skip to content | Accessibility Information

Introducing Manchester Metropolitan University

MMU has developed over the last 150 years through the combination of several colleges and was awarded university status in 1992. MMU has 8 faculties across 7 sites in Manchester and Cheshire, each with different specialist subject areas.

all saints campus facade

All Saints Campus

The All Saints campus is the main campus situated on the busy Oxford Road in central Manchester. It encompasses the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Art and Design, and Humanities, Law and Social Sciences.

Facilities

All Saints Campus has the following facilities open to the general public:

All Saints has venures for hire. For more details, visit hire our buildings.

The campus area is steeped in history, known from medieval times as the township of Chorlton Row. Towards the end of the 18th century it was developed as a suburb of Manchester and renamed Chorlton-on-Medlock. The township was then absorbed into the Manchester Borough in 1838, and consisted of Beswick, Cheetham Hill, Chorlton upon Medlock and Hulme.

Did you know?

  • Emmeline Pankhurst, a founder of the British suffragette movement lived in Nelson Street and worked in the Ormond Building as part of the Chorlton Union Board of Guardians.
  • David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister, was born in Chorlton-on-Medlock.
  • Friedrich Engels, the German social scientist and philosopher, lived here for a time.
  • LS Lowry studied evening classes at the School of Art under Adolphe Valette
  • The Chorlton-upon-Medlock Town Hall on Cavendish Street held host to the Fifth Pan-African Congress, 15–21 October 1945. The conference led to independence for a number of African and Caribbean countries.
  • One of the major buildings is named after the Scientist John Dalton, who during the late 18th century lived in Manchester and is best known for his work within modern atomic theory
  • Famous former students include Peter Saville, Julie Walters, John Thompson and Steve Coogan.
aytoun campus facade

Aytoun Campus

The Aytoun campus is home to the MMU Business School and Innospace, a Business Start up Facility.

Facilities

The Business School have venures for hire. For more details, visit hire our buildings.

The Business School started out as the Manchester College of Commerce, established in 1889. In 1970, the Manchester College of Commerce merged with the Manchester College of Art and Design to form the Manchester Polytechnic.

Aytoun campus will be closing and work has started on a New Business School. Read more about our redevelopment plans.

Did you know?

  • Innospace has a range of events which include famous entrepreneurs such as Peter Jones known from TV’s Dragon’s Den.
  • Aytoun houses the North-west Film Archive (NWFA), which maintains and stores amateur and professional film footage from the North-west.
crewe campus facade

Crewe Campus

The Crewe Campus is the main campus in Cheshire and together with Alsager forms the MMU Cheshire Faculty. Expertise includes primarily Business, Education, and the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, which covers the areas of Humanities and Applied Social Studies, Environmental and Leisure Studies and Modular Studies.

Facilities

  • The Crewe campus has venues for hire, including en-suite residential accommodation for events. For more information, visit hire our buildings.

Crewe College was established in 1908 and completed in 1912. It started out as a training college to train new teachers for local schools. After the Second World War, the college focused on training Primary Teachers and Nursery Teachers’ Education, and was one of the first locations in the country to offer courses within this field. Crewe developed further during the 1960’s, changing its name a couple of times, and merged with Alsager in 1974. The Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education became part of MMU in 1992, finally becoming MMU Cheshire in 2004.

Did you know?

  • Crewe has a crater named after it on Mars, called ‘Crewe Crater’
  • The village of Crewe was developed into a thriving town due to the railway industry. The Grand Junction Railway company (GJR) built Crewe railway station in fields near to Crewe Hall (1837). The GJR chief engineer Joseph Locke helped design the town.
  • Edward de Bono, originator and developer of the tools for Lateral Thinking has a ‘Centre for Serious Creativity and Constructive Thinking’ at Crewe, the first of its kind in Britain.
alsager campus facade

Alsager Campus

Together with Crewe, Alsager forms the MMU Cheshire Faculty and specialises in Contemporary Arts, Sports Science and Education.

Alsager Campus is due to close and merge with Crewe campus, for more information visit MMU Cheshire’s website about the changes.

Facilities

The Alsager campus has excellent sport and leisure facilities available for training and performance events.

for more information, visit hire our buildings.

The campus started out as a wartime hostel, playing an important role in the country’s war effort. The site provided living space for 1,000 female munitions workers from a nearby factory.

Alsager was turned into a Teacher Training College in 1947, in response to the school leaving age going up from 14 to 15. The college was renamed to Cheshire County Training College after being merged in 1949 with the Liverpool Institute of Education and became one of the largest teacher training institutes of its time. It developed further as it the joined Crewe College in 1974, and formally became MMU Cheshire in 2004.

Did you know?

  • The Alsager Arts Centre has a range of events which run from September to November and January to March
  • James Lloyd, the artist was born in the town of Alsager
  • Roy Keane, the former Manchester United captain took his UEFA ‘A’ Licence – the qualification needed to manage in the Premiership at MMU Cheshire, in Alsager
didsbury campus facade

Didsbury Campus

Didsbury campus is based five miles south of the city, and is home to the Institute of Education. The Faculty specialises in education, early years teaching and social care. Based in the centre of Didsbury, the campus offers a popular venue for creative weekend activities.

Facilities

For more information about Didsbury and venues available for hire, visit hire our buildings

The campus started out as ‘Didsbury College of Education’, but merged with MMU and Hollings College in 1977.

Did you know?

  • Didsbury’s history dates back to the 13th century, existing as a small hamlet
  • In 1745 Charles Edward Stuart, ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ crossed the Mersey at Didsbury in the march south from Manchester to Derby
  • Didsbury is home to the Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden, a 21 acres recreational park by Fletcher Moss, in 1919.
  • Early episodes of The Avengers, Armchair Theatre and Opportunity Knocks were made in the ABC Weekend Television's northern studios and the old Capitol Cinema in Didsbury between 1956 and 1969,
  • Capitol Theatre at MMU All Saints Campus used to be based in Didsbury
elizabeth gaskell campus facade

Elizabeth Gaskell Campus

The Elizabeth Gaskell campus is based two miles south of the city centre and is home to the Faculty of Health, Psychology & Social Care. The campus is named after the famous Victorian novelist, Elizabeth Gaskell.

Facilities

The Elizabeth Gaskell campus has rooms available for hire as well as specialist therapy rooms. Visit hire our buildings for more information.

Gaskell lived in Manchester during the mid 1800’s, a stone’s throw away from the MMU Gaskell campus. It was here at 84 Plymouth Grove she wrote most of her books and lived with her family until her death in 1865. Gaskell had a circle of friends made up of social reformers, artists and literary greats. Many of these visited Plymouth Grove such as Charles Dickens, John Ruskin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, conductor Charles Hallé and Charlotte Brontë.

Did you know?

  • The campus is named after the famous Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, in honour of the social inequalities she raised in her books
  • 84 Plymouth Grove is now being refurbished as a museum through the Manchester Historic buildings Trust and has events open to the public.
hollings campus facade

Hollings Campus

The Hollings Faculty is based three miles out of the city centre, and specialises within Food, Fashion, Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure.

Hollings College merged with MMU in 1977, and the Faculty is due to be relocated to the All Saints Campus.

Facilities

  • There are catering & textile facilities, including large well-equipped sewing rooms.
  • Training restaurants where our catering students can gain valuable work experience, which is open for bookings from the general public.

For more information, visit the faculty website and hire our buildings.

The site has been in use from 1901, originally as a teaching facility for cookery and domestic science for the Manchester’s Domestic and Trades College Manchester.

The main building at Hollings is famous for its ‘Toast-rack’, trademark, designed for Hollings College in 1958 by Architect Leonard Howitt, completed in 1960. The building was Grade II listed in 1998 and is a great example of post-war architecture.

Did you know?

  • You can book a table and eat at the Hollings Specialty Training Restaurant
  • Academics at Hollings Clothing and Design Technology Department are working on equipment and clothing for the 2012 Olympics.