Chetham’s Medieval Buildings

With a history stretching back to the 1420s, Chetham’s Library and the surrounding school are among the most beautiful and venerable buildings in the North West. Exploring their interiors is a rare privilege, and one granted to Jonathan Schofield Tours, with whom you can book an access-all-areas guided tour of the full medieval complex.

Chetham’s Library – and the building it sits within and shares with Chetham’s School of Music – is the oldest complete structure in Manchester, first erected in 1421 as a single building to house priests. After the Reformation, in 1653, the premises gained a new lease of life in the hands of local merchant Humphrey Chetham, who set up a charity school for 40 poor boys and a free public library for the ‘use of scholars and others well-affected’.

The buildings survive intact today, including most of the library’s original fixtures and fittings, plus ‘newer’ additions like the eighteenth century gates that shield the incredible collection of books – once actually chained to the shelves.

Your knowledgeable and experienced tour guide will reveal as much about the buildings as the influential people that came to visit them. The Library’s Reading Room and its wonderful carvings have played host to an astonishing array of public figures, writers and thinkers – among them Daniel Defoe, Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Disreali, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.

John Dee, the mathematician and enchanter, actually lived here for many years, before becoming the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Prospero in his final play, The Tempest. And of course, where there is a magician, there are ghost stories…

With tales around every corner, this informative and entertaining guided tour is a must for anyone with a passion for history or design, offering a rare deep dive into Manchester’s most charming yet potent collection of buildings. And rest assured – 25% of your booking fee will go back into preserving these fine buildings for future generations to enjoy.