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Provided by: Marketing Manchester

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Europe United Kingdom Manchester Art & Culture Manchester Central Library

Overview

Manchester Central Library

The guide was updated: 2023-10-30

This iconic city venue, designed by architect E. Vincent Harris, was first opened in 1934. Following a £50m refurbishment in 2010, taking four years, the Grade II listed building has been brought into the 21st century by combining historic features with cutting-edge design. Take a look at previously hidden heritage spaces and the magnificent Wolfson Reading Room.

Useful Information

Address: St Peters Square, Manchester
Website: www.visitmanchester.com/things-to-see-and-do/central-library-p1551
Phone: +44 161 234 1983

Our travel guides are free to read and explore online. If you want to get your own copy, the full travel guide for this destination is available to you offline* to bring along anywhere or print for your trip.

*this will be downloaded as a PDF.

Price

€4,95

Purchase

Whitworth Art Gallery

Whitworth Art Gallery

After the Whitworth's stunning £15 million development, the gallery now is fully integrated into the park it calls home. An art garden by Sarah Price, sculpture terrace and orchard garden, alongside new spaces that embrace the park, such as a landscape gallery and a café in the trees, all reflect its beautiful setting. With double the room, and with exhibitions of new work by some of the world's leading artists alongside eclectic exhibitions drawn from its internationally rated collection of British watercolours, textiles, wallpapers and fine art, the Whitworth has become one of the city's must-see cultural destinations.

Science & Industry Museum

Science & Industry Museum

The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester is a place full of amazing objects and world changing ideas. Visit the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway station and the world’s first railway warehouse, built in 1830. Find out how our revolutionary railroad changed Manchester and the world forever. Be inspired by the wonder of science, enjoy live demonstrations of historic working machinery, take part in fun science shows and lots more.

Stoller Hall

Stoller Hall

The Stoller Hall offers an unrivalled acoustic and a stunning visual backdrop for live music, conferencing and performance. Based within Chetham’s School of Music just metres from Victoria Station, it offers a completely new audience experience in the heart of the Medieval Quarter. The Stoller Hall’s public performance programme combines classical and contemporary performance, chamber music and recitals with comedy, spoken word and debate. There’s something for families, musicians, and adults who want to do more than just watch. There’s jazz, world music and masterclasses, and there are inspiring performances by the students of Chetham’s — the only specialist music school in the north of England. From free daily Lunchtime Concerts throughout the school term to full Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, they bring the freshest new musical talents to the city’s newest stage.

HOME Manchester

HOME Manchester

From gallery to screen via cafe bar and bookshop, HOME redefines the contemporary arts centre, creating a space where ideas, hopes and moments of wonder ricochet off walls and lodge themselves in the headspace of audiences old and new. Manchester's new centre for theatre, film and visual art has opened its doors to great fanfare and acclaim in 2015. Formed by the merger of the city's best-loved arts organizations, Cornerhouse and the Library Theatre Company, there's something for everyone here.

Royal Exchange Theatre

Royal Exchange Theatre

Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre Company transforms the way people see theatre, each other and the world around them. Its historic building, was taken over by artists in 1976. Today it is an award-winning cultural charity that produces new theatre in-the-round, in communities, on the road and online. Their niche is brand new drama and reinvigorated classics, the boldest artists and a company of highly skilled makers — all brought together to trade ideas and experiences with the people of Greater Manchester (and beyond). The Theatre is a spectacular seven-sided, glass-walled capsule, suspended in the centre of the historic Cotton Exchange. This unique design means all seats are less than nine metres between you and the circular stage.

Castlefield Gallery

Castlefield Gallery

Founded in 1984, Castlefield Gallery is at the forefront of supporting emerging artists and new art practice in the UK. Beyond displaying a diverse range of contemporary art across up to seven temporary exhibitions per year and presenting offsite projects, the gallery runs New Art Spaces (pop-up project spaces for artists and creatives across Greater Mancheste) and CG Associates (a professional development scheme for artists, writers and independent curators).

Manchester Central Library

Manchester Central Library

This iconic city venue, designed by architect E. Vincent Harris, was first opened in 1934. Following a £50m refurbishment in 2010, taking four years, the Grade II listed building has been brought into the 21st century by combining historic features with cutting-edge design. Take a look at previously hidden heritage spaces and the magnificent Wolfson Reading Room.

Portland Basin Museum

Portland Basin Museum

In the attractive, waterside setting of Portland Basin, the newly refurbished Heritage centre celebrates the people, events and industries that have shaped the history of Tameside over the past two hundred years.

esea contemporary

esea contemporary

esea contemporary is UK's unique non-profit art centre spotlighting artists influenced by East and Southeast Asian cultures. Nestled in Manchester, a city with a populous East Asian demographic, esea contemporary has evolved from a community arts festival in 1986 to a dynamic hub for cultural exchange in the art scene. More than a gallery, it hosts a variety of initiatives from exhibitions and commissions to residencies and public events, all while championing creativity, compassion and community.

