Chorlton-on-Medlock Town
Hall Richard Lane, the
architect of the Friend's Meeting House on Mount Street,
designed the Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall on Grosvenor
Street. It continued in that role from 1831
until 1838 when Chorlton-on-Medlock became part of the
city of Manchester. In the years that followed it
was used by the local community for a variety of
functions but the redevelopment of the area meant that
the local population diminshed and the building became
redundant. In 1970, the interior was removed, a
new structure added to the rear and it became part of
the Polytechnic which became the Manchester Metropolitan
University.
A Blue Plaque
commemorates Richard Lane, the architect.
 A red plaque marks the
fact that an important meeting was held in the building
in 1945. The Fifth Pan African Conference was held
there between October 15th and 21st in 1945.
Ninety delegates from
across Africa, Europe and the Caribbean, attended the
meeting and among the delegates were a number of men
who went on to become political leaders in their
countries including: Hastings Banda, Dr Kwame Nkrumah,
Obafemi Awolowo and Jomo Kenyatta.
Simon
Katzenellenboggen, a Manchester historian, said of the
meeting:
"I’ve always seen it
as a very important turning point, not just in
Africa’s history, but in the European Empires too. It
was an important step towards the end of those
imperial powers in Africa, so it’s imperative for
everyone, not just those of African descent, to be
aware of the conference. In addition to knowing about
our imperial past, we also need to face up to the
consequences of what that rule meant to Africans."
 ********** The images below, shown
with the permission of English Heritage, give you a
glimpse of the inside of the building.
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