Strangeways & Cheetham Hill

Cheetham Hill is a fascinating area – “scruffy yet magnificent” according to Jonathan Schofield, with whom you’ll get to the heart of the history of Cheetham Hill and Strangeways.

A real city centre hinterland, Cheetham Hill comes loaded with incredible stories and heritage. It contains a lost river, a Roman road and the sparse remnants of one of the greatest of Victorian buildings. Also lost to time are the Assembly Rooms – among the most elaborate, elegant and beautiful chambers in the North of England. And they came with Pleasure Gardens to match.

Your knowledgeable and experienced tour guide will bring these disappeared treasures back to life as you explore the area on foot.

But not everything’s lost to time. Some sites remain resolutely intact. Enter one of the country’s most notorious prisons, somewhat unfortunately nicknamed after the area in which it’s located. First built in the 1860s, Strangeways was the site of many executions and a 25-day prison riot – the longest ever recorded in the UK. As you might imagine, there are some juicy stories to be told about this mighty and grim prison.

A more hopeful story comes with the creation of Cheetham Hill’s Jewish Quarter in the late 19th century, when the area became a focal point for Jewish religious, cultural, and social life. While a more multi-cultural area today, this Quarter still retains elements of its historical Jewish identity. And of course it’s home to the wonderfully reworked Manchester Jewish Museum, housed in a Grade II synagogue that dates back to 1874.

Your tour will end at the museum, giving you the opportunity to explore it on your own terms, in the context of what you’ve just learned.