manchester town hall

曼城最具代表性的历史建筑之一，现今是市政办公处。造访时正值圣诞节，门口安放着巨大的圣诞老人颇具气氛，外围一圈都是商贩摆设的圣诞集市。遗憾没能进入建筑内好好参观

On the day I visited a wedding happened to be on. It looked such a beautiful setting to get hitched.It's a very grand building and extremely majestic.Lots of photo opportunities inside and out.

ante room for indoor photos and drinks. in a fantastic setting, also Chinese new year so square outside was brightly decorated,

We had our wedding ceremony here in October 14. The building is stunning and we got some fabulous pictures. For us though, the events team were a nightmare. I'm glad I had my reception at The Midland instead. The team rarely call back but we're hapoy to tJe the £550 up front for our 20 minute ceremony. I must stress the people who were there working on the day were fab.

Another pleasant few hours in the company of New Manchester Walks, this time exploring the gem that is Manchester Town Hall.Built as a monument to the power and grandeur of Victorian ‘Cottonopolis’, this magnificent building - one of the finest examples of Neo-Gothic architecture in the United Kingdom and one of the most important Grade 1 listed buildings in England - was designed by the great Alfred Waterhouse and opened in 1877.Waterhouse was not the favourite to win the commission for the new Town Hall, from the 136 who entered, but in the end the judges recognised that his design not only maximised the use of space on a very difficult, compact, uneven site between Albert Square and St Peters Square, but also brought lots of natural light into the building, and also incorporated services such as gas pipes unobtrusively.We toured some of the ceremonial rooms, including the Great Hall where we viewed the murals painted by Ford Maddox Brown. Over a period of some fourteen years (all the light created by Waterhouse created shadows that made painting a nightmare, or should that be a lightmare).The murals provide a pictorial guide to at least one version of Manchester’s long history – from Agricola and the Romans, the Danes, the Civil War (Manchester providing the first fatality of that war) to the innovations of the Victorians and the great people from Manchester.Throughput the tour we kept seeing examples of recurring motifs – the sun (standing for truth – in a council arena), cotton (standing for the trade on which Manchester’s Victorian wealth was built) and the bee (standing for hard work). The motifs appear on the floor, on the walls, on the ceilings, even on window catches.Possibly because they were setting-up for a wedding taking place later in the day in the Great Hall, we were taken on a circuitous route of the building. On the plus side this gave us the opportunity to view a corridor full of displays of the family silver and to glimpse the incredible Victorian heating systems. On the negative side it meant a lot of ascending and descending of staircases, which, given a bad knee, was not ideal.We finished in the courtyards, where many a film and television drama has been created. And learned of the beautiful irony of the film ‘The Iron Lady’, about Margaret Thatcher, being filmed in the corridors of a building that houses 95 councillors – 94 Labour and one Independent Labour!But the best bit for me was discovering that this magnificent edifice of Lancashire history is protected from the inclement weather by YORKSHIRE stone!

We went on the Town Hall tour in early January 2015 - highly recommended. Our guide was really informative - we learned all about the history of the building and we were also able to visit the old cobbled interior to see where the old police station was, which you would never know existed from outside. Very enjoyable - recommended.

Take the guided tour to get the most benefit from your visit. Quite a lot of steps so not for anyone with walking difficulties. Need to book in advance as numbers are limited.

I often pass this place but rarely go in, so while with family last Sunday we took them around, the history is amazing as is the architecture. good informative staff and well maintained

Manchester Town Hall is a Victorian masterpiece of the Gothic Revival from a time when civic pride demanded that each town or city should outdo its neighbours in municipal magnificence. The centrepiece is the great hall decorated with twelve frescoes by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Ford Madox Brown which is often hired out for events, such as weddings and wine tastings. This place is worth a visit just to soak up the atmosphere.

What a beautiful building inside and outside. If you are visiting Manchester you must go in and have a look. The carvings are impressive. When you eventually get bored at looking at the building on your doorstep you will find good eateries and coffee shops.

It's not just the backdrop to the Christmas markets, this beautiful building is steeped in history. Proudly funded and designed by Manchester's sponsors and fathers, this really is a stunning venue. It's also great for afternoon tea.

Had a look around the town hall whilst on a city break the imposing outer façade is only bettered by the inside which for all the Harry Potter fans the corridors remind you of Hogwarts and the great hall is inspiring. Well worth an hours of anyone's time

This is my second visit to this magnificent building. We did a walking tour with these guys - every Tuesday at 11am or Sundays at 2.30pm. Guide is fantastic - amazing wealth of knowledge.http://www.newmanchesterwalks.com/walks-tours/town-hall-and-the-main-buildings/manchester-town-hall-tour/Then had lunch at the cafe. Very reasonable prices, we did the traditional and had the Lancashire Hot Pot with a pot of tea for 2 - Very British and only 15 quid for the 2 of us. 5 star service and atmosphere.

Escaping from the bustle of the Christmas Market outside, we found a few more stalls with classier products for sale. The cafe looked nice, but we weren't hungry/thirsty at that point. Picking up a leaflet about tours of the town hall, we were disappointed to find that the curiously scheduled tours weren't available that day. Ah well. On my previous visit with my sons, we'd been able to see the great hall upstairs, as the Ford Madox Brown paintings were available to view. The Town Hall is a quirky building in its Victorian civic architecture style and very photogenic inside and out [ha, where permitted!].

Absolutely stunning building, with grand spiral staircases and dominating oil paintings. Worth a visit.