The People’s History Museum is opening in Manchester following a two-year redevelopment costing more than £12 million. 
It tells the dramatic story of the British working class’s struggle for democracy and social justice - told at the only national museum in Manchester, the radical city where it belongs.
Architects have transformed the former Edwardian pumping station to reveal the original features and workings of the building, which is now joined to a new four-storey extension via a spectacular walkway. The museum galleries, changing exhibitions, education service, Labour History Archive & Study Centre, Textile Conservation Studio, corporate facilities, café and shop are housed in a new fantastic building.
Redevelopment of the Museum has added a further 1384 square metres of gallery space, a conservation studio, archive, café and shop. It is also the first building in Britain to be clad with corten, which is an unusual rusty material.
Formed from a small collection owned by the Trade Union, Labour and Co-operative History Society in the 1960s, the People’s History Museum has grown into a national centre for the history of Britain’s working population.
The main galleries begin with the story of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre when a reform meeting ended in tragedy at St Peters Fields in Manchester after magistrates attempted to bring 60,000 plus workers and families under control. The event led to the first reform of Parliament in 1832.
Gallery displays go on to track the rise of revolutionaries and reformers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, through to Workers voters and citizens of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Admission is free.
