All Saints Park

Work to improve All Saints Park is underway and the park will be closed until the work is completed in the spring of 2024. The project will bring new trees and wildflowers, creating a more biodiverse space, opening up the area and prioritising pedestrians and cyclists. You can find out more about the work here.

Right by All Saints Library, in the heart of the Oxford Road Corridor, you’ll find All Saints Park, a luscious green space with plenty of benches and shaded spots to enjoy the greenery. Closely located to a host of shops and cafes, there’s no reason you can’t languish in the park for a while, but it is also ideal for a moment of calm before carrying on with your day.

What we now know as All Saints Park originally opened in 1820 as a burial ground for the nearby All Saints Church. The first person laid to rest here was 21-year-old Fanny Knowles, over the following years with the industrialisation of Manchester burials would climb to as many as 600 a year. However, by the end of the 19th Century, the site began to fall into disrepair and was eventually closed.

In May 1935, the site was repurposed as a playground for the children of Manchester. By the 1980s, All Saints had become a public garden and much more recognisable as the space we know today. In the 1990s, Manchester Metropolitan University leased the site from Manchester City Council and it became the focal point of their campus.

The park remains at the heart of Man Met and is central to their ambitious campus masterplan. This includes developing the park with new trees and wildflowers and creating a central area for temporary events and activities as well as new entrances to improve accessibility.

The design proposal features a new memorial area that will integrate elements from the existing memorials so that the space respects its fascinating history. More of which you can read about in this excellent article from Haunt Manchester and Michala Hulme.