Working Class Movement Library

Working Class Movement Library

The Working Class Movement Library, built on Ruth and Edmund Frow's personal collection, archives over two centuries of working-class campaigns for social and political reform. The library hosts thousands of books, pamphlets and archives alongside a rich array of visual media — everything to shed light on the stories of change-makers, from Peterloo to the 'right to roam' ramblers. It also features tales of WWI conscientious objectors, volunteers from the Spanish Civil War, and the 10,000 Salfordians who demonstrated during the last Great Depression. Free to all, the library welcomes visitors for individual or group tours by appointment.

Contact Theatre

Contact Theatre

Contact is Manchester's provocative and innovative performance venue situated in the heart of the city's busy Oxford Road Corridor. The theatre is the national contemporary arts organisation that places young people's decision-making and leadership at the heart of everything. Youngsters aged 13+ work alongside its staff in deciding its programme of theatre, dance, spoken word, music, comedy and visual art. The result is a remarkable, diverse and exciting programme for everyone. The venue's distinctive towers make it one of Manchester's most unique architectural gems and the interior includes a 300 seat main auditorium, a 70 seat flexible studio, rehearsal and gallery spaces, and a cafe bar.

Gallery Oldham

Gallery Oldham

Gallery Oldham offers a variety of exhibitions and activities that cater to all ages. Showcasing both Oldham's diverse collections and new commissions, the gallery's current and upcoming exhibitions fuse international works, touring exhibits, and community-produced pieces. Besides its vibrant displays, Gallery Oldham also offers regular talks, tours, art and craft workshops, school collaborations, and artist residencies. The permanent exhibit called Oldham Stories showcases eclectic artefacts and specimens. The gallery also displays work from notable local and British artists, including Helen Bradley, William Stott, L. S. Lowry and John William Waterhouse, as well as an ever-growing collection of studio pottery.

Elizabeth Gaskell's House

Elizabeth Gaskell's House

For over 150 years, this house has been associated with its most famous resident: the novelist, Elizabeth Gaskell, who lived here from 1850 to 1865. Thanks to a major £2.5m project, the restored House is now open to the public. Visit the house museum to find out about Elizabeth and William’s work, explore the lives of their daughters and servants and discover the Manchester that the Gaskells knew. Knowledgeable volunteers will show you around and will invite you to take a seat in one of the four Victorian period rooms and learn about the painstaking restoration process. See where Elizabeth would have written her famous novels and stroll around the beautiful recreated gardens imagining yourself in Victorian Manchester. The house also has two exhibitions and a tea room in the old kitchen and servant’s hall, serving up delicious cake and hot drinks in dainty china cups and saucers.

The Lowry

The Lowry

The Lowry is a magnificent building, set alongside Salford Quays. Inside, you'll find three stunning theatres, as well as galleries showcasing artists of local, national and international renown. The Lyric (the largest stage in England outside London) and the more intimate Quays host a huge variety of performances, including West End musicals, the very best in drama, live bands, famous comedians, plus world class dance and opera. From Peter Kay to the Kirov Ballet, Morrissey to Alan Bennett and much more. The Lowry Galleries showcase changing exhibitions by one of Britain's best loved artists, LS Lowry, as well as paintings, sculpture and photography from around the world. There's always something new and refreshing to see in the galleries. Gallery entry is free.

People’s History Museum

People’s History Museum

The People's History Museum is a national museum charting the history of the struggle for equality and democracy in the UK. Meet the revolutionaries, reformers, workers, voters and citizens who fought our battle for the ballot. Gather amongst their magnificent banners and discover how time off was won (and spent). Enjoy the main galleries, Changing Exhibition Gallery and Community Gallery, along with interactives and activities for visitors of all ages. There's hands-on stuff in every gallery and regular activities especially for children. Browse the shop for unique books and gifts and round off your day with a bite to eat in the museum's on site cafe bar The Left Bank. The museum also offers a Learning programme for early years to adult learners, and houses the Labour History Archive & Study Centre, Textile Conservation Studio and venue hire facilities.

Manchester Art Gallery

Manchester Art Gallery

The Manchester Art Gallery is one of the country's finest art museums, boasting fantastic collections that mix the very best of contemporary art with long-standing artistic traditions, spanning six centuries. The museum curators acknowledge that most of the pieces in their collection represent the point of view of the "old white men", and they try to course correct with more alternative temporary exhibitions.

Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum

The collections at the Manchester Museum number almost six million specimens and objects of anthropological and natural history interest. It is also home to one of the largest and most important collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts in the United Kingdom. It even has a Botany collection, live animals at the Vivarium and an Archaeology collection.

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