A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



the parish of Manchester 1714';'™^ a small cup and 

 cover paten of 1743 ; and a set formerly belonging 

 to St. Mary's Church, consisting of two chalices, two 

 cover patens, a credence paten, two flagons, and an 

 almsdish, of 1 7 5 6. The almsdish is inscribed ' The gift 

 of Catherine Fisher widow, 1756,' and the credence 

 paten has the following inscription : 'Dei gloriae 

 et honori populi commode et saluti ecclesia Sanctae 

 Mariae pro lege lata a.d. 1753. Suscepta Festo 

 Sancti Michaelis a.d. 1756 consecrata. Quo die hoc 

 argenteum cum duobus calicibus lagenis et patinis 

 ad eucharistiis perpetuo celebrandum guardiani et 

 Socij Col. Christi in Mancr. jure patronatus 

 gaudentes dederunt.' 



There are also three chalices of 1 841 made by 

 Elkingtons, inscribed 'St. Ann's Church, Man- 

 chester. Rev. H. W. McGrath, M.A., Rector, 

 1841."" The registers begin in 1736.'"' 



The next church was built under an Act """ ob- 

 tained in 1753 by the warden and fellows of the colle- 

 giate church, after the old political animosities had 

 decayed. It stood upon their land called the Parsonage 

 Croft, lying between Deansgate and the Irwell, and was 

 called St. Mary's. It was consecrated in 1756, and the 

 incumbents, styled rectors, were presented by the warden 

 and fellows. It was a plain classic building, with a 

 spire 1 86 ft. high, which in its time was greatly ad- 

 mired."" There was a graveyard round the building. 

 This church was pulled down in 1890, and the site is 

 now an open grass-covered square."' The district, 

 assigned in 1839,'°^ has been annexed to St. Ann's. 



St. Paul's, a plain brick edifice with a stone tower. 



was built on the eastern border of the town at the 

 corner of Turner Street and Tib Street in 1765 ; '** 

 it was in 1878 replaced by the present St. Paul's,. 

 New Cross.'" St. John's (the Evangelist) was built 

 in 1 769 in the Gothic of the time by Edward Byrom 

 of Kersal, whose Manchester residence was close by ^ 

 a graveyard is attached to it."=' The tower was 

 finished in May, 1770, and contains a ring of eight 

 bells by Lester and Pack of London, 1768-9. 

 St. James's, behind the Infirmary, was consecrated 

 in 1787; in 1816 its congregation was 'the 

 most numerous of any of the Established churches,' 

 except the old church. This church also had 

 a burial ground."' St. Michael's, Angel Street,, 

 on the way to Collyhurst, is a plain brick building, 

 with burial ground attached, consecrated in 1787 ;, 

 the church was consecrated two years later. '*'* St. 

 Clement's, Lever Street, has now disappeared ; it 

 was opened in 1793 by licence."*"' St. Peter's,, 

 begun in 1788, consecrated in 1794, and demo- 

 lished in 1907, was a small classic building, near 

 the present town hall.'*'^ The patronage of all these 

 churches, except, of course, St. Clement's, is vested in 

 the dean and canons of Manchester. 



St. George's Church, formerly distinguished as ' in 

 the Fields,' stood upon part of the site of Oldham 

 Road Station. It was a brick building, opened specu- 

 latively in 1798, but not succeeding was transferred 

 to Lady Huntingdon's Connexion ; it was restored to 

 the establishment and consecrated in 181 8."' In 

 1877 it was rebuilt in Oldham Road. The Bishop 

 of Manchester has the patronage. 



178a The inscribed date is two years 

 earlier than the date letter. 



'''' Bardsley, Memorials of St. Ann: 

 Church, 14 n. The plate formerly be- 

 longing to St. Mary's has been transferred 

 to St, Ann's (see inscriptions) 



179a jvis, transcript may be seen at the 

 Reference Library. 



179b 26 Geo. II, cap. 45. 



1™ Aston, Manch. 76-8 ; the interior 

 was dark but ' Solemnly handsome.' The 

 spire was taken down in 1854. 



181 For an account of the church see 

 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq, Soc. viii, 137. 

 The graveyard inscriptions are in the 

 Owen MSS. There is a transcript of 

 the registers in the Reference Library. 



183 LonJ. Gax. 29 Mar. 1839. 



18» Aston, Manch. 78. 



13< A district was assigned in 1839 ; 

 Land. Gaz. ut sup. 



185 Aston, op. cit. 79-82. One of the 

 stained-glass windows was brought from a 

 convent at Rouen. The building is of 

 brick, with west tower, and was restored in 

 1874-8, when the galleries were removed. 

 The patronage was vested in the heirs of 

 the founder for one turn after the first 

 appointment. It was built under a special 

 Act, 9 Geo. Ill, cap. 60 ; Pal. Note Bk. 

 iv, 81. 



The church is noteworthy as the scene 

 of the labours of the ' amiable, venerated 

 and respected ' John Clowes, M. A., fellow 

 of Trinity Coll. Cambridge. He was from 

 1773 an ardent disciple of Emmanuel 

 Swedenborg, and devoted his energies and 

 wealth to the propagation of the new doc- 

 trines ; it is no doubt through him that 

 Swedenborgianism made great progress in 

 the Manchester district. His zeal did not 

 prevent his receiving offers of preferment 

 in the Established Church. He died in 



183 1, having been rector of St. John's 

 from 1769. There is a biography of him 

 by Theodore Cotnpton, and a notice in 

 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; W. Axon, Annals of 

 Manch. 182. He must be distinguished 

 from two of the name — one, vicar of Eccles 

 and incumbent of Trinity Church, Salford, 

 the other, a fellow of the collegiate church 

 and heir of the Clowes estates. 



There is a monument to William Mars- 

 den, ' who presided over the committee 

 which obtained for Manchester, in 1843, 

 the Saturday Half Holiday* ; he died in 

 1848. 



A district was assigned to this church 

 in 1839, as above. John Evans' history 

 of the parish exists in MS. in the Free 

 Library ; an article by him is printed in 

 the Manch. Lit. Club Papers, v, 106. The 

 graveyard inscriptions are in the Owen 

 MSS. 



18^ Aston, Manch. 82-3 ; 'the church 

 was built (aided by the sale of the pews) 

 by the late Rev. Cornelius Bayley, D.D.' 

 in whom and his heirs the presentation 

 was vested till 1 847. A district was as- 

 signed in 1839 as above. The graveyard 

 inscriptions are in the Owen MSS. 



is«^ Aston, Manch. 83-4. The church 

 was built by the Rev. Humphrey Owen, 

 whose family had the presentation till 

 1 849. The founder, formerly of Flixton, 

 became rector of St. Mary's Manchester 

 The cemetery was intended for the poor, 

 many coffins being placed in each grave or 

 pit before it was filled up. In 1815 a 

 piece of land called Walker's Croft, on the 

 north bank of the Irk, was purchased for 

 a like purpose. This is now covered by 

 Victoria Station. There are copies of the 

 inscriptions in the Owen MSS, 



St. Michael's had a district granted to 

 it in 1839, as above, 



248 



186b Aston, op. cit. 89. It was built by- 

 its first minister, the Rev. E. Smyth, anil 

 was 'a handsome building of brick and 

 stone, with a small stone spire.* One of 

 the incumbents, William Nunn (d. 1840),, 

 an Evangelical of the strict Calvinist type,, 

 was a man of great influence ; a Memoir 

 was published ; see also Manch, Guardian- 

 N. and Q. no. 1285. 



The church, which was never conse- 

 crated, was sold by the trustees in 1875, 

 and three others were built — St. Clement's, 

 Greenheys, 1881 (previously a school- 

 church in Hulme), of which the incum- 

 bent of the old church became rector ;. 

 St. Clement's Ordsall, 1878, and St. 

 Clement's Broughton, in 1881; informa- 

 tion of Mr. C. W. Sutton. 



lS6c This church was in its time regarded 

 as a ' singularly elegant piece of architec- 

 ture ' ; the interior was ' a model of ele- 

 gance and taste. The subscribers had the 

 good sense to reject old rules which had' 

 not utility for their object ; and dared to- 

 introduce comfort, convenience and pro- 

 priety into the temple of God ' ; Aston, 

 op. cit. 86-9. The steeple was a later 

 addition. The patronage was vested ia 

 twenty-one trustees for a period of sixty 

 years from 1794. The church contained 

 a 'Descent from the Cross,' by Annibal 

 Carracci ; See Hibbert - Ware, Manch. 

 Foundations, ii, 292. The church was long- 

 famous for its musical services. 



A district was assigned to this church,, 

 as to the foregoing, in 1839 ; it has been 

 added to St. James's. The site has been 

 sold to the corporation. A memorial 

 cross now marks the site. 



^ Aston, Manch. 90. As before, a 

 district was assigned in 1839. There are- 

 copies of the inscriptions in the Owei» 

 MSS. 



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