The landmark tower at HM Prison Manchester, also known as Strangeways Prison, is a heating and ventilation extraction tower dating to the opening of the prison in 1868.
The 234-foot (or 71-meter) minaret-style octagonal tower is built of red brick with sandstone dressings, with an arched recess in each side, a perimeter gallery with brick balustraded parapet on stone corbels, and a domed cupola with louvred openings in the sides and cast-iron cresting to the roof. Despite its height and appearance, it was never a prison watchtower.
The tower is a listed structure, meaning that it is protected by official recognition as being of special architectural or historic interest.
