The Sir Ralph Abercromby, also known as the Abercrombie, is a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

between Jackson's Row and Bootle Street, 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, named after

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ire ...

. Built in the 19th century, it is one of the few structures remaining in the area from the time of the

Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...

. Wounded people from the massacre were brought to the pub for medical treatment. Many later changes were made to the building, both inside and outside, with no substantial 19th century features remaining. It is thought to be the inspiration for the pub in ''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

''. The pub is owned by

Enterprise Inns Ei Group plc, formerly known as Enterprise Inns plc, is the largest pub company in the UK, with around 5,000 properties, predominantly run as leased and tenanted pubs. Ei Group plc is headquartered in Solihull, West Midlands. It was listed on ...

. It has a central bar, a function room (formerly a games room) and a beer garden. In February 2016, it won a

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...

award for "Pub of the season". In 2014, it was threatened with demolition, along with Bootle Street police station and

Manchester Reform Synagogue Manchester Reform Synagogue, a member of the Movement for Reform Judaism, is one of the oldest Reform Jewish communities in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1857 with congregation president Horatio Michollis and Rabbi Solomon Marcus Schiller-Szines ...

, to make way for the St Michael's redevelopment of the area led by

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...

. A

Change.org Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...

petition to save the pub was signed by over 3,500 people. An application by members of the

Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is th ...

to list the building was declined by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

as the building was not of "national interest". Several applications to

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

to protect the pub as an

asset of community value In England, an asset of community value (ACV) is land or property of importance to a local community which is subject to additional protection from development under the Localism Act 2011. Voluntary and community organisations can nominate an ass ...

were also declined in 2014 and 2016. The possibility of dismantling it and doing a brick-by-brick rebuild of it in a new location was aired in 2016, but is likely to be costly. On 12 July 2017, the revised plans for the development included Gary Neville's consortium buying and retaining The Sir Ralph Abercromby. Neville was reported as saying "There’s no doubt we underestimated, not the architectural importance of the pub, but the actual social community importance of the pub".

References

{{Reflist, 40em, refs= {{cite web , url=http://centralmanchestercamra.org.uk/campaigns/save-the-sir-ralph-abercromby/ , title=Save The Sir Ralph Abercromby , publisher=CAMRA Central Manchester , accessdate=16 August 2016 {{cite news , url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/ralph-abercromby-pub-camra-award-10837389 , title=Historic pub facing demolition under Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs' property plans wins CAMRA award , work=Manchester Evening News , date=4 February 2016 {{cite news , url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/only-way-save-sir-ralph-11753462 , title=The only way to save the Sir Ralph Abercromby pub now is to rebuild it brick-by-brick, say campaigners , work=

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

, date=16 August 2016 {{cite web , url=https://whatpub.com/pubs/TRA/3687/sir-ralph-abercromby-manchester , title=Sir Ralph Abercromby , publisher=What Pub , accessdate=16 August 2016 {{cite news , url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jun/08/manchester-second-coming-heritage-developers-destroying-industrial-soul , title=Manchester's second coming – but are developers destroying its industrial soul? , work=The Guardian , date=8 June 2016 {{cite news , url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jul/12/gary-neville-hotel-for-homeless-was-purely-the-right-thing-to-do , title=Gary Neville: hotel for homeless was purely the right thing to do , work=The Guardian , date=12 July 2017 Pubs in Manchester Buildings and structures completed in the 19th century