The People’s History Museum
Following more than two years of re-development, Manchester’s People’s History Museum was officially re-opened in March 2010. The museum is a unique centre which explores many of the world-changing ideas fought for by the working people of Britain, and charts the history of democracy from the early 18th century to date.
The extensive re-development has been supported by a £7.18 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, along with £2 million from the Northwest Regional Development Agency and additional funding from the European Regional Development Fund.
Spanning two centuries, the museum provides a journey through the lives, histories and issues of the working people of Britain, and houses an unprecedented collection of almost 1,500 historic objects, including the world’s oldest trade union and miners’ banner, the Tinplate Workers, 1821 and Ashover Miners, c 1825, and the table on which the 18th century writer and revolutionary Thomas Paine wrote his ground-breaking publication Rights of Man.
How does this project carry out the Cultural Ambition?
Culturally Connected
Substantial investment in the People’s History Museum has provided an opportunity to celebrate the history of the city as well as its pivotal role in wider historical narratives. The innovative building and unique collections offer an exceptional visitor experience in surroundings already rich with historical meaning.
- The Industrial Revolution brought about a period of accelerated change and social upheaval across Britain; Manchester’s sudden expansion as a result of the events of the early nineteenth century planted the seeds of the city as we know it today. In turn, key moments in its history reflected and shaped the movement towards parliamentary reform which began the long journey towards the empowerment of the working classes. The museum’s main galleries open with the story of the Peterloo Massacre – a reform meeting held on St Peter’s Field in Manchester in 1819, which turned to tragedy when magistrates attempted to bring the 60,000 plus workers and families under control and several people were killed. The atrocity was a catalyst in the movement towards the 1832 Reform Act and a defining moment in Manchester’s history.
- The galleries then track the rise of the Revolutionaries and Reformers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, through to the Workers, Voters and Citizens of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries - those who gave birth to and fought for the ideas behind many political reforms taken for granted today, including the welfare state, the NHS and government housing. New displays include the museum’s collection of radical banners across the ages – the largest in the world - and show how workers in the 19th century won and spent precious time off work, including the story of the Co-op.
- Award-winning architects Austin-Smith:Lord have masterly renovated the museum’s original location, formerly an Edwardian hydraulic pumping station, and reveal the elegance and workings of the site which originally supplied power to mills and warehouses, and famously wound the Town Hall clock. The multi-million pound re-development joins the original site to a four-storey extension by a spectacular walkway, and is the first public building in Britain to be clad in Cor-Ten, an unusual rusty material – perhaps best known for its use on Antony Gormley’s ‘Angel of the North’. The unusual building enriches its urban surroundings whilst also providing an outstanding location to showcase its cultural experience.
- Alongside the main galleries and collection, the museum will also present a changing exhibition programme throughout the year, opening with Carried Away - a photographic exhibition documenting over 100 years of protest across Britain. Protests captured within the exhibition include the suffragettes, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Miners’ Strike. By keeping the museum’s offer dynamic, the changing exhibitions will continue to attract residents who have already seen other collections.
Fab exhibition and stunning building, well worth a visit!
PHM is an attraction that all Mancunians must visit.
Just been for a walk round, a nicely designed building and well produced exhibits! well worth a visit.
Fantastic museum, good reminder of people’s history and the struggle of the working class in the past to obtain our current rights.