The Whitworth has been part of the cultural landscape of Manchester since 1889, when it was created as the first English gallery in a park as the Whitworth Institute. The Gallery would, as its founding mission set out:

‘Secure a source of perpetual gratification to the people of Manchester & and cultivate taste and knowledge of the Fine Arts of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.’

Early reports of the Gallery committee make much of the fact that the pleasure gardens were ‘used by visitors and children of all social classes’ to counteract the imagined and actual malaises of inner city industrial life. We still think this is a crucial part of our mission, and providing perpetual gratification for the people of Manchester seems no bad aim today.

A £15 million development has transformed the gallery, doubling it in size and creating new spaces that embrace the park it calls home.

Access

The gallery is fully accessible, with new and improved facilities for all of our visitors.

There is level access from Denmark Road to the new park entrance, with shallow gradient ramps to the gallery entrance on Oxford Road.

Main doors open automatically, with lifts to each floor.

The light levels in our exhibitions galleries are generally low. Guide dogs are welcome.

Accessible parking for disabled visitors and a coach drop off point are both located on Denmark Road.

Facilities at the Whitworth include accessible toilets with baby changing, lifts, seating inside and outside the gallery, free portable stools and a café.

Do you have any questions about your visit to the gallery?

Please call us on 0161 275 7450 or email the Visitor Team.