Exchange Square is a civic square in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. The square was created after the

1996 Manchester bombing The 1996 Manchester bombing was an attack carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 15 June 1996. The IRA detonated a lorry bomb on Corporation Street, Manchester, Corporation Street in the Manchester city centre, centre ...

by the IRA. This reconstruction included the

structural relocation A structure relocation is the process of moving a structure from one location to another. There are two main ways for a structure to be moved: disassembling and then reassembling it at the required destination, or transporting it whole. For the ...

of two pubs to make room for the new

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

store. Today the square is a major shopping area including branches of high-end department stores

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

and

Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols Group Limited ( trading as Harvey Nichols) is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831 by Benjamin Harvey; it is headquartered at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections ...

, New Cathedral Street, the

Corn Exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchanges. Such trade was common in towns ...

and an entrance to the

Manchester Arndale Manchester Arndale is a large shopping centre in Manchester, England. It was constructed in phases between 1972 and 1979, at a cost of £100 million. Manchester Arndale is the largest of the chain of Arndale Centre, Arndale Centres built ac ...

, one of the most-visited shopping centres in the United Kingdom. To the north lies the

Printworks Printworks may refer to: *Printworks (London), a nightclub and events space in Rotherhithe *The Printworks (Manchester), an entertainment venue *Printworks Campus, of the Leeds City College {{DEFAULTSORT:Printworks, The ...

and

Urbis Urbis is a building in Manchester, England, designed by Ian Simpson (architect), Ian Simpson, which opened in 2002 as part of the redevelopment of Exchange Square (Manchester), Exchange Square. Originally a Museum of the City, a switch was made i ...

, now home to the

National Football Museum The National Football Museum is England's national museum of Football in England, football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of association football, football ...

. To the west lies Shambles Square (with The Old Wellington Inn) and

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the c ...

. To the south is New Cathedral Street and the Royal Exchange.

Transport

The square is served by Exchange Square tram stop on the

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...

network which opened in December 2015. The station provides a direct link to

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, Shaw & Crompton and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

. Construction on the extension started in 2014 and the entire Second City Crossing scheme was opened on 26 February 2017.

Wheel of Manchester

A transportable

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondola ...

was first installed at Exchange Square in 2004, known as the Wheel of Manchester. This was dismantled and a second wheel was erected in May 2007. The most recently installed wheel, operated by Great City Attractions, had 42 passenger cars and was tall. A wheel was planned for 2008 but never constructed. In 2010,

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

proposed a wheel, to be operated by Great City Attractions, as a replacement for the existing transportable installation, which was installed at

Piccadilly Gardens Piccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, on the edge of the Northern Quarter. It takes its name from the adjacent street, Piccadilly, which runs across the city centre from Market Street to London Road. The ga ...

until 2015.

References

1996 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 1996 Squares in Manchester Tourist attractions in Manchester {{GreaterManchester-geo-stub