Geograph - photograph every grid square

St Ann’s Square is on the site of what was a large cornfield named Acres Field, the site of an annual fair which had been held there since the 13th century. The site began to be developed in the early part of the 18th century when Manchester was a small rural town little more than a village. St Ann’s Square was developed around St Ann’s Church which was consecrated in 1718.

When the square was set out and developed in the 1720s and 1730s, it was as a tree-lined residential area but by the beginning of the nineteenth century, commerce had replaced residence and many of the grand houses had become shops. The fair had continued to be held after the square was developed but eventually the shopkeepers and residents began to complain of the nuisance that the fair incurred in what was becoming a busy thoroughfare in the town and in 1823, the fair was moved to Knott Mill.

Today, the square is dominated by St Ann’s Church, at the southern end, and the Royal Exchange building at the northern end. The buildings in between are mostly banks, shops and cafés.