Gezicht op het stadhuis van Manchester before 1878

This is a photograph of the Manchester Town Hall, taken by Alfred Brothers sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The image comes from a published book. Therefore we can infer that the image's purpose was informational: to document the architecture of Manchester for a reading public. The architecture itself speaks to Manchester's civic pride during its industrial heyday. Its neo-Gothic style evokes the authority of the medieval past, a common visual code for institutional buildings in this period. The Town Hall was a conscious attempt to project an image of power and stability. In my view, understanding this image requires looking into the history of Manchester in the 19th century. As social historians, we need to understand how institutions like the Manchester Town Hall were designed to shape civic identity and reflect social and political power.