many surprising details to be discovered - such as the 19th century central heating system built into the stair wells, or the 14,000 square feet of stained glass.

• The John Rylands Library. This houses one of the world's most important collections of historic books and manuscripts, from ancient texts on papyrus to contemporary archives. It is now run by the University of Manchester. The magnificent Gothic building on Deansgate, built 1890-1900, resembles a cathedral. It was the first building in Manchester to be built with electric lighting - using its own power station in the basement! It has beautiful Art Nouveau details throughout, from the light switches to the toilets.

  NOTE: The John Rylands Library is currently closed for major renovation and extension. It is due to re-open in 2005.

• The Bridgewater Hall. This modern concert hall (opened in 1996) seats 2,400 and has a spectacular pipe organ towering 40 feet above the stage. To isolate it from passing traffic & trams, the entire building (22,500 tons including bars, restaurant, rehearsal rooms, etc.) floats above the ground on 270 giant springs. Take a guided tour into the foundations and see for yourself!

  The Bridgewater Hall is on Lower Mosley Street, just across the road from GMEX.

• There are many interesting places hidden beneath the streets of Manchester. The deepest and most extensive is the Guardian Exchange. This vast network of tunnels and rooms was built in 1956 as a phone exchange and control centre that could survive a nuclear war. The main complex is about 10 storeys below ground level in China Town, and this links to approximately 2 miles of tunnels - running from Salford to Ardwick. There are several anonymous little entrance buildings in various parts of the city, but the complex is NOT open to the public!

• Close to the city centre is a little-known, disused and much vandalised building that has been on the World Monuments Fund list of 100 most endangered sites, alongside the Taj Mahal and the Valley of the Kings. It is the spectacular Monastery of St Francis at Gorton. A group of local residents are currently trying to raise the money to restore it and convert into a useful building once again.

Related links:

• Manchester Online - A guide to the city
• Virtual Manchester - Another good guide
• Manchester 2002 - Online encyclopaedia of everything to do with the city
• Eye Witness in Manchester - Pictures and discussion of Manchester's streets, districts & buildings.
• CUBE - A new gallery (on Portland Street) with changing exhibitions on modern urban architecture and design. Includes a specialist bookshop.
• Channel M - Manchester's free local TV station - can be received with any ordinary TV aerial just by tuning a spare channel to channel 39.

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Email me: website @ weben.co.uk

Last revised: 2004-02