Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Manchester / A Short History and Description of the Church and of the Collegiate Buildings now known as Chetham's Hospital

by Rev. Thomas Perkins

CHAPTER I.

HISTORY OF THE BUILDING.

In the minds of most Englishmen the name of Manchester calls up the image of a vast city that, with the borough of Salford, which, though municipally distinct, yet is topographically united with it, contains a population of about three quarters of a million of inhabitants. And it is, moreover, generally supposed that Manchester is entirely of modern growth—a collection of mills, and warehouses, and shops; yet, if anyone pauses for a moment to consider, the name itself suggests that the foundation of the city must date back from the time of the Roman occupation of the island. It has been, and not unreasonably, supposed that it was a British stronghold before the soldiers of Agricola took possession of it. Certain it is that it was occupied by Roman troops, and it is said that they made their summer camp near the spot where the building that is the subject of this book now stands, hard by the junction of the little stream of the Irk with the larger river Irwell. In those early days these streams in all probability ran bright and clear through broad meadow lands, and were crossed by bridges of very ancient construction. The remains of one such bridge have long been known to exist, and have on more than one occasion been uncovered.

The Irk now runs through a tunnel, and discharges its waters into the grimy, sluggish stream of the Irwell, which divides Manchester from Salford, and runs between the Exchange Station of the London and North-Western Railway and the cathedral church of the new diocese created in 1847.

Many Roman coins, principally those of Nero, Vitellius, Vespasian, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Constantine, have been found at various times in the course of digging the foundations of houses.

What befell Manchester when the Romans left Britain we do not know. That Paulinus preached here is highly probable; that Ine, King of the West Saxons, resided here with his Queen Ethelburga about 690 is recorded; that, like many other places not far distant from the seaboard, it was ravaged by the Danes is certain. King Edward the Unconquered, in 923, sent troops to repair its walls and garrison the town.

No picturesque legends about the foundation of the original Church of St. Mary which stood near the site of the present cathedral have come down to us. All we know is, that two wood-built churches are mentioned in Domesday Book as standing either in the town or the parish, one of them dedicated to St. Mary, the other to St. Michael.[!--note--][1] The former was probably a predecessor of the present building, which is dedicated jointly to St. Mary, St. George, and St. Denys, though not on the same site. But of any Norman church of St. Mary not a trace is left, nor are there any remains of thirteenth century work visible in the church as we see it

to-day. Various examples of thirteenth and fourteenth century work, however, have been found in the walls of the church and in the western tower at different times during repairs and restorations.

William the Conqueror conferred the lands between the Mersey and the Ribble on Roger of Poictou, who granted the Manor of Manchester to the Gresley family; Thomas Gresley, Baron of Manchester, granted a charter to the townspeople of Manchester in 1301. Under these early barons the church was held successively by about fifteen rectors, among whom may be mentioned William de la Marcia (1284), who became Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1292; Walter Langton, who was appointed Rector of Manchester, and also Keeper of the Great Seal by Edward I. in 1292, and was consecrated Bishop of Lichfield in 1296, but retained his rectory for three years after his consecration; John de Verdun or Everden (1313), who became Dean of St. Paul's in 1323. Meanwhile, the manor had passed from the Gresleys to the De la Warres; the last of their family became a priest, and appointed himself Rector of Manchester in 1373. He was a liberal benefactor to the church, and in order that there should be a suitable body of clergy to look after the spiritual welfare of the town, he endowed the church as a collegiate institution, obtaining the requisite charter from Henry V. in 1422. The college consisted of a warden, eight fellows in priests' orders, four deacons, and six boy choristers.

The old baronial hall was granted to the newly appointed body as a place of residence. This was largely modified to suit the requirements of its new inmates, and the church itself was gradually reconstructed. Hence we find the church built in the Perpendicular style, a style that has been imitated in the many additions that have been made to the building since it was raised to cathedral rank in 1847. So quickly does the smoke-laden atmosphere of Manchester discolour the stone, that in a very few years after their erection the new parts of the church match in colour the older parts of the building, and the passer-by who gives but a casual glance at the cathedral would be surprised to learn how much of its structure dates from the nineteenth century. At the present time, 1901, the only obviously new part is the western porch, but the north and south porches, the Fraser Chapel on the south side of the choir, the south-west corner of the building, as well as the tower, are all modern additions or reconstructions, and much of the exterior has been recased with stone. The residence of the warden and fellows, much modified at subsequent dates, may still be found on the north side of the church, on the other side of a road that skirts the churchyard. It is now known as Chetham's Hospital and Library; for fuller information about this building the reader is referred to the latter part of this volume.

No sooner had the first warden, John Huntington, been appointed, than he set to work to enlarge and beautify the collegiate church.

The oldest part of the church is the arch leading into the Lady Chapel, which, with its responds, has more resemblance to the Decorated than to the Perpendicular style. This arch was accurately restored some twenty-five or thirty years ago. The rebus of Sir John Huntington, the first warden, who was appointed in 1422, renders it probable that this part of the church was largely reconstructed by him. While he was warden, 1422-1458, the choir and its aisles were rebuilt, and the chapter house built. Under successive wardens the work of reconstruction was carried on, and occupied about a hundred years. The third warden, Ralph Langley (1465-1481), is said to have completed the nave; much work was done during the wardenship of James Stanley II. (1485-1509), afterwards Bishop of Ely, for the chapel of the Holy Trinity was founded by W. Radcliffe in 1498; the Jesus Chapel, now the vestry and library, was founded by Richard Beswick in 1506; the Hulme Chapel, now destroyed, which formerly projected to the south from the eastern part of the south wall of the Jesus Chapel, was founded by Ralph Hulme in 1507; the St. James' Chantry or Ducie Chapel was built in the same year; and the choir stalls were erected by the warden himself in 1508. In this year also W. Galley built St. George's Chapel. James Stanley is also recorded to have built the double entrance into the chapter house. The Derby and Ely Chapels on the north side are of rather later date; in the latter the ex-warden, James Stanley II., then Bishop of Ely, was buried. This chapel was built by Sir John Stanley in 1515. In 1518 the eighth warden, George West (1518-1535) is recorded to have built the Lady Chapel, but this work was probably a reconstruction rather than a fresh building; the windows that we see in it now are eighteenth century work, but probably are imitations of those that previously existed in this chapel, and their style indicates a considerably earlier date than 1518. Indeed, their tracery resembles fourteenth century work. It will be noticed from the dates just given that the church was finished not long before the Reformation.

Up to 1541 Manchester belonged to the diocese of Lichfield, but Henry VIII. then transferred it to the newly founded see of Chester.

The college was dissolved by Edward VI., who bestowed its lands on the Stanley family. Queen Mary re-established the college and gave back its lands, with the exception of the domestic buildings, which still remained in the hands of the Earls of Derby. During the time of the Civil Wars the church suffered in common with many other ecclesiastical buildings.

Richard Heyrick, who had been warden since 1636, was deprived of his office in 1646, but was reinstated in 1660. Some negotiations had been entered into for the sale of the domestic buildings to the trustees under the will of Humphrey Chetham, but the sale was not completed until after the Restoration, when they became the property of the feoffees of the Chetham Hospital and Library.

Subsequently the church shared the same fate as befell most ecclesiastical