The £5 million repair of Heaton Hall is now complete – and you can book a tour
"This amazing heritage asset has been painstakingly worked on to protect and preserve its unique architectural features and restore it to its former glory."
The latest phase of £5 million repair works to the historic Heaton Hall have now officially been completed, and tours will begin next month.
Standing as one of a very few Grade I listed buildings nationally, and designed in 1772 by esteemed architect James Wyatt, Heaton Hall is undoubtedly one of the North West’s most important heritage assets, yet despite this, has remained on Historic England’s ‘At Risk’ list for many years.
To help preserve the building, Heaton Hall received key funding support from Historic England and Manchester City Council to ensure the building is protected in the future and to complete essential maintenance works.
It has since undergone five phases of essential maintenance works.
The previous four phases have consisted of work including repairs to the east and west wings, replacement of the windows and shutters, and fixing the roof of the Orangery to protect the Hall, and the most-recent phase has consisted of ongoing maintenance repair works including the replacement of recently-broken windows, rendering repairs, and internal repair work on the first floor.
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Maintenance and ongoing repairs were started over three years ago, and have now been completed to help protect the architectural gem for future generations, according to Manchester City Council.
The current works are now complete and further maintenance will take place in the future.
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The Grade I listed Heaton Hall dates back to the 18th century / Credit: Manchester City Council
Now that all the maintenance work has been complete for the time being, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the popular walking tours of the building and its impressive grounds will resume, so people can see the repairs in all their glory.
The Friends of Heaton Park will conduct free monthly guided tours for groups to enjoy throughout the year, with the 2022 dates being:
Sunday 10 April
Sunday 8 May
Sunday 19 June
Sunday 10 July
Sunday 14 August
Saturday 10 September
Sunday 11 September
And on top of those tours, there’s also the chance for people to book guided tours around the Hall conducted by the extremely-knowledgable Blue Badge Guide Jonathan Schofield, which take place on every second Sunday.
Heaton Hall isn’t the only thing to have received a bit of TLC either, as according to Manchester City Council, Manchester’s flagship Heaton Park has also benefited from “major improvement works” that will help maintain the much-loved green space and cultural attractions.
Over the past five years, the Council says it has been refashioning aspects of the park in a sustainable way to help ensure accessibility and to further enhance the setting of the Hall and make the Grade I building “a fitting focal point of the wider park landscape.”
Improvements include the planting of trees, the provision of new toilets in the park, creating wider entrances, the resurfacing of main paths, and installing 23 new benches.
Speaking on the £5 million repair works to Heaton Hall, Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar – Executive Member for Neighbourhoods at Manchester City Council – said: “As custodians of Heaton Hall, the Council takes its responsibility to ensure it is properly looked after very seriously, and we can’t wait to give the public the chance to see all the work that has been done inside this remarkable building.”
“This amazing heritage asset has been painstakingly worked on to protect and preserve its unique architectural features and restore it to its former glory,” he added.
“Heaton Hall, and its surrounding park, are really valued by people in Manchester and far beyond and these last couple of years have shown us all how valuable these spaces are to communities,” added Catherine Dewar, North West Regional Director at Historic England.
“The hall is one of a tiny proportion of buildings across England to be listed at Grade I, which is reserved for buildings of the highest significance.
“Working closely with Manchester City Council since 2015, Historic England has provided advice and £758,000 in grants to get to this point, and we’re thrilled that locals and visitors will soon be able to get inside this North Manchester heritage gem once again.”
Parklife pumps more than £155,000 back into Greater Manchester community projects
Danny Jones
Parklife is once again proving why it’s such an important event for Greater Manchester, not just in terms of music and culture, but through the money it pumps back into the community through grassroots projects.
The annual music festival at Heaton Park raises significant funds for local initiatives with each edition via the official Parklife Community Fund.
Partnered with the Manchester, Bury, and Rochdale councils, the finances generated through those who attend not only Parklife but also other concerts held at the outdoor venue, such as the recent Oasis shows, help local groups that make a positive, tangible difference in their neighbourhoods.
This year alone, the total includes £55,000 raised from guest list donations by festival attendees, as well as a further £100k generated from other events held in Heaton Park, making 2025 one of, if not the biggest, years for donations to date.
Distributed by the City Council and the local authorities in Bury and Rochdale throughout the respective boroughs, the aim is not only to give back but to enhance local life, through everything from important youth programmes to community wellbeing and improvement schemes.
Launched back in 2017, the festival fund is approaching nearly half a million pounds raised on behalf of local causes, strengthening its connection with the nearby communities surrounding its host site.
The region’s vast and stunning green space is a huge tourist attraction in itself, meaning literal grassroots causes like the woodland management group are vital to maintaining that beauty and status.
Other projects include an astronomy group, as well as fitness drives like ‘RockFit’ (seen above), which now meets at Heaton Park regularly to promote exercise for both physical and mental health.
It’s also worth noting that the fund covers surrounding areas like Higher Blackley and Crumpsall; Sedgley, Holyrood, St Mary’s and even South Middleton.
You can see more examples of the charitable community work in action down below.
Credit: Supplied
Sam Kandel, founder of Parklife Festival, said of the fund: “Parklife is proud to call Heaton Park home, and it’s really important to us that the festival has a lasting, positive impact on the local community.
“The Community Fund is our way of saying thank you to residents and supporting the brilliant grassroots projects that make Manchester, Bury, and Rochdale such special places to live.”
Councillor Lee-Ann Igbon (Exec Member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods) added: “Parklife brings people from Manchester and beyond to our wonderful Heaton Park, and it is right that the communities living close by benefit from the event through reinvestment in local initiatives that will leave a legacy for all.
“The Parklife community fund means that local communities choose what’s important to them and they have the opportunity to bid for funds to invest in projects that enhance local amenities, strengthen community connections and wellbeing for the benefit of everyone.”
Those looking to benefit from the fund can apply online now and you can find out more information by contacting the relevant councils’ neighbourhood pages.
Work finally begins on Greater Manchester’s new ‘innovation hub’ in Atom Valley creating 20,000 jobs
Emily Sergeant
It’s official… work has finally begun on the first major development in Atom Valley.
If you’re not familiar with Atom Valley, this new project is set to be a unique innovation ‘cluster’ – plans of which were approved by local leaders all the way back in summer 2022 – with the potential to create up to 20,000 new jobs in Greater Manchester once it’s complete.
Greater Manchester wants Atom Valley to become a ‘springboard’ for new and emerging companies and researchers, giving them the support and the opportunities they need to trial and commercialise their innovations right here in our region.
The new development which ground has now been broken on is a Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre (SMMC) – which is set to become a thriving hub of innovation.
Today is a big day for GM.
We break ground on a new research centre at Atom Valley – our emerging world-class cluster in advanced materials and manufacturing.
Here, start-ups and emerging companies will be able to pioneer new technologies and scale up their ambitions, all while creating jobs and driving growth across the region in the process.
Located next to the Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale, it will offer 30,000 sq ft of new laboratory space, workshops, and design studios, as well as a lecture theatre, meeting rooms, office space, and flexible workspace for start-ups.
With the ‘right’ support, local leaders say the SMMC will also be a vital link between Atom Valley and the Oxford Road Corridor, ultimately forging a pathway for new companies and projects to expand from the city centre out into the wider city region.
Work has finally begun on Greater Manchester’s new ‘innovation hub’ in Atom Valley / Credit: DLA Architecture
Mayor Andy Burnham says this is the ‘most ambitious development’ in Atom Valley so far
“It will help unleash the untapped potential of the world-leading research taking place across our city region, bridging that crucial gap from invention to bringing those new innovations to the market,” he explained. “And it will create a new hi-tech corridor from the out to the north of Greater Manchester, creating jobs and new opportunities for start-ups to scale up their ambitions.
“This is integrated, well-connected development in action, and a clear sign of our mission to spread the benefits of growth right across our city region.”
Emily Sergeant -
8th March 2022 
