Manchester Photo Gallery - Major Historic Sights

Manchester's city centre is not too big and it's easy to walk between these major historic sights. The Castlefield area is home to Manchester's start as a Roman outpost in the 1st century. 2 archaeological excavations have revealed ruins of a fort, ramparts, and a granary. Nearby areas have a lot of canals, remnants of the Industrial Revolution. There once were mills, factories, and warehouses. In the 1770s, around 37,000 tonnes of coal were shipped here annually. Today, its buildings have been repurposed and it's a nice area to walk around the canals. Albert Square is the big public space fronting the massive neo-Gothic Town Hall. Currently under renovation, it was named after Queen Victoria's husband, with a monument in his honour built in 1867, 6 years after his death. On the other side of the Town Hall is St. Peter's Square, a major tram interchange with the circular Central Library that was built in 1934. At the time, it was the biggest municipal library in the world. The Midland Railway Company opened the Midland Hotel in 1903 to serve rail passengers arriving from London at the nearby Central station. Over the years, it hosted celebrities, politicians, and royal members. This was also the place where Charles Rolls and Henry Royce met for lunch in 1904, which would lead to the famous Rolls-Royce brand. That train station has been converted into a convention centre today, with rail passengers now using Piccadilly station a bit further away. Now a theatre, the Royal Exchange was originally a trading venue for cotton. The building opened in 1874 as membership swelled quickly, which made a larger venue necessary. It was important enough to have secured an Act of Parliament for the society to increase their capital and take on mortgages to fund its construction. The hall is a huge room measuring 206 x 96 feet with a glass dome above it. A subsequent extension opened in 1921, doubling its size. The 1874 hall was destroyed during World War II. The Corn Exchange was inaugurated in 1837 with a new indoor trading facility. Before that, dealing happened on the streets and was exposed to the elements. Several expansions followed during the 19th century which would eventually double the size of the building. Following an IRA bombing in 1996 that damaged the building, it was repaired and turned into a modern shopping centre, but business didn't prosper and the mall closed in 2014. Afterwards, it was retrofitted with restaurants and a hotel.