Visit to Chetham’s School of Music & Library, Manchester

On Thursday 13th November 2014 thirty two members travelled to Manchester on a showery and windy day to visit Chetham’s School of Music.  It is a lovely old sandstone building dating back to 1421 – quite a contrast to the new Chetham’s School just recently opened.  It was originally built to accommodate the Priests of Manchester’s Collegiate Church next door – now Manchester Cathedral – and remains one of the most complete medieval complexes to survive in the North West of England.

 We had a lovely lunch at the School and were then entertained by the pupils in the Baronial Hall which is comparable in size to Ordsall Hall and Rufford Hall.  The pupils were an absolute delight.  After we had a tour of the magnificent library which has been in continuous use as a free public library for over 350 years

Our guide Rhiannon was very knowledgeable and patient, she took us to visit the Double Storeyed Cloisters, the Audit  Room with its beautiful

timber ceiling and the very splendid Reading Room.  Here we saw the alcove and desk where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels worked together in 1845.  Karl Marx was a regular visitor to Manchester and the Library made a strong impression on him.

Chetham's school of music