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Manchester
City Centre Churches - 1
The Architectural Heritage of Manchester
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Manchester
Cathedral
Victoria
Street, Manchester M3. Tel: 0161 833 2220.
Somewhat
detached now from the main City Centre, by virtue of its riverside
location, the cathedral marked the epicentre of medieval Manchester.
Today's Manchester Cathedral has taken 600 years in the making.
It was dedicated by Henry Vth to St Mary, St Denys and St George,
and is built in the Perpendicular Gothic style, typified by
its tall windows and flat fan-vaulted ceilings.
It
was in 1421-2 that the parish church of the little known village
that was to become Manchester was raised to the status of a
Collegiate Church, and served the surrounding 60 square mile
parish. While much of the exterior of the building is a 19th
century reconstruction carried out by Joseph Crowther, he was
scrupulously faithful to the original building, and none of
the original styling has been lost. The possible exception is
the west front, which was rather ornately over-reconstructed
in celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 by
Sir Basil Champneys. Other alterations and restorations have
been carried out by J.P.Holden in 1815 and 1868, Sir Percy Worthington
in 1934 and Sir Hubert Worthington after the Lufwaffe bombing
of 1940.
The
interior has numerous examples of period woodwork in the form
of the finest late medieval woodcarving, carried out between
1485 and 1506 by the so-called 'Ripon Carvers'. The old Collegiate
Church was elevated to Cathedral status in 1847.
In
1940, the building sustained a direct hit during the Manchester
blitz in December of that year, and much collateral damage was
sustained, many fine windows being lost forever. Fortunately,
much of the woodcarving survived the bombing, and the particularly
fine choir stalls and misericords (choir seats) are worth seeing.
Saxon stone fragments survive from the 8th century. Now, the
Fire Window by Margaret Traherne, occupies a place near to the
site of the impact. On the west side of the cathedral are five
modern windows made by Tony Holloway and representing "St George",
"St Mary", "St Denys", "Genesis" and "Revelations". The oldest
part of the building are the piers which support the tower,
which date from 1380 There is also a sculpture by Eric Gill.
Evensong,
sung on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5.30pm and Saturdays
from 5.00pm.
See: Plan
of Manchester Cathedral
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St Ann's
Church
St
Ann's Square, Manchester.
Built in
local pink sandstone, St Ann's church is an elegant, neo-classical
building dating from 1712, and often ascribed to Sir Christopher
Wren or one of his pupils. It is a Grade 1 listed building of
historic and architectural merit. Its distinguished round arched
windows with two-storey Corinthian pilasters is typical of the
classical revival style, as is the large rounded apse at the
high altar end of the church.
Originally
the tower was topped by a wooden spire - long since disappeared.
Inside are galleries supported by rather stocky Tuscan columns,
and windows are glazed with 19th century stained glass by Frederick
Shields. It is still debatable whether the church was named
after St Ann, or after Lady Ann Bland, who seems to have financed
most of its construction.
The
church tower is said to mark the exact centre of the city of
Manchester, and was at one time used as a platform from which
surveyors could make distance measurements - the cut arrow benchmark
can still be found to the left of the tower doorway. The church
was initially frequented by the cream of Manchester society
and its pews could be rented; the best seats cost around £100,
a small fortune in those days!
St
Ann's is the only one of the 19 city centre churches built in
the 18th century to survive. It was restored by Alfred
Waterhouse in 1891. Free recitals and musical performances
are on offer here at lunchtime.
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St
Mary's RC Church - The Hidden Gem
Mulberry
Street, off Brazennose Street, Manchester M2.
Tel: 0161 834 3547.
St
Mary's Church marks the site of the first purpose-built Roman
Catholic church in England since the Reformation and was erected
in 1794. The present building dates from 1848 and was designed
by Weightman and Hadfield. It is locally better known as "The
Hidden Gem", after being described thus by a visiting dignitary,
and it is widely signposted as such around the city, though
it lies tucked away just off Brazennose Street off Albert Square
and is mssed by many passers-by.
The influential Victorian architect and critic, Augustus Welby
Pugin expressed his personal dislike for the building, but this
was almost certainly a biased view and sour grapes on his part,
as his own design for the church had been rejected. The building
was nevertheless well received by its contemporaries and its
popularity has persisted over the subsequent two centuries so
that it is deservedly regarded as a Manchester treasure - well
worth a look on your way to Manchester
Town Hall or the Central
Reference Library nearby.
Later additions to the church include Norman Adams' paintings
of the Stations of the Cross - lively images which contrast
markedly with the 19th century interior of the church.
Admission
free. Opening times 8.00am - 4.00pm every day. No sight-seeing
during religious services please.
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Friends'
Meeting House
Quakers
Religious Society of Friends
6 Mount Street, Manchester M2. Tel: 0161-834 5797
A
Grade 2 listed building of architectural merit, built by Richard
Lane in 1828 at the height of the Classical Revival style of
architecture in England. Its imposing approach steps reaching
the full width of the building and, the Greek facade with its
four supporting Ionic pilasters bears witness to the growing
importance and influence on Nonconformism in the City of Manchester
at that time. The sides and rear of the building are, however,
in a plainer, more modest brickwork.
Despite many attempts at redevelopment, the building still boasts
continuous use and is still used by Quakers today, and it stands
up well to the plethora of civic buildings which surround it.
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