St. Leonard’s Church

St. Leonard’s or Middleton Parish Church on its hill above the town is by far the oldest building in the area and the oldest in Greater Manchester. It is also the last great unrestored medieval church in the wider Manchester area, having been carefully and sensitively preserved since the 1600s. St. Leonard’s Church is listed…

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Hopwood DePree and Hopwood Hall

Hollywood actor Hopwood DePree, ably supported by Geoff Wellens, met a crowded audience in the Sessions Room at the Old Boar’s Head on Thursday. Geoff outlined the history of the hall while Hopwood, who is descended from the old Middleton family, inspired everyone with his vision for the medieval building which is in a ruinous…

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Jubilee Library & Local Studies Centre – open Weekdays and Saturday

Ye Olde Boar’s Head P.H. (left) and Jubilee Library (right) on Middleton’s Long Street look lovely in spring with the cherry blossom. The library is an unusual early Arts & Crafts building that lies in the pleasant Jubilee Park at the centre of the Middleton conservation area. As well as the timber-framed pub, close by are…

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Hopwood Hall

Check out Andy Marshall’s photos of Hopwood Hall Hopwood Hall is one of the truly great buildings of Middleton and Manchester but one which has sadly been abandoned and left to decline for many years.  In recent years, the Council has tried to make amends by providing security and undertaking urgent repairs. There is always…

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Arts & Crafts Church, School and Garden – 1899 architect Edgar Wood

Long Street Methodist Church & School are a striking complex of connected buildings arranged around an ‘outside room’ garden.  Across this space, Edgar Wood integrates a series of opposites – sacred and secular, expression and restraint, axial and informal, and, rational and romantic.  The plain and simple mass of the church contrasts with the complexity…

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Tonge Hall

Tonge Hall is generally regarded as one of the finest examples of Tudor architecture in the country and despite a devastating fire in 2007, still retains many of its original features, including carved oak beams, inglenook fireplaces timber panelling and a wonderful spiral staircase. The building was heroically saved by Heritage Trust for the North…

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Alkrington Hall

The Levers were a merchant family who had acquired large estates in the Manchester and Middleton areas during the Renaissance period of the 1600s. In 1736, Sir Darcy Lever decided to rebuild his family home, Alkrington Hall. Rather than going to local builders, he employed an Enlightenment architect of national importance, an Italian from Venice…

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Arts & Crafts Church

Long Street Methodist Church & Schools are a striking complex of connected buildings arranged around a courtyard garden – the finest Arts and Crafts Methodist Church anywhere. The church is open for worship on Sundays and other days CLICK HERE for details. Guided tours for groups are also available, CLICK HERE for details. Tours also…

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Elm Street School

Edgar Wood and J. Henry Sellers had met up in 1903 and quickly began working on a new type of ‘cubic’ architecture using reinforced concrete and to create buildings not possible with traditional roofs. Elm Street School (now Elm Wood School) was designed as a ‘Board School’. However, it was radically different to the other…

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Briarhill & Hillcrest

In the early days of Arts & Crafts architecture, pioneers like Edgar Wood experimented with a variety of materials and forms, trying to find a new way in design. The semi-detached pair of houses on Rochdale Road, Middleton, Briarhill & Hillcrest (1892), is one of these and represents an art nouveau ‘town’ approach to design in contrast…

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