Manchester Squares and Open Spaces

Squares and Open Spaces in Manchester

Piccadilly Gardens,  Piccadilly, Manchester, M1

a 10 acre garden in the heart of the city centre. The Piccadilly area is the location of the main railway station.  Piccadilly Gardens have been remodelled and rejuvinated and are now an award-winning open space of international standing.  Facilities include a garden pavilion and a large computer operated water feature. One of the largest fountain plazas in Europe, the elliptical water feature has 180 jets with an array of coloured fibre optic lighting.  Surrounding the fountain are shaded lawn areas  The new garden pavilion screens the gardens from the bus and Metrolink tram stations. During the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester thousands gatheredhere to watch the sporting action on giant screens and the area continues to be an important meeting place.  The Manchester Flower Market is held here every Thursday, Friday and Saturday (10:00-17:00) and on Saturday a fashion market.

Great Northern Square

on the corner of Peter Street and Deansgate -the first purpose built public square to be created in Manchester since World War II.  Created out of the old rail sheds behind the Central Station (now GMEX), this area has cafés, bars and restaurants, a multiplex cinema, a good range of hotels and shops and a world-famous club scene.  The refurbished Grade II listed 1885 Great Northern Warehouse houses a shopping and leisure development.  On the other side is Bar 38, an ultra-modern glass structure. During the summer months open air productions are staged and in the winter visitors can enjoy the Great Northern Ice Rink and Winter Wonderland.     

Albert Square Watch a video on St Anns Square and Albert Square on channelM.co.uk

in the heart of the city between Deangate and Mosley Street. Some of Manchester's finest civic buildings, including the Town Hall, the Town Hall Extension and the nearby Central Library, are grouped around this large open space.  The cobbled square is named after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort and the neo-Gothic Albert Memorial, created by Thomas Worthington in 1862, dominates the area.  Now mostly pedestrianised, this open space is the traditional gathering place for election announcements and hosts many fairs and markets.    

Catalan Square      

in the Castlefield Urban Heritage Site. Created from the derelict Castlefield railway arches and the canal basin, Catalan Square is a relatively new addition to the city.  The imaginatively designed space is set beneath the railway arches, near the Bridgewater Canal's junction with the Rochdale Canal Lock Flight at the Dukes 92 Lock.   It is overlooked by Barça, a Spanish-style café-bar, owned by Mick Hucknal, singer with the Manchester pop group Simply Red.  In the summer months crowds are attracted here when outdoor events are staged at the nearby Outdoor Events Arena.  The square hosts boat festivals, fairs, music festivals and markets.         

Cathedral Gardens

a green oasis in the Milennium Quarter was created following the devastation of Manchester's city centre by an IRA bomb in 1996. Opened in 2002, the gardens are located between the Cathedral, Cheetham's School of Music, Urbis, the Triangle shopping centre and Victoria Station Approach. The scheme consists of natural stone and granite paving surrounding four lawns, mature trees, water features, artworks and landscaped areas.

Crown Square

paved open space created in the 1960s behind the old Manchester Education Offices and in front of the Manchester Crown Courts of Justice. The concrete Court buildings, created by Leonard C Howitt in 1960-62, run for 289 feet along one side of the square. On its south-western edge is the Spinningfields Retail and Leisure Complex.  A popular picnic spot for local office workers.   

Exchange Square

designed by Martha Schwartz, is a new public space created in the centre of Manchester in the aftermath of the 1996 IRA bombing of the city. It is surroundied by some of Manchester's finest retail sites: The Triangle (a state-of-the-art shopping mall located in the former Corn Exchange), Selfridges and the world's largest Marks and Spencer.  Beyond stands the Arndale Shopping Centre and the Printworks entertainment centre.  Much of the square is taken up with curved stone seating blocks, reminiscent of an ancient Greek arena.  Used for pop concerts, fashion shows and New Year's Eve celebrations with the images projected on the walls of the Triangle building opposite. A rippling water feature which runs through the square is popular with young children.  Just off the square is Shambles Square with two of Manchester's oldest pubs.       

Parsonage Gardens

,just of Deansgate, between St Mary's Parsonage and College Land, this small open space is a haven of peace.  Arkwright House stands on one side and Courtney's Wine Bar and Nightclub on the other.  The roughly triangular plot, with gardens and pleasant seating, is popular in the summer, especially with the city centre shop workers.

St Peter's Square

bounded by Mosley Street, Peter Street, Oxford Street and Lower Mosley Street, e is one of the city's most distinctive open spaces.  Its character comes from the buildings that surround it including the Town Hall Extension, and the Central Library and the Midland Hotel.  Opposite the Central Library is a 1960s glass and steel building with street level shops.  A feature of the square is the Cenotaph, created by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1934 and almost identical to his Cenotaph in Whitehall, London. At the Mosley Street end lies the Peace Garden, a small haven with pleasant seating.   In recent years the Square has lost much of its tranquility as a result of the laying of Metrolink tram lines and the construction of the tram station in the square.

Shambles Square

this is Shambles Square's third location, having been moved twice to make way for new buildings.  The Old Wellington Inn and its neighbour, Sinclair's Oyster Bar, once stood in a very run down area of the city known as 'The Shambles'.  When the Arndale Centre was created these black and white timber-framed buildings were threatened with demolition and they were transported to the newly created Shambles Square.  In 1996 an IRA bomb devastedthe city centre but surrounding buildings shielded Shambles Square from the blast.  With the reconstruction, and the creation of Exchange Square, it was decided to move the ancient buildings again.  The Square stands beside the Cathedral and behind the Triangle,  This small open space, mostly filled with tables from the two pubs, is very popular in the summer.