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Then and Now: Brazennose Street

Brazennose Street in 1961
Brazennose Street in 1961

IT may be only a stone’s throw from the Manchester Evening News offices but historic Lincoln Square is more than capable of making headlines of its own.

Tucked discreetly between Albert Square and Deansgate, the Lincoln square has a statue of former US President Abraham Lincoln, which was presented to the city of Manchester amid some controversy.

It had been destined for Parliament Square in London as a symbol of Anglo-American unity but the American Commission of Fine Arts considered it insufficiently reverent and chose something else.

 Replaced

the site now
the site now

However, the story behind the 6ft-high granite plinth doesn’t end there. Officially, the words etched in tablets of stone should have read “To the working men of Manchester” as written by Lincoln in his letter in 1863.

Instead, the word “men” in the original letter was replaced by the word “people” several times in the text of the letter on the plinth. Sources in the town hall later claimed that several officers had objected to the change which had originated through pressure from the equal opportunities lobby.

Today, Lincoln Square, on the south side of Brazennose Street, is an attractive walled garden in stark contrast to how it appeared in 1961 (pictured).

Other sights of note in the square are the memorial to Princess Diana, and the popular Lincoln Restaurant owned by Manchester bookie Fred Done.

The archive photograph is part of a large collection chronicling the changing face of Manchester during the past 250 years.

The collection comprises more than 77,000 images on an easy-to-use computer at Manchester Central Library.


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