Chetham’s School of Music occupies a unique position in its geographical and historical position in Manchester. For many of our visitors, Chetham’s is a surprising oasis of creativity in the heart of the city centre. Most unexpected in a busy cosmopolitan and exciting city, Chetham’s is where beautiful music, outstanding buildings steeped in English history and talented young musicians meet.
Chetham’s has its roots in the medieval buildings which date back to 1421 and around which our school revolves to this day. The history and heritage of this, the Medieval heart of Manchester, tell a story by turns of ecclesiastical, aristocratic and scholarly renown. After the English Civil War and the Parliamentarian overthrow of the Lord of the Manor on this spot, a “Hospital School and Library” was founded in 1653 by Humphrey Chetham, twice the High Sheriff of Manchester. Both School and Library thrived and the centuries passed. The medieval town of Manchester flourished and grew into the world’s first industrial city.
The 20th century brought huge expansion in educational opportunity and at one point three schools shared the yard – The Manchester Grammar School, Nicholls Hospital School and Chetham’s Hospital School, where boys still wore traditional Tudor dress. Music slowly but surely put down the firm foundations throughout the 1950s and 1960s, helped by Manchester’s strong musical tradition, manifested in the success of the Hallé and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras, and the City’s music colleges (amalgamated into the 1970s into the Royal Northern College of Music).
In 1969, a bold and far reaching decision was taken – to change the boys’ Grammar School to a fully co-educational boarding specialist Music School. Today, forty years later, Chetham’s enjoys a reputation as being a celebrated and internationally renowned specialist Music School.
Chetham’s is all too often regarded as a hidden gem. Our future plans are underway to make Chetham’s more accessible, with the history and heritage of the city more visible to the public. We are currently constructing a new school building in the heart of Medieval Manchester. Following this, we plan to open up the buildings to reveal our architectural and historical gem to more visitors.
If you would like to find out more about Chetham’s developments visit our new school development section.
If this has whet your appetite to find out more about the history and heritage of Chetham’s, we run guided tours and talks of the buildings on Wednesday afternoons during term time. Call Chetham’s box office for details and availability. 0161 838 7244.
