The park was renovated as part of a millennium project partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund and Manchester City Council at a cost of over £10 million.

[17] In 1772, Sir Thomas Egerton, 7th Baronet (later the 1st Earl of Wilton), commissioned the fashionable architect James Wyatt to design a new home for his young family.

The races were run on a course around the park which included the site of the present day boating lake until 1839 when they moved to Aintree near Liverpool, now the venue for the Grand National.

Consequently, the decision by Lord Wilton to put the hall and park up for sale was greeted with dismay, especially when it became known that the site was being eyed by a property developer.

[24] During the First World War, the park was used as a training camp for the Pals battalions of the Manchester Regiment, whilst Heaton Hall became a military hospital.

The rooms of the hall were exquisitely finished by the finest artists and craftsmen of the period, with most of the furnishings and mahogany doors being made by Gillow's of Lancashire.

Most of the decorative paintings, the Pompeiian Cupola Room and the case for the 18th century chamber organ built by Samuel Green in 1790,[27] were the work of Italian artist, Biagio Rebecca.

[28] Designed by James Wyatt in 1800 for Thomas Egerton, 1st Earl of Wilton, the ornamental temple is a simple, small rotunda of Tuscan columns with a domed roof and lantern.

This Grade II listed building stands on the highest point of the city of Manchester giving views across the golf course, which was originally the deer park.

This "pepperpot" building located at the east entrance to the park, now on Middleton Road, was designed by Lewis Wyatt for the 1st Earl of Wilton in 1806.

It was built in an unusual octagonal shape as a cottage to be viewed from the house in a romantic, rural setting, as well as being a home for the lodge keeper.

The lodge was fully restored with a grant from the Lottery Heritage fund in the late 1990s and is now rented out to the public as short stay accommodation.

[30] Commissioned in 1807 by Sir Thomas Egerton, the Grand Lodge was designed by Lewis Wyatt as an impressive main entrance to the park from the south.

The lodge is built of ashlar sandstone as a large triumphal arch and originally led onto one of the longest carriage drives to the house.

The lake, which is overlooked by the Lakeside Cafe, has three islands and is home to large numbers of ornamental birds and wildfowl including geese, ducks, swans and fantail doves.

When that building was scheduled for demolition a successful campaign to save the façade resulted in the colonnade being re-assembled in the park at the end of the boating lake.

The Animal Centre is housed behind the stables in the area that was Home Farm, on the site of the 19th century glasshouse range where exotic foods and flowers were grown for the family.

It was presented to the people of Manchester in 1959 by Longden's brother, Edward, who had previously served as the President of the Institute of British Foundrymen.

[37] The initial idea, to construct a new tramway from Grand Lodge to Heaton Hall, was considered too expensive, as it would require remedial works to carry it across the railway tunnel.

Therefore, a new scheme was proposed to open up the old Manchester Corporation Tramways spur from Middleton Road to the old tram shelter some 300 yards (270 m) inside the park.

[39] The golf centre, which has its own private driving range used for teaching purposes, is located at the Smithy Lodge, entrance to Heaton Park.

The concert was attended by William Grimshaw, a gramophone salesman from Prestwich and a few days later, he took his gramophone to Heaton Park and played recordings of the songs performed by Caruso to an assembled crowd of 40,000 people who, according to the Prestwich and Heaton Park Guardian, "remained as if spellbound from the moment of arrival to the close of the programme, which, it is hardly necessary to say, was intensely enjoyed."

[44][45] In June 2012, Manchester band The Stone Roses played three sold-out shows at Heaton Park as part of their Reunion Tour.

[46] It was announced in February 2013 that Manchester's annual Parklife Weekender music festival will be held at Heaton Park for the foreseeable future.

[48] On 1 July 2016, the park hosted a concert and exhibition as part of the National Commemoration of the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme, which was centred on Manchester.

[50] An evening concert at Heaton Park featured a national children's choir, archive film, dance, spoken word and Manchester's Hallé Orchestra.

[citation needed] On 27 August 2024, Oasis announced that they would be reuniting for a tour, with Heaton Park being the venue for five concerts between 11 and 20 July 2025.

Productions include: Blue Remembered Hills (Potter), The Wizard of Oz, The Wind in the Willows, The Three Musketeers, Arthur - King of the Britons, Dracula - The Blood Count, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth.