Design for Peterloo Memorial to go on display

The Peterloo massacre was not only a defining moment in political history, it also had strong links with the many radical traditions across the borough of Rochdale.

Designs drawn up by artist Jeremy Deller for a memorial to commemorate the Peterloo massacre and those who died there will be unveiled next week on Thursday 1 November.

The artist has been commissioned by Manchester City Council to design a fitting memorial to be in place in time for the 200th anniversary of the massacre next year.

Peterloo was a watershed moment that would mark Manchester as a radical city like no other and become a defining moment for democracy in Britain.

On Monday 16 August 1819, a 60,000-strong crowd walked to the meeting point at St Peter’s Field in central Manchester from as far afield as Wigan, Rochdale, Saddleworth and Altrincham, to call for parliamentary representation.

Shortly after the meeting began and whilst the orator Henry Hunt was making his address, local government forces charged into the crowd on horseback and with swords drawn, injuring 700 and killing an estimated 18 men, women and children.

Deller's concept plans for the permanent memorial will be on display for three days in Manchester Central Library from 1 November as part of the council's pre-planning consultation on the memorial.

The designs will also be available on-line on the council's website for one week from 1 November to allow anyone who can't visit the library a chance to view the designs and comment on them.

The permanent memorial will be unveiled next year on 16 August - exactly two hundred years after the massacre took place.

Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Schools, Culture, and Leisure, said: "Peterloo was a watershed moment in the history of Manchester that saw 18 innocent people killed and many more injured.

"We have long had the ambition to create a lasting memorial to those who lost their lives there and it is fitting that the memorial will be in place in time to mark the two hundredth anniversary next year.

"Next week will be the first chance people will have to see Jeremy's concept design and we're keen to get people's views on the concept during the week-long pre-planning consultation period"

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Sam Bamford (1788-1872) was a weaver, poet and radical born in Middleton, he helped to plan, train and lead a contingent of approximately 6,000 men and women to march in Manchester to hear a speech by Henry Hunt at St Peter’s field: 

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/86564/sam-bamford-trail-launched