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The 'Georgian paradise' hosting the Oasis concerts

Rumeana Jahangir
BBC News, Manchester
BBC Honey-coloured neoclassical pillars on either side of the front of Heaton Hall. It looks out over a green lawnBBC
Designed by architect James Wyatt, Heaton Hall was built by its owner Sir Thomas Egerton in 1772

Manchester's Heaton Park is centre stage this week as about 340,000 fans are expected to watch Oasis perform over five concerts, which kicked off on Friday night.

Dr Peter Lindfield, an architectural historian who has specialised in the city's heritage, says the homecoming gigs will "definitely not" be what the park's Georgian owner Sir Thomas Egerton would have envisaged happening there.

However he highlights "it's still entertainment and that's what these grand country estates were in some ways designed for".

"The Oasis concerts are a modern equivalent but on a slightly more louder scale with far more people," he says.

"In some ways, people are going to be enjoying a Georgian paradise."

Getty Images Aerial drone view of stage being built at Heaton Park surrounded by construction vehicles in front of rows of trees. In the backdrop are residential houses plus high-rise buildings of Manchester city centre. Pennine hills can be seen in the background.Getty Images
The Oasis stage was built earlier this week at the park, which offers views of Manchester's skyscrapers along with the Pennines and Peak District

Dr Lindfield describes Sir Thomas as a politician who was an "advocate of Manchester's cotton industry" linked to the "movers and shakers in the region".

They included the Cheshire-based Grosvenor dynasty – believed to be among the wealthiest families in the country - and the Egerton branch which owned the Tatton Park estate in Knutsford.

Heaton Park even had a popular racecourse in the 1830s, while the Grade I-listed hall remains the centrepiece with its panorama of the city and surrounding countryside.

Designed by Georgian architect James Wyatt, the house was inspired by the "classical antiquity which the aristocracy and all the well-to-do in the 18th Century saw when they went to Italy on the grand tour", Dr Lindfield says.

"What James Wyatt did was make this house a grand representation of basically ancient Rome, and it says of Thomas Egerton how fashionable he is, his wealth, his significance within society and it just basically says 'look at me'."

Getty Images Black and white image of an open-top white Leyland truck carrying the Pope and officials past a huge crowd of people waving at Heaton ParkGetty Images
Pope John Paul II led a Mass at Heaton Park during the first visit by a reigning pontiff to the UK in 1982

Despite the Egerton family's prestige, a lack of male heirs further down the line led to the property being sold in 1902 for £230,000 - about £25m in today's money – to the Manchester Corporation, which then turned it into a public park.

The hall became a military hospital during World War One and a Royal Air Force camp was accommodated in the park in World War Two.

In 1982, the site was chosen to host a Mass with more than 100,000 people, when Pope John Paul II undertook the first papal tour of the UK.

Reuters Four large swan-like pedal boats on a Heaton Park lake behind railings with a blue sign offering the chance to win Oasis concert tickets.Reuters
The park also has a boating lake, which is popular with families

About 80,000 fans per gig are expected at Heaton Park to watch the Gallagher brothers perform.

"When the property's so big," says Dr Lindfield, "it's a huge opportunity to do really exciting things."

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