Piccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, on the edge of the Northern Quarter. It takes its name from the adjacent street, Piccadilly, which runs across the city centre from Market Street to London Road. The gardens also contain a bus station and a tram stop. Piccadilly Gardens were laid out after World War I on the former site of the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Originally landscaped as an ornamental sunken garden, the area was levelled out and reconfigured in 2002 with a water feature and concrete pavilion by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Location Piccadilly Gardens are located in Manchester city centre, just to the south of the Northern Quarter. The green space is bounded on four sides by streets: Mosley Street to the west, Parker Street to the south and Portland Street to the east; along the northern side is Piccadilly, a street that runs eastwards from the junction of Market Street to the junction of London Road with Ducie Street. The name Piccadilly is often used to refer to the area around Piccadilly itself, including the gardens, Piccadilly Station and Piccadilly Basin, a canal basin on the Rochdale Canal. Since 2018, the name has also been given to an electoral ward, Piccadilly. History Before 1755, the area was occupied by water-filled clay pits called the "Daub Holes". The street running along the northern edge was then called Lever's Row, later renamed Piccadilly. In the 18th century, Sir Oswald Mosley, 2nd Baronet, of Rolleston, Lord of the Manor of Manchester, donated the land to the city on condition that it should remain in public use in perpetuity, on pain of the land reverting to the Mosley family. Manchester Royal Infirmary In 1755, with the assent of Sir Oswald Mosley, the Manchester Royal Infirmary was built here. In 1763, the Manchester Royal Lunatic Asylum was built next to the Manchester Royal Infirmary. It later moved to Cheadle in 1849, and is now Cheadle Royal Hospital. In 1854, the area was laid out by the Manchester Corporation as a public esplanade, designed by Sir Joseph Paxton. The "Daub Holes" were turned into a fine ornamental fountain. Statues of noted figures such as the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel and John Dalton were laid out along the esplanade. Perrin's Manchester Handbook of 1857 wrote of the newly inaugurated space: The Manchester Royal Infirmary relocated in 1908 to its