Plans to transform the 2,000-year-old birthplace of Manchester are back on track. The multi-million pound revamp of the Roman Gardens in Castlefield, which have been in the offing for years, is now being revived by a local group.
The historic city centre spot located off Liverpool Road was home to the Roman fort of Mamucium where the settlement of Manchester was founded in AD 79. A reconstruction of the fort's North Gate now stands on the site of the original stone gateway which was uncovered during a dig in the early 1980s.
Plans to transform the public green space described as 'one of the saddest and most unloved areas' were put forward by Castlefield Forum in 2016 with detailed proposals drawn up by architects BDP on behalf of the community group approved by Manchester council the following year. But planning permission for the project expired during the pandemic before it got started.
