Trafford Park Heritage Centre
As well as being a place for community support and training, the St. Antony's Centre is also proud to be the home of the Trafford Park Heritage Centre. The Centre is dedicated to preserving the story of Trafford Park, which was the world's first planned industrial estate, and houses a small permanent exhibition of Trafford Park, with artefacts and archive material tracing back to 1896.
Visiting the Heritage Centre
Opening Times : Monday - Friday, 9.30am - 4.00pm
The Heritage Centre welcomes visitors by prior arrangement if possible so that we can arrange for a member of staff to introduce the exhibition to you and answer any questions. If you would like to visit the Centre, please call us on 0161 848 9173 or complete the form below.
Did you know that Trafford Park ...
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had its own residential community, complete with the facilities and activities of a typical residential area?
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had two schools (the buildings of which still exist today, although modernised)?
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had a swimming baths?
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was home to 100 American companies by 1915?
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was the place chosen by the Ford Motor Company when establishing its first British factory for the production of the Model T and other cars?
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village streets were constructed on an American-style grid system, with avenues and streets numbered as they still are today?
If you didn't know these things, why not arrange a visit and find out more about this significant part of British industrial history. We look forward to welcoming you.
The Heritage Centre
The Heritage Centre was established at St Antony's in 1979. The building (based on the former St Antony's School which was built on the site in 1912) has a small permanent exhibition of information and artefacts, some of which are woven into the fabric of the centre as a whole, as well as extensive archive and reference materials.
The exhibition traces the industrial and manufacturing history of the area which includes major companies such as Ford's, Kellogg's, Metropolitan Vickers and Proctor and Gamble. The archives and materials are updated regularly, with donations of materials from companies and by people who worked in the Park.
The Village
Among the significant features of the exhibition area are the images and objects capturing life in Trafford Park Village. The village was built from scratch to house people moving into the area and to take jobs in the new factories and businesses being constructed in the area. A thriving community was quickly established and the exhibition provides a unique documentary record of what life was like in the village, surrounding by a sea of industry. The Village was almost completely self-contained, with its own shops, public hall, post office, police station, schools, social club, and sports facilities.
Since 1979, the Centre has gathered a significant archive of material and it uses these documents, images and artefacts to inform and educate schools, community groups and interested individuals (many of whom remember the village or had relatives who lived in the village or worked in Trafford Park) about different aspects of Trafford Park history.
The centre often organises particular exhibitions featuring different aspects of Trafford Park History. Talks on the history and development of Trafford Park can be organised by prior arrangement. We can also organise talks for school groups based on historical changes in the area and the range of products, scientific firsts and technical innovations which came from Trafford Park industries. We can arrange short walking tours of the village area to highlight some of the buildings which, although adapted for modern-day use, are based on the original buildings from the early period of the Trafford Park Village.
1953 Coronation Celebration Trafford Park
