Archives+ at Manchester Central Library
Central Library, St Peter's Square
Manchester M2 5PD
Archives+ is an exciting City Centre showcase and repository for archives and family history. Situated in the magnificent Manchester Central Library, this purpose-built centre brings together a partnership of amazing regional and national collections of documents, photographs and films, and helps to satisfy a growing demand for accessible community history and personal heritage.
Chetham's Library
Long Millgate
Manchester M3 1SB
Chetham's Library was founded in 1653 and is the oldest public library in the English-speaking world. It is an independent charity and remains open to readers and visitors free of charge. The Library began acquiring books in August 1655, and has been adding to its collections ever since. Collections: The Library holds over 100,000 volumes of printed books, of which 60,000 were published before 1851. These include particularly rich collections of 16th- and 17th-century printed works, periodicals and journals, broadsides and other ephemera.
Greater Manchester Police Museum & Archives
57a Newton Street
Northern Quarter, Manchester M1 1ET
Explore Manchester's hidden past - a labyrinth of alleyways and slums, interrupted only by the huge mills casting shadows below. An eerie underworld, lit by gas lamps where police officers were kept busy apprehending unsavoury characters of all ages. The Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archives enables you to experience what life was really like for these officers in a busy Victorian police station. Collections: The collection dates from c.late 19th century onwards and ranges from vehicles, costume and memorbilia to restored cells, a charge office (1879) and magistrates court (1895 from Denton).
John Rylands Library, The
150 Deansgate
Manchester M3 3EH
The Library became part of The University of Manchester in 1972 and currently holds the Special Collections of The University of Manchester Library. Mrs Rylands' memorial to her husband is now part of the third largest academic library in the United Kingdom, and the Deansgate building houses over 250,000 printed volumes, and well over a million manuscripts and archival items.
Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections
Sir Kenneth Green Library, All Saints
Manchester M15 6BH
Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections is a museum, gallery and reading room and is open to the public to browse or research the unique collections, attend an event or to see our exhibitions. The Special Collections Gallery features 2-3 exhibitions a year, showcasing our collections and artwork by regional and internationally acclaimed artists.
National Co-operative Archive
Co-operative College, Holyoake House, Hanover Street
Manchester M60 0AS
Located in central Manchester, the National Co-operative Archive is home to a wide array of records relating to the history of the worldwide co-operative movement. The collections (rare books, periodicals, manuscripts, films, photographs and oral histories) are an unrivalled resource for the development of the co-operative movement from the initial ideas of the 18th century to today.
North West Film Archive
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Central Library, Albert Square
Manchester M60 2LA
The Archive cares for over 38,000 items from the pioneer days of film in the mid 1890s to video production of the present day. The work of both the professional and the amateur is collected. Local residents and groups can take advantage of the NWFA's free research, viewing and loan services.
Pankhurst Centre, The
60 - 62 Nelson Street, Chorlton on Medlock
Manchester M13 9WP
The Pankhurst Centre provides a museum area open to all and a women only space that is a unique environment in which women can learn together, work on projects and socialise. The centre is of historical significance as it was the home of Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Sylvia, Christabel and Adela who were centrally involved in the campaign for Votes for Women.
People's History Museum
Left Bank, Spinningfields
Manchester M3 3ER
There have always been ideas worth fighting for. Join a march through time at the People's History Museum following Britain's struggle for democracy over two centuries. Collections: The collections of the People's History Museum contain items relating to the working people of Britain, and cover ceramics, prints, posters, banners, ephemera and photographs. The museum (registered as the National Museum of Labour History) is the national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people in Britain.
Royal Northern College of Music Archives
124 Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9RD
The RNCM was established in 1973 following the merger of the Royal Manchester College of Music (1893-1973) and the Northern School of Music (1920-1973). Today the Archive acquires materials relating to the RNCM and its predecessors, and the papers of individuals with significant RNCM connections. Collections: Key collections include: Organisational archives of the Northern School of Music and The Royal Manchester College of Music; the performing archive of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble; personal papers covering the entire careers of the violinists Adolph Brodsky and Philip Newman, the soprano Elizabeth Harwood, and Walter and Ida Carroll; the correspondence of Sir Charles Halle; the compositions of Arthur Butterworth, Arnold Cooke, John Golland, John Ogdon, Thomas Pitfield and Alan Rawsthorne.