St Ann's Ragged School on Queen Street, a story revealed

I went looking for St Ann’s Ragged School today but with no success.

It stood on Queen Street which once stretched from Deansgate up to Albert Square but now runs up against Heron House which is that big slab of a building occupying part of Albert Square and extending back down Lloyd Street on one side and Brazenose Street on the other.

St Ann's was there until quite recently and then it had gone, replaced by one of those forgettable buildings.

I wish I had taken more interest in it not least because of its long history with children and the protection of those of our young people who needed help.

But as ever someone got there first.

This week’s blog post from the Together Trust focuses on the building connected with the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes. It catered for ragged children in the area in the nineteenth century, providing free education and often their main meal for the day.*



Picture; St Ann’s School, Queen Street, 1973, D Wildgoose, m64873, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass


*St. Ann's Ragged School, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/