Graphic: Marta Naumova
On 18th January 1966 Nikolaus Pevsner lectured to an audience of 500 on the value of Victorian Architecture in the Great Hall of Manchester Town Hall, providing the catalyst for the formation of the Manchester Group of the Victorian Society. The Group will mark its 60th Anniversary on 24th January at the newly-restored Rochdale Town Hall.
Members, staff and supporters will enjoy a meal and talks from specialists involved in the Town Hall restoration, and guided tours of the building, re-landscaped square and the recently completed Broadfield Slopes.
The Manchester Group of the Victorian Society is one of the largest and most active of the charity and amenity society’s seven regional groups. It was the Society’s second regional group to be founded. Since 1966 the Group has provided commentary and advice through the Heritage Buildings Panel of Manchester Council on planning applications across all of Greater Manchester as well as further into Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness and the High Peak. Members of the Manchester Group also sit on the Society’s Northern Buildings Committee where their expertise and invaluable knowledge play a part in the Society’s responses to key planning applications across the North of England and Wales. Our Manchester Group undertook local casework and mounted their own vigorous and people-led campaigns – highlights being the ‘Save our City’ campaign, the fight to save the Mechanics Institute, which was listed and retained, the ‘Save Albert’ campaign, the work to save the National Westminster Bank (originally Parr’s Bank) on Spring Gardens from demolition, the work to create the Castlefield Conservation Area, a three year campaign to save Liverpool Road Station, also campaigns for the Central Station and the Pankhurst Centre. There was the legendary spontaneous direct action to save the Black Manchester Poplar trees in what is now the St John’s Conservation area. It is in large part thanks to the Manchester Group of the Victorian Society that the city’s historic core has substantially survived.
Ever since their foundation, the Society’s regional groups have given the charity its distinctive strength and local reach, and membership of them has grown steadily through the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Like many third sector organisations, the Society experienced a decline in membership and volunteering during the Covid period. However, the Manchester Group is now looking forward with renewed energy, keen to welcome new members who wish to support its work and take part in an active programme of talks, walks and tours, including The Lunch Hour popular series of lunchtime walks and talks around Manchester.
The Society is also grateful for a generous award from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which is helping to secure a sustainable future for the charity. This significant support will enable the Society to strengthen its capacity over the next two years by employing additional staff to support its vital work, grow membership, and develop new partnerships and funding opportunities – ensuring that more of our Victorian and Edwardian heritage can be protected for generations to come.
You can read more about the history of the Victorian Society here.
Here are two buildings the Manchester Group campaigned to save:
The Mechanics Institute Manchester Photo: Patricia Smith
Nat West Bank (formerly Parr’s Bank). Photo: Patricia Smith
Here are some buildings that the Manchester Group and its members successfully secured formal designation and statutory protection for. These buildings are all listed by Historic England.
Charter Street Mission (formerly Charter Street Ragged School and Working Girls’ Home). Photo: Mark Watson
58 Richmond Street, Manchester. Photo: Patricia Smith
Cavendish Road School, Manchester. Photo: Patricia Smith
57 Back Piccadilly, Manchester. Photo: Patricia Smith
