White City, Greater Manchester

White City is an area in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. Part of the site, which is adjacent to Chester Road, is now a retail park. The area was originally the former Manchester Botanic Gardens that occupied the southeast corner of the docks area and Manchester United's ground. The gateway of the Botanic Gardens still stands at the edge of the retail park. In 1857, the Art Treasures Exhibition was held in the gardens. White City has also been an amusement park and a sports stadium that has featured athletics, greyhound racing and motorsports.

1. Toponym

The area is named after White City Limited, which opened an amusement park on the site in 1907.

1. History


1. = Botanic gardens =

In 1827 the Botanical and Horticultural Society was founded in Manchester to encourage the study of botany and horticulture. The society built a botanical garden on the site covering 16 acres (65,000 m2). The site was chosen by John Dalton for the society as it was down-wind of pollution from the city. The land, which was owned by Thomas de Trafford, was leased to the society at a price of the society's choosing. The gardens featured a complex of plant houses and a conservatory that was built by Clarke and Jones of Birmingham. The building was 321 feet (98 m) in length and the conservatory had a 40 feet (12 m) high dome. The buildings were heated by a system of hot water flowing through pipes. The Grade II listed gateway that still faces Chester Road was the entrance to the gardens. In 1857 the gardens hosted the Art Treasures Exhibition which was opened by Prince Albert. The exhibition was visited by 1.3million visitors in 142-days. A further exhibition was held in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. This exhibition attracted 4.74 million people over 192-days.

1. = Redevelopment =

By the end of the 19th century, interest in the gardens was waning as the wealthy were moving away from Manchester city centre. In 1907, part of the garden's site was leased to White City Limited, a company set up by Heathcote and Brown. The company opened the "White City Amusement Park" on the site on 20 May 1907. The remaining 11 acres (45,000 m2) was sold to Canine Sports Ltd on 1 November 1927 for the construction of White City Stadium.

1. = Stadium =

White City Stadium held its first motorcycle speedway race on 16 July 1928. After the stadium was completed, greyhound racing starting in 1930. In July 1953, a 6-lane cinder track for athletics was added. The stadium was a greyhound track from 1927 until 1982, speedway from 1928 to 1932 and stock cars from 1972 to 1982. At the end of 1981. the stadium was sold to a developer. It was left vacant, fell into disrepair and closed in 1982.

1. Retail park

The stadium was eventually demolished and the site was redeveloped as White City Retail Park. The mid-sized shopping park has out-of-town parking with retail units and food outlets.

1. References

Notes

Bibliography

1. See also

Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester 1857 Botanical Gardens Cricket Ground Royal Jubilee Exhibition, Manchester 1887

Nearby Places View Menu

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Botanical Gardens Cricket Ground

Botanical Gardens Cricket Ground was a cricket ground in Old Trafford, Stretford, Lancashire. The ground was located adjacent to Manchester Botanical Garden. The ground was on land owned by Sir Humphrey de Trafford, who allowed Manchester Cricket Club to lease the ground. The first recorded match that is now considered to have been first-class on the ground was in 1848, when Manchester Cricket Club played Sheffield Cricket Club. The following season a Lancashire team played a team from Yorkshire. In 1851, a Lancashire side played their second and final first-class match at the ground in a repeat of the previous first-class fixture there involving. Manchester Cricket Club played two further first-class matches at the ground in 1852 and then 1854, both coming against Sheffield Cricket Club. The final recorded match held on the ground came in 1856 when Manchester Cricket Club played rugby. Shortly after the ground was developed for the 1857 Art Treasures Exhibition. Later, the location of the ground became a motorcycle speedway venue before closing in 1982. Today the location of the ground is covered by the White City Retail Centre.

Cricket

Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester 1857

The Art Treasures of Great Britain was an exhibition of fine art held in Manchester, England, from 5 May to 17 October 1857. It remains the largest art exhibition to be held in the UK, possibly in the world, with over 16,000 works on display. It attracted over 1.3 million visitors in the 142 days it was open, about four times the population of Manchester at that time, many of whom visited on organised railway excursions. Its selection and display of artworks had a formative influence on the public art collections that were then being established in the UK, such as the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Art Historic Site

Royal Jubilee Exhibition

The Royal Jubilee Exhibition of 1887 was held in Old Trafford, Manchester, England, to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria's accession. It was opened by Princess Alexandra, the Princess of Wales (wife of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII) on 3 May 1887, and remained open for 166 days, during which time there were 4.5 million paying visitors, 74,600 in one day alone. The site chosen for the construction of the purpose-built exhibition halls was the present-day White City retail park, then the Royal Botanical Gardens. Amusements such as tobogganing slides and a sports arena were also provided, and decorations were provided by Ford Madox Brown, assisted by Susan Dacre. Designed by the architectural practice of Maxwell and Tuke, the buildings were constructed from cast iron gas pipes, and had large glazed areas. The main building was in the shape of a cross, with a central dome 150 feet (46 m) high and 90 feet (27 m) in diameter from which radiated four long galleries. Temporary sidings for the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway were completed in 1886, to provide convenient access for visitors. Maxwell and Tuke were also the architects of the Manchester Exhibition in 1888.

Event Landmark

Old Trafford (area)

Old Trafford is an area of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, which borders the cities of Manchester and Salford, two miles (3.2 km) south-west of Manchester city centre in the historic county of Lancashire. It is the north-eastern tip of the parliamentary constituency of Stretford and Urmston and is roughly delineated by two old toll gates, Brooks' Bar and Trafford Bar, to the east and west. Old Trafford is the site of Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket Club, and Old Trafford football stadium, the home of Manchester United, on opposite ends of Brian Statham Way (formerly Warwick Road) and Sir Matt Busby Way (formerly Warwick Road North). The road between them retains the name Warwick Road, and the southern section on the other side of the Metrolink line is Warwick Road South.

Baseball Rugby