Alexandra Park is a park in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, designed by Alexander Gordon Hennell, and opened to the public in 1870. The lodge and gateways are the work of Alfred Darbyshire. The park was developed by Manchester Corporation before the area was incorporated into the city, the site being purchased in 1864 from

William Egerton, 1st Baron Egerton William Tatton Egerton, 1st Baron Egerton (30 December 1806 – 21 February 1883) was a British peer and politician from the Egerton family. Egerton was the son of Wilbraham Egerton and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Christopher Sykes ...

. The roads to the East and West sides of the park were named Princess Road and Alexandra Road, also in honour of Princess Alexandra. Plan of Alexandra Park, Manchester

Design

Two lodges at the Northern entrances were designed by Alfred Darbyshire as homes for the park superintendent and the deputy park keeper. Only one, Chorlton Lodge, now survives. Hennell's design includes a raised walk, and a half mile lime walk wide enough for horse-drawn carriages, which are the only straight lines. All the other paths form circles and two large ovals, one of which encloses the cricket pitch, the other being used for football. A lake was constructed from two former

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

pits. There is a sunken bowling green and there were originally extensive greenhouses. Alexandra Park supplied plants for the other parks in the city and plants and flowers for the town hall. A large collection of cacti was bequeathed to the city in 1904 by the widow of Charles Darrah. The curator of the collection Arthur Cubbold accompanied the bequest and a large cactus house, with five rooms of different temperatures, was built at a cost of £2,500. The cactus collection was moved to

Wythenshawe Park Wythenshawe Park is located in Northern moor & borders into baguley England, covers an area of 270 acres. Wythenshawe Hall lies at its centre. The park features woodland, bedding, grassland and meadows, sporting facilities, Wythenshawe communi ...

around 1980.

Demonstrations

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

organised the first known

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

May Day rally in the park on 2 May 1892 which attracted about 60,000 people. The park was the venue for the great Manchester

Women's Suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

Demonstration of 24 October 1908 with a procession from

Albert Square Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location ...

, and other suffrage demonstrations. On 11 November 1913,

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

Kitty Marion Kitty Marion 12 March 1871 – 9 October 1944) was born Katherina Maria Schäfer in Germany. She emigrated to London in 1886 when she was fifteen, and she grew to minor prominence when she sang in music halls throughout the United Kingdom during ...

planted a bomb that damaged the cactus house. A

speaker's corner A Speakers' Corner is an area where open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed. The original and best known is in the northeast corner of Hyde Park in London, England. Historically there were a number of other areas desig ...

operated at the Northwest gate. Local Quakers collected signatures at the park gates in 1916 calling for peace.

James Larkin James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim, was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party along with James Connolly and Willia ...

spoke at a demonstration on 14 September 1913 at a rally in support of the

Dublin lock-out The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Ireland's capital and largest city, Dublin. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often vi ...

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

attempted to campaign in the park against immigration in 1960.

Rock Against Racism Rock Against Racism (RAR) was a political and cultural movement which emerged in 1976 in reaction to a rise in racist attacks on the streets of the United Kingdom and increasing support for the far-right National Front at the ballot box. Betwe ...

organised several events in the park, one on 15 July 1978 featuring

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

and the

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

Entertainment

The park is the site of the annual

Manchester Caribbean Carnival The Manchester Caribbean Carnival has been held annually in Alexandra Park, Manchester, since 1971. The Moss Side Moss Side is an inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the city centre, It had a population of 20,745 at the 2021 c ...

. Part of Manchester's Black History Trail crosses the park. In the 1970s, Children's Christian Crusade gatherings were hosted in the park annually. The park gave its name to the nearby

Alexandra Park station Alexandra Park railway station may refer to: * Alexandra Palace railway station in North London, named Wood Green (Alexandra Park) between 1 June 1864 and 18 March 1871 * Alexandra Palace railway station (1873–1954) in North London, named Alexan ...

, until the station's name changed to Wilbraham Road, on amalgamation in 1923, in order to avoid ticketing confusion. There was also a nearby Alexandra Park Aerodrome during WW1 and for a few years afterward. That site is now Hough End Playing Fields. The park gives its name to a nearby council estate, developed in the 1960s. The previous Alexandra Park estate was the birthplace, in 1858, of

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

Promenade and house

File:Park Promenade.jpg, Promenade File:Former Park Keepers House.jpg, Former Park Keepers House

References

External links

* * {{cite web, url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_and_open_spaces/188/alexandra_park/4, title=History and design of Alexandra Park, publisher=Manchester City Council, url-status=dead, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414132342/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_and_open_spaces/188/alexandra_park/4, archivedate=2011-04-14 Parks and commons in Manchester