The "Traditional Centre"

Where is the central point of Manchester City Centre ?

Of course, it doesn't exist. But in former times, when people travelled in horse drawn carriages and distances were measured by stone milestones by the side of the road or track, measurements had to be taken from somewhere.

And that somewhere is St Anne's church, and to be precise the corner of the tower on St Anne's Street facing Russell and Bromley. At the base of the tower, on one of the quoins, is a cartographers mark which marks the exact spot. See the image, bottom left.

So it isn't the Town Hall or the Arndale - neither existed when people decided they needed to measure from somewhere so precise distances could be calculated.