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Coordinates: 53°28′35″N 2°14′06″W / 53.47639°N 2.235°W / 53.47639; -2.235

Sackville Street can refer to either a street in Manchester City Centre, Greater Manchester, England, or to a large, historic college building on that street.

The Street

Sackville Street is a street in Manchester City Centre. It runs in a northwest-southeast direction and is split into two sections by Whitworth Street, which runs in an northeast-southwest direction. At the northern end of the street is a junction with Portland Street. The northern half of the street runs through Manchester's Gay Village and past Chorlton Street Coach Station. Here the street is carried by a bridge over the Rochdale Canal and there is also a small public park, Sackville Gardens. Beyond Whitworth Street the southern half of the street runs through what was until 2004 the campus of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), which is now part of the University of Manchester (the Sackville Street Campus).^[1] Here the street runs under a railway viaduct, which carries the line between Manchester's Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations. At the southern end of the street there is a junction with the Mancunian Way (the A57). An 1801 map shows Sackville Street extending no further than the Rochdale Canal and an 1844 railway plan indicates that the part of the road extending south of the canal was called ¨Zara Street¨ ^[2].

The Sackville Street Building

The University of Manchester occupies what is now known as the "Sackville Street building"-- before the merger with UMIST in 2004, it was UMIST's "Main Building". It is said to be the largest single building in the university. Construction of the building began in 1895 on a site formerly occupied by Sir Joseph Whitworth's engineering works; it was opened in 1902 by the then Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour.^[3]

Built using Burmantofts terracotta the building is now Grade II listed. It was extended along Whitworth Street, towards London Road, between 1927 and 1957 by the architects Bradshaw Gass & Hope, the delay being due to the depression in the 1930s and the Second World War. Originally a swimming pool was planned for the top floor, but after worries the weight of water might cause structural issues it was instead used as a gymnasium and in more recent years as an examination hall. The lower floors contain among other departments the Royce Laboratory for mechanical engineering, named after Henry Royce. Floors are denoted by letters, from BA (lowest), then A to L (highest) missing out I.

The building lies between Whitworth Street and Granby Row (with Cobourg Street to the east) and the original main entrance is on Sackville Street and is called the Grand Entrance. The entrance on Granby Row is the usual entrance to the eastern part of the building (a little used entrance is on Whitworth Street). The historic Godlee Observatory sits on the roof and is still in use. The building is used by the University for a number of functions and departments. These include administration, teaching and research in science and technology, and examinations.

Inside on floors E and D is the Joule Library (now an outlying part of the John Rylands University Library)^[4] and various offices, laboratories, lecture theatres and exam halls. The Joule Library was given this name (commemorating the physicist J. P. Joule) in 1989 when it was refurbished.^[5].

In July 2009, The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre moved from its original location on Oxford Road to J floor of the building^{[citation needed]}. The centre was set up by Professor Louis Kushnick (OBE) in 1999 to provide anti-racist educational resources to its users.^[6]

There are inscriptions at the Grand Entrance and at the Whitworth Street entrance recording important events in the history of the building. The later part of the building was built on the site of St Augustine's Church, the third Roman Catholic chapel in Manchester. It was replaced by the second St Augustine's Church in York Street, Chorlton on Medlock. There is also a plaque recording the previous existence of Ivan Levinstein's laboratory on the site.

Sculpture

Between Granby Row and Altrincham Street (which runs in the same direction to the south of the railway viaduct) are three outdoor scuptures: a wooden monument to Vimto, first made on this site; a statue of Archimedes crying "Eureka"; and a large knot made of steel cables.

References