The main part of the gardens is a walled rock garden that was laid out by the botanist Robert Wood Williamson on a south-facing slope.
Williamson sold the gardens and rockery along with his house, called The Croft, to Alderman Fletcher Moss, in 1912.

Fletcher Moss, born in July 1843, was a philanthropist who led many public works in Manchester; in 1915 he persuaded the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to fund the construction of a public library in Didsbury.
He lived in the Old Parsonage by St James's Church, Stenner Lane, having taken over residence from the vicar, a Rev. W. J. Kidd, who left the property complaining it was haunted.
In 1919 he gave the gardens to the people of Manchester, declaring he had "determined to offer all that part of my property extending from the Fletcher Moss Playing Fields to Stenner Lane, to the corporation if I could retain the use of it for my life".

Robert Williamson's old house, the Croft, was the location of the first meeting of the organisation later to become known as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
 In 1889, Emily Williamson née Bateson (Robert's wife) formed a group called the "Plumage League" to protest against the breeding of birds for plumage to be used in women's hats, a highly fashionable practice at the time.
The group gained popularity and eventually amalgamated with "The Fur, Fin and Feather Folk" in Croydon, and formed the RSPB.
The main part of the gardens is a walled rock garden that was laid out by the botanist Robert Wood Williamson on a south-facing slope. Williamson sold the gardens and rockery along with his house, called The Croft, to Alderman Fletcher Moss, in 1912.
Fletcher Moss, born in July 1843, was a philanthropist who led many public works in Manchester; in 1915 he persuaded the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to fund the construction of a public library in Didsbury. He lived in the Old Parsonage by St James's Church, Stenner Lane, having taken over residence from the vicar, a Rev. W. J. Kidd, who left the property complaining it was haunted. In 1919 he gave the gardens to the people of Manchester, declaring he had "determined to offer all that part of my property extending from the Fletcher Moss Playing Fields to Stenner Lane, to the corporation if I could retain the use of it for my life".
Robert Williamson's old house, the Croft, was the location of the first meeting of the organisation later to become known as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).  In 1889, Emily Williamson née Bateson (Robert's wife) formed a group called the "Plumage League" to protest against the breeding of birds for plumage to be used in women's hats, a highly fashionable practice at the time. The group gained popularity and eventually amalgamated with "The Fur, Fin and Feather Folk" in Croydon, and formed the RSPB.
Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden