St Peter's Square, Manchester

St Peter's Square is a public square in Manchester city centre, England. The north of the square is bounded by Princess Street and the south by Peter Street. To the west of the square is Manchester Central Library, Midland Hotel and Manchester Town Hall Extension. At the centre of the square is St Peter's Square Metrolink tram stop, a major transport interchange. The square is also home to the Manchester Cenotaph, and the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst Rise up, Women In 1819, the area around the square was the site of the Peterloo Massacre.

From 2010 to 2017, the square underwent significant redevelopment which entailed the restoration of Central Library and attached Library Walk link, the relocation of the Cenotaph to the rear of Manchester Town Hall, the creation of a new extended tram stop and the construction of two new office blocks to the south of the square; One St Peter's Square and Two St Peter's Square.

Up to the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the area now occupied by St Peter's Square was at the edge of the town of Manchester, bounded by countryside on its south, west and east sides, with open fields running down to the River Medlock. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester's population was growing, and a new church, St Peter's Church, was built on this site 1788-94 to serve the expanding population. The church was built in the neoclassical style by the architect James Wyatt, and was once famous for its church music. The church's dedication to Saint Peter gave its name to nearby locations: by 1801, a public square name St Peter's Square was laid out around the church, and Peter Street, along with adjoining Oxford Street, were being established.

The open fields to the west became known as St Peter's Field, also named after the church. In 1819, a crowd of protestors gathered here demanding Parliamentary reform; this protest was violently put down by army forces. James Wroe, editor of the Manchester Observer, condemned the military action and coined the name "Peterloo Massacre", a portmanteau of "St Peter's Field" and "Waterloo", in reference to the Battle of Waterloo that had taken place four years earlier. Thus, St Peter's Church gave its name not only to the surrounding locations, but also to one of the most prominent violent events in British political history.

As Manchester grew into a large industrial city, the middle classes moved out of the city centre to live in the suburbs, and the residential population of the Manchester parish dwindled. St Peter's Church became redundant and it was demolished in 1907. Today, a stone cross, erected in 1908, marks the site of the former church.

From the 1860s, the south side of the square was occupied by the Prince's Theatre, a popular entertainment venue designed by the architect Edward Salomons and opened in 1864. The theatre closed in 1940 and was sold to ABC Cinemas. It was later demolished, but due to the contraints of World War II, the planned new cinema was not built.

In 1903, the Midland Hotel opened on the junction of Peter Street and Lower Mosley Street facing St Peter's Square. This large, ornate building was designed by Charles Trubshaw in Edwardian Baroque style and is clad in red brick, brown terracotta and polished granite. It was built as a railway hotel by the Midland Railway to serve the adjacent Manchester Central railway station, which had been opened in 1880.

In the aftermath of World War I, a war memorial was commissioned and it was decided to locate it in St Peter's Square. It was initially proposed that the St Peter's cross should be removed to make way for the new memorial, but the decision was taken to retain the cross and situate the monument in front of it. The Manchester Cenotaph, designed by Edwin Lutyens, was erected in 1924, and in 1949, the site was laid out with a garden designed by Leonard Cecil Howitt. The square is the site for the city's Remembrance Day commemoration each year.