The Royal Jubilee Exhibition, Manchester, 1887
“A National Exhibition of Arts, Science, and Industry”
Overview
In 1887, thirty years after the Art Treasures Exhibition, Old Trafford was chosen to stage another large-scale exposition, to celebrate Queen Victoria’s fifty-year reign. The Royal Jubilee Exhibition, which ran for 165 days (3 May to 10 November 1887) was open from 9am to 10pm, every day except Sunday. Its aim was to showcase “the development of Arts and Manufactures during the Victorian era”.
Following on from similar exhibitions in London, Liverpool and Edinburgh the previous year, Manchester’s show was bigger and better, occupying a 45-acre site with its own temporary railway station. Opened by the Prince of Wales, accompanied by his wife, the hugely successful exhibition attracted over 4.7 million visitors.
Architecture and Layout
The main pavilion was a cross-shaped structure, measuring 1000 feet (305 m) in length. The central dome, 90 feet (27 m) in diameter, and over 140 feet (43 m) high, was decorated from designs by Ford Madox Brown. Built from wrought-iron gas pipes and cast-iron water pipes, with large glazed areas, the building was designed by Manchester-based architects Maxwell and Tuke, whose best-known work is Blackpool Tower.
In addition to the main building, on the other side of Talbot Road, connected by a footbridge, was a large annex housing the ‘Machinery in Motion’ hall (510 x 210 feet/155 x 64 m) and ‘Machinery at Rest’. Outside, the gardens included conservatories, fern houses and an immense ‘Fairy Fountain’, which was illuminated after dark by electricity.
Exhibits and Attractions
Exhibits were organised into sections including: industrial designs; machinery; chemical and allied industries, and handicrafts. There were dedicated areas devoted to Irish industry, silk and photography. The Fine Arts Section, which included thirteen galleries, offered 2,100 paintings, focussing on British artists within Victoria’s reign. Our own John Rylands, who was a guarantor to the exhibition, loaned two oil paintings.
Open-air entertainment included: a creamery; a bakery; a switch-back railway; a tobogganing slide, and a cycling track. There were two bandstands at either end of a wide avenue, a billiard-room, a smoking-room and various refreshments rooms. Daily programmes of musical entertainment were provided by military and civilian bands, along with organ recitals in the magnificent music room.
Many of the guarantors of the exhibition (including John Rylands) were also backers of plans to build the Manchester Ship Canal, a scheme designed to secure the economic future of the city. A 35-foot (11 m) scale model of the canal was displayed to promote the project, and work on the canal began the day after the exhibition closed.
Old Manchester and Salford
The most popular part of the exhibition however, was a full-size representation of ‘Old Manchester and Salford’, combining elements of the region’s past ranging from a Roman gateway to the steeply-cobbled Market Sted Lane, and the 75-foot (29-m) tower of the ‘Old Church’ (now Manchester Cathedral), complete with working bells. An additional charge was made, on top of the shilling entry fee, to climb the tower and enjoy the views.
Located outside the main pavilion, this open-air, local history exhibit was designed by Alfred Darbyshire (1839–1908), a theatrical architect, who was also a member of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. Its success can be attributed to his combination of showmanship with historical detail. Costumed employees added to the atmosphere, interacting with visitors and providing demonstrations of handicrafts including weaving, printing and bookbinding. Visitors could try out the stocks and pillory, providing further entertainment for onlookers.
Publications
Official publications were produced by the firm of John Heywood, who also staffed a reproduction of Joseph Harrop’s 18th-century printing office in ‘Old Manchester and Salford’. Souvenir copies of Harrop’s ‘Manchester Mercury’ were printed on a two-hundred-year-old hand press. In addition to an official catalogue and handbooks, daily programmes were printed containing a timetable of activities, performances and displays.
Like the Art Treasures Exhibition, the Royal Jubilee Exhibition also inspired other publications, including a photographic record, penny guides, humorous sketch books and even a children’s storybook.
Legacy
Visitors to the Royal Jubilee Exhibition were particularly impressed by the Fine Arts section of English watercolour paintings. This positive reception encouraged the establishment of the Whitworth Art Gallery (1887). The exhibition surplus (£43,239 6s. 1d.) was donated to the gallery, and used to purchase 54 works, including some by J M W Turner.
‘Old Manchester and Salford’ is one of the UK’s earliest attempts at creating an open-air museum. The concept remains popular today in heritage attractions such as Beamish and the Black Country Living Museum.
Discussion Points
How might the range of exhibits contribute to the world’s perception of Manchester?
What does the exhibition tell us about Victorian attitudes towards local history?
What was the appeal of ‘Old Manchester and Salford’? Why do open-air museums remain so popular today?
Additional Resources
Alfred Darbyshire, ‘A Booke of Olde Manchester and Salford’ (Manchester, 1887).
Alan Kidd, ‘The Industrial City and its Pre-industrial Past: The Manchester Royal Jubilee Exhibition of 1887’, in ‘Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society’, Vol. 89 (1993), pp. 54–73.
‘Royal Jubilee Exhibition, Manchester, 1887. Official catalogue’ (Manchester, 1887). Available here.
