Philips Park celebrates its 180th anniversary in 2026. Opened in 1846 as one of Manchester’s first public parks, it has served generations of local people as a place for recreation, relaxation and community life. To mark this important milestone, volunteers Graham Travis (research) and Gill Bennett (recent photos) look back at the park’s fascinating history, its changing landscape and some of the people and events that have shaped it over the past 180 years.
A Parliamentary Select Committee in 1833 noted that Manchester ‘had no public walkways nor open space to take air and exercise in on Sundays, nor after the arduous labours of the day.’ The growing industrial city was founded on slum housing, with an estimated 20,000 people living in cellars and with regular outbreaks of contagious diseases such as cholera, typhus and smallpox.
A local committee was soon established to buy land for parks. This raised £30,000 by public subscription, including £1,000 each donated by local Liberal MP Mark Philips (1800-1873) and Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel (1788 – 1850). Manchester was soon ready to develop the first public parks in the world and opened the first three (Philips Park in Clayton, Peel Park in Salford, and Queens Park in Harpurhey) simultaneously on 22 August 1846.
Philips Park was large, with tennis courts and several ponds created from a natural stream which ran through it into the River Medlock. Its’ band-stand proved controversial in the early days when most people worked a six-day week but opposition from religious groups led to Sunday concerts being prohibited soon after they began.
In the 1850’s two Crimean War cannons were donated by the War Office, but these were removed in 1940 along with the park railings, as scrap metal to aid the war effort. The 1850’s also saw a large boulder, carried from the lake district to Ancoats by glacial action in the ice age, installed next to the gardener’s lodge (now the Visitor’s Centre) where it remains. The boulder carries a plaque to commemorate the pioneering work of Edward Watkin MP (1819-1901) who was another early campaigner for Manchester’s parks.
Philips Park Cemetery, to the north of the park, opened in 1866 to ease pressure on the city’s churchyards. It was the first municipal public cemetery in Manchester and contains a beautifully maintained war memorial. Notable graves include those of two Victoria Cross holders (William Jones who won his at the Battle of Rourke’s Drift in 1879 during the Anglo Zulu War and George Stringer who won his during the First World War) and four fire fighters who died in service (John Curley d 1881, Richard Sykes d 1894, Charles Pimblett d 1940 and Samuel Astle d 1943). There is also a memorial dedicated to those who died at nearby Bradford Pit (closed 1968) and one to the employees of J. & W. Philips textiles (closed 1970).
The late Victorian era saw the park further develop. Manchester’s first bowling green was opened (on the site of the current peace garden) and a new lodge (the present Visitors’ Centre) and gates were designed by noted architect Alfred Derbyshire, who went on to design the Palace Theatre. For the 50th anniversary of the park in 1896 an ornate commemorative drinking fountain in sandstone and red granite was installed near the main entrance, where it remains.
At this time trees and shrubs needed replacing regularly due to heavy pollution. In 1872 local chemist Robert Smith first coined the term ‘acid rain’ to describe the damage it caused in industrial areas but it was not until the 1920’s that trees resistant to industrial pollution were developed. Clones from a single English native Black Poplar became known as the ‘Manchester Poplar’ because they were planted across the City but the large mature specimens in Philips Park are believed to be the only remaining survivors from this period.
By the 1890’s, the park was extensively planted with tulips and in May 1896 the Manchester Guardian made the first reference to what would become known as “Tulip Sunday”. The annual display would continue into the mid 20th century, with only a short break during the first World War when the transport of Dutch tulip bulbs was interrupted.
The 1890’s also saw one of the original ponds developed into the City’s first open air swimming pool. It was initially only open to men and boys, although this changed in time for Miss Ethel ‘Sunny’ Lowry from Levenshulme (second cousin to the artist L.S. Lowry) to benefit from its low temperature when training for her swim across the English Channel aged only 22, on 29 August 1933. The pool was closed in 1953.
In the early 1900’s the park saw the addition of tennis courts (now replaced by play areas) and a new railway viaduct built across its east end. This linked the main line with a new power station on Stuart Street and chemical works in Clayton and Openshaw. The viaduct now ends abruptly at Alan Turing Way but some of its arches have been used as play shelters.
By the 1980s most of the area’s traditional industries had closed, for example: Bradford Pit 1968; Stuart Street Power Station 1975; Johnsons Wire Works 1987; and Clayton Aniline 2007. The surrounding area was run-down, with many social problems.
In 1994, however, the National Cycling Centre was built on the site of Stuart Street power station and the area was regenerated for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. In the park, a community orchard was planted alongside the allotments, playgrounds were added and the lodge was refurbished and opened as a Visitor Centre.
A peace memorial was installed (sadly now overgrown and damaged), alongside a memorial oak tree, in what is known as the Peace Garden. This oak commemorates the work done by local people in the area’s heavy industries (particularly by women) during the second world war.
In 2005 Philips Park was awarded a Green Flag by the Civic Trust – recognising it as one of the best green spaces in the country. The park had been founded in 1846 to support the local working community ‘in perpetuity’ and it is still in use today. Situated off Alan Turing Way, between Stuart Street and the River Medlock, the park is still open.
from dawn until dusk and, although it is now mostly made up of grassed areas and woodland, one of the original six ponds remains. Modern amenities include a bowling green; three children’s play areas; a “MUGA” (Multi Use Games Area); and a ‘Skillzone’ cycle scrambling area. There are also occasional unusual attractions, for example dinosaurs were briefly seen near the lake in July 2017 when the park transformed into the Jurassic Kingdom.
Scroll through the gallery below to explore historic photographs of Philips Park, courtesy of Manchester Libraries.
