The Athenaeum
THE ATHENAEUM, 81, PRINCESS STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1270889
- Date first listed:
- 03-Oct-1974
- List Entry Name:
- The Athenaeum
- Statutory Address:
- THE ATHENAEUM, 81, PRINCESS STREET
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-09-23
- Reference:
- IOE01/05791/11
- Rights:
- © Mr Neil Short. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1270889
- Date first listed:
- 03-Oct-1974
- List Entry Name:
- The Athenaeum
- Statutory Address 1:
- THE ATHENAEUM, 81, PRINCESS STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- THE ATHENAEUM, 81, PRINCESS STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Manchester (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SJ 84077 97991
Details
MANCHESTER
SJ8497NW PRINCESS STREET 698-1/32/335 (North East side) 03/10/74 No.81 The Athenaeum
GV II*
Cultural club, now annex to City Art Gallery. 1837, by Sir Charles Barry; damaged by fire 1874 and then remodelled internally, and attic added. Sandstone ashlar, slate roof. Rectangular plan plus rear extension. Italian palazzo style. Two storeys and basement, plus added attic, a symmetrical 9-window facade, with basement treated as a plinth, raised rusticated quoins, sill-bands, string-course, lettered frieze (see below), very prominent mutuled cornice, and high balustraded parapet with 4 tall chimneys. The entrance, up a flight of stone steps, has a shallow rectangular porch with Roman Doric columns, triglyph frieze, moulded cornice and balustraded parapet, and a round-headed arch to a recessed porch with coffered barrel-vaulted ceiling. Both floors have tall 2-light casement windows with moulded architraves, those at ground floor with cornices and apron sills and those at 1st floor with balustrades and floating pediments. Frieze lettered: "INSTUTVTED MDCCCXXXV ATHENAEUM ERECTED MDCCCXXXVIII". Slated mansard attic roof (added) with wrought-iron cresting. Five-bay side walls in matching style, also with lettered friezes, that on the right side: "FOR THE ADVANCEMENT AND DIFFVSION OF KNOWLEDGE". History; precursor of Italian palazzo style in Manchester architecture.
Listing NGR: SJ8407797991
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 456834
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 14:09:47.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.