Piccadilly Gardens used to have a massive Lunatic Asylum there

We’ve all seen a few dodgy figures lurking around Piccadilly Gardens – but maybe, just maybe it’s the spectre of something more than the shady drug dealers who frequent it these days, perhaps a ghost of the areas past.

Piccadilly Gardens has gone through a lot of changes over the years, and having a couple of beers on the grass in summer – well, not this summer – is a far cry from how the area has been used throughout its dark past.

Maybe we wouldn’t complain as much about the concrete eyesore of a wall, if we compared it to the state of the site in its earliest days.

Wellcome Collection gallery

First up, let’s talk about the Daub Holes.

In the 1700s, Piccadilly Gardens was home to boggy, clay pits known as Daub Holes (‘Daub’ was mud, clay, or ‘excrement’, used in 18th century construction). Women that were suspected of scandalous behaviour were dunked into these 615-foot-long pits (like ‘Get Your Own Back’, but less fun).

The Lord of the Manor – who owned the land – eventually grew bored of hanging dishonourable women out to dry, and replaced the soggy holes with an ornamental pond. For the first time, in 1755, Piccadilly Gardens became an area for public use.

However, the space was occupied by more than just a pond, as the newly built Manchester Royal Infirmary took up most of the site. The 80-bed hospital was opened in 1755, and had 85 inpatients by 1764 (meaning patients had to share beds).

A year later, the Manchester Lunatic Asylum opened its doors. This was an era in which rehabilitation for the mentally ill didn’t exist – most patients were admitted and then confined to an asylum for the rest of their lives.

It’s almost unbelievable now, but women would be institutionalised by husbands, brothers and sons for having ‘strong opinions.’ Asylums not only alienated the mentally ill, but became an easy way to muzzle the vulnerable.

Mike Peel / Wikimedia

The Lunatic Asylum stood in Piccadilly Gardens for a grim 85 years, before moving to Cheadle, where it became the Cheadle Royal Hospital that we know today (no straitjackets included). The Infirmary moved to Oxford Road in 1908 and is now part of the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, alongside Saint Mary’s.

So what happened in Piccadilly Gardens before the big move? Well, that public-access pond, first suggested by The Lord of the Manor (remember him?), became home to some suspicious activity.

Wellcome Collection gallery

In 1892, passers-by kept noticing a dog barking at the pond. It went ignored, until a coach driver finally went to investigate and found a body lying in the water.

Somehow, this dog had sensed the presence of Winifred Hughes, a young woman who had committed suicide in the Piccadilly pond. Hughes had weighed herself down to the bottom of the water, filling her pockets with rocks, after discovering she was pregnant out of wedlock.

There was a silver lining, however. The dog, who was a stray, was given a permanent home in Leeds and was cared for by a Reverend for the rest of its years.

After a dark history full of abuse, 1914 saw Piccadilly Gardens turned into the largest green space in the city centre, which included an on-site public library (finally, something good). The hospital’s old basement was transformed into a ‘sunken garden,’ patching up its not-so-benevolent past with flowers and trees.

Then 2001-2003 saw yet another redevelopment. This controversial change was praised by some, slated by others, and it gave Piccadilly Gardens a couple of new features – like the much-hated Berlin Wall.

LGIM Real Assets

Back to present day, the council is in talks to redevelop the space yet again – with part of the wall set to be demolished.

The landscape architects at LDA Design have been passed the torch, set with the task of continuing the development that began with the watery, woman-punishing pits of doom.

Whatever the future holds for the Gardens, it’s safe to say anything is an improvement on that.