Manchester St Ann’s Square near Deansgate in the city centre has a long history dating back to 1708. When the Act of Parliament that granted the initial build of St Ann’s Church was approved there was an additional stipulation that a 30-yard space should be retained for the fair which had toll entry gates and was a primary place to hire servants. The fair area then became the square and was named after the monarch of the time.
The adjoining conservation space was home to the Cotton Exchange which morphed into the current Royal Exchange in 1874, at that stage containing the largest trading floor in the country. The building is now utilised as a thriving theatre.
St Ann’s Square with Royal Exchange Theatre. Image Credit Manchester Evening News.
On one corner of the square is the back entrance to one of Manchester grandest pubs Mr Thomas’s Chop House which was opened in 1867 by its founder Thomas Stubbs. It is a Grade II listed building and has many of the original features. The main entrance is on Cross Street directly opposite one of my favourite Chinese restaurants in town, the Rice Bowl.
Nearby is the legendary basement bar Corbieres initially opened by ex-Manchester City footballer Mike Doyle in 1978. It has always had the reputation of having a fine content on the jukebox and I always liked the tale of punters in there backing the winner of the 1983 Grand National on a horse called Corbiere and spending the winnings on ale in the bar for the rest of the day!
St Ann’s Square is one of the many sites utilised for the Christmas markets but is also the hub for other festivals. One such event was the annual Jazz festival which was based there in May 2019. Coinciding with the day of this event, John Dewhurst and I were burning shoe leather across the length and breadth of the city in attendance at the sorely missed Dot to Dot festival.
Corbieres Bar. Image Credit manchestersfinest.com
As we passed through the square a band called Heavy Leno were on stage and as there was link up that year with the Manchester Food and Drink festival, we took the opportunity to grab a seat for a beer and a pizza stop. This was in addition to other 20 venues we visited that day! Earlier this year in March the Irish festival tent run by the O’Sheas bar was located there and I witnessed a band called The Cullodens play.
The aforementioned Manchester St Anns Church was only the third church to be consecrated in the city. The church narrowly escaped damage from a Luftwaffe raid during World War 2 and apparently still has a burnt-out incendiary bomb which landed on the roof.
It contains within an organ that dates to 1730 which has expanded over the years and now contains 54 speaking stops. The church has for a long time been linked up with the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), and students perform recitals there. I happened to be passing one afternoon in June last year and I could hear tuneage so snuck in and I caught a portion of one such RNCM Organ recital.
St Ann’s Church. Image Credit Geograph Britain and Ireland.
The adjacent street to the church is Manchester King Street which for many years has been one of the main shopping streets in the city and was the first city centre street to be fully given over to pedestrian use in 1976. On my birthday in 2019 we have been for a meal and discovered there was a pop-up stage in place on King St, the reason for which I cannot recall. Performing on the said stage was a local singer songwriter called Dee Olares.