181916 August 1819 · St Peter's Field, Manchester
Peterloo Massacre
About 60,000 people gathered on St Peter's Field in Manchester, a city with no MP of its own, to hear Henry Hunt call for parliamentary reform. Magistrates sent in the local yeomanry and then hussars, who rode into the crowd with sabres: around 18 people died and hundreds were injured. Named in mockery of Waterloo, the massacre fed the long campaign for the vote.
Sites
- Site 1: Peterloo Memorial, Windmill StreetJeremy Deller's stepped memorial of 2019, naming the dead and their home towns.Map ↗
- Site 2: Former Free Trade Hall, Peter StreetBuilt on the field itself; a red plaque records the massacre.Map ↗
- Site 3: People's History MuseumCollections on Peterloo and the long fight for the vote.Map ↗
Guides who take you there
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Also in Manchester and Liverpool
More from the 18th & 19th Century
Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.