Once the site of a church, this small patch of gated green now belongs to Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). Grosvenor Square is one of the few open spaces along Oxford Road; on sunny days, students from the nearby Manchester School of Art come out to bask. The food stalls that stand on the street on Oxford Road are always popular with local students and are a good, cheap option if you fancy an impromptu picnic in the park.
Grosvenor Square is sometimes called All Saints Park; it is part of MMU’s All Saints campus, a reference to the church that was originally built here in 1820. The church was damaged during the Manchester Blitz, and when it was eventually demolished, it became a park. The Manchester School of Art is just across the way, a neo-Gothic building that dates back to 1880 and which hosts the Holden Gallery (good for contemporary exhibitions and occasional art fairs).
