MANCHESTER CITY CENTRE CHURCHES

FOR one reason or another some of the City of Manchester's older churches and chapels have disappeared. Here I take a look at some of their images and briefly explain the reasons why some of them no longer exist. Also included are some brief details of those that still survive.

ST JOHN'S, BYROM ST

ST JOHN'S was built by Edward Byrom following an Act of Parliament in 1768. St John's parish was united with St Matthews, Campfield in 1928 when St Mathews became the parish church, but the St John's parsonage served as the home for the clergy. St John's church was demolished in 1931. This new parish was united with St Ann's in 1943.

Courtesy of Manchester Archives and Local Studies
http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/

ST MARY'S, PARSONAGE

ST MARY'S was consecrated on September 29^th 1756 after an Act of Parliament in 1753. It was closed in October 1890 and the parish was united with St Ann's to form the newly named parish of St Ann and St Mary.

Courtesy of Manchester Archives and Local Studies

http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/

ST PETER'S, MOSLEY ST

ST PETER'S Church was an impressive building. It was consecrated 6^th September 1794.The impending closure of this church was the cause of some controversy.

In 1906 The Manchester Churches Act was passed by Parliament. In the preamble to the Act it is stated that with the conversion of dwelling houses to commercial properties in certain parishes in the City of Manchester population diminished and in other parishes increased. Which meant too many churches in parts of the city and visa versa.

A 1905 commission set up by the Bishop of Manchester came to the conclusion that St Peter, Mosley St, Saints Simon and Jude, Granby Row and St Martins Oldham Road be removed and sold, and the mentioned parishes be united with adjacent Parishes. This is exactly what the 1906 Act did.

At first Manchester Corporation were opposed to the proposed Act while it was still at the Bill stage. After sometime there was agreement between the Corporation and the Diocese of Manchester. These common points were then included in a revised Bill later the actual Act.

Courtesy of Manchester Archives and Local Studies

http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/

The Act stated that St Peter's was to unify with St James's, George St and that the Corporation would purchase the church, vaults and attached land for �20,000 excluding all the valuable moveable objects such as the organ, font, altar, monuments, stained glass etc. The Diocese had to remove all these objects within 3 months of the Act coming in to law, otherwise they would become Corporation property.

For the Corporation's part they had to make an accurate plan of all the graves and vaults, together with transcriptions of all the readable monumental inscriptions. Then they had to cover and protect all the graves. The Corporation had to agree to demolish the church within twelve months of the passing of the Act. Furthermore, they had to agree that the land could only be used for the purposes of widening adjoining streets and as an open space for the benefit of the citizens of Manchester. They also agreed that a memorial to the church costing �500 would be erected on the site.

Manchester Corporation paid the money to the Manchester Diocese on July 19^th 1907. In his book, A Short History Of Manchester and Salford, F A Bruton puts it much more simply. At the bottom of Mosley St a graceful cross marks the dark pile of St Peter's Church, which was consecrated in 1794, but was found to block the traffic so seriously that it had to be removed.

ST AUGUSTINE'S R C, GRANBY ROW

St Augustine's RC Church has had a very chequered history. Its first location was Granby Row, but with a combination of the 1906 Open Spaces Act and the 1908 Manchester Corporation Act it was removed to York St, Chorlton-on-Medlock, becoming the major Roman Catholic church in the area. In December 1940 Enemy Action reduced the church to a shell, no pun intended. However the Parish Church did rise again but in another location over looking where All Saints used to stand. The church was not built until 1968 before the church was dedicated, once again, to St Augustine.

Courtesy of Manchester Archives and Local Studies

http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/

COOPER STREET CALVANISTIC METHODIST (formerly Oak Street)

Baptism records exist for this chapel from 1803 to 1837.

CROSS STREET PRESBYTERIAN

Records dating back to 1712 have survived for this chapel. An image can be seen here.

GROSVENOR STREET INDEPENDENT, PICCADILLY

Baptisms from this chapel have survived from 1795. An image can be seen here.

MOSELEY STREET INDEPENDENT

Another source of early records dating from 1795. This particular building was demolished in 1848. See here.

OLDHAM ROAD CONGREATIONAL

A very good collection of records survive from 1853. Image.

OLDHAM STREET METHODIST NEW CONNEXION

Baptismal records from 1800 still exist. See here.

ST CLEMENT, LEVER STREET.

Records of baptisms have survived from 1793.

ST GEORGE, OLDHAM ROAD

A very good collection of records have survived from 1798. An image can be seen here.

ST GEORGE'S ROAD BAPTIST

Records from 1777 to 1836 still exist.

ST JAMES, GEORGE STREET

Baptism and marriage records from 1798 to 1928 (when the church closed) survive. See here.

ST MARTIN, GERMAN STREET

Baptisms records from 1865 and marriage records from 1874 survive.

ST MATTHEW, CAMPFIELD

A good collection of records have survived from 1826. Images can be found on the web.

ST PAUL, NEW CROSS

Another good set of records for this church have survived. Baptisms start from 1765 and marriages from 1838. See here for an image.

MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL

The Collegiate and Parish Church of Manchester, as it was known before being elevated to cathedral status, is Manchester's oldest church. Further details about the history of this church and parish can be seen here. Images of the church can be seen on the Manchester computerised images Collection. One early example is here.

ST ANN'S

St Ann's was built in Acres Field. Construction began in 1709 and the church was consecrated in 1712. It was a Low Church as opposed to the High Church Collegiate Church. Its congregation tended towards the Whigs. A district was not assigned to St Ann's until September 1838. Early baptisms and burials i.e. up to 1736 were recorded in the Collegiate Church registers. The same applied to marriages before May 1838. St Ann's church steeple was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1777 and was removed shortly after.

St Ann's Square 1741

Courtesy of Manchester Archives and Local Studies

http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/

CENTRAL HALL, OLDHAM STREET (formerly Oldham Street Wesleyan)

This is point of the Methodists Church in the area. The Manchester and Salford Wesleyan Methodist Mission was founded in 1886 and was based at the new Central Hall in Manchester, which had been built on the site of Oldham Street Chapel. Under Revd. Samuel Collier, the Mission became a highly successful centre for evangelical work. Central Hall could not accommodate all those wanting to attend the Sunday services, so the Mission started holding services in the Free Trade Hall - resulting in some of the largest Methodist congregations ever. These services continued until 1910, when they were moved to the newly built Albert Mission Hall in Peter Street. The Mission also tried to reach the non-church-going public by holding Saturday night concerts, open-air services and midnight missions. The Mission took over certain 'derelict' causes and transformed them into mission halls - so, for example, the Great Bridgewater Street society became Bridgewater Hall in Hulme, the Irwell Street society became Irwell Hall. One image of Central hall can be viewed here.

Over the years the hall has been used for many non religious activities. I attended Central Hall on many occasions for Quarterly Members Meetings of the Manchester Central Branch of Natsopa, later SOGAT 82. This was one on the Print Unions.

ST MARY, MULBERRY STREET (Roman Catholic)

Affectionately know as the Hidden Gem, this is the oldest surviving Catholic Church in the city. A beautifully ornate church, although more the size of a large chapel. For a brief history of the church see this link. Eighteen images can be seen on the Images Collection. This is is just one of them.

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Last update: 14th June 2010