History of Fletcher Moss Botanical Gardens

Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden (known locally as Fletcher Moss) is situated in Didsbury, Manchester, England, between the River Mersey and Stenner Woods.

The park is named after local Alderman Fletcher Moss, who donated the park to the city of Manchester in 1919. Part of the garden consists of a rockery originally created by Robert Wood Williamson, which was sold to Alderman Fletcher Moss, together with his house called The Croft, in 1912. It is part botanical garden and part wildlife habitat, but also offers recreational facilities such as tennis courts, rugby and football pitches and a cafe.

Fletcher Moss, born in July 1843, was a philanthropist who led many public works in Manchester; in 1915 he persuaded the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to fund the construction of a public library in Didsbury. He lived in the Old Parsonage by St James's Church, Stenner Lane, having taken over residence from the vicar, a Rev W J Kidd, who left the property complaining it was haunted. In 1919 he gifted the gardens to the people of Manchester, declaring he had “determined to offer all that part of my property extending from the Fletcher Moss Playing Fields to Stenner Lane, to the corporation if I could retain the use of it for my life”.

The Croft lays claim to a niche in history as the birthplace of the RSPB. www.rspb.org.uk In 1889 Emily Williamson (Robert's wife) formed a group called the Plumage League, with the aim of stopping the wholesale slaughter of birds in the cause of making women's hats. This grew in support and eventually joined forces with Mrs. Phillips' 'Fur and Feather League' in Croyden, to become the RSPB.

Today in recognition of this the organisation holds events in the park with the intention of educating people about birds and eliciting more support for their valuable conservation work.

The park retains many of its original features such as the rock and heather gardens, and the orchid houses now containing alpines situated in the Old Parsonage Gardens adjacent to Fletcher Moss Gardens. Together they form a picturesque and tranquil haven for visitors and residents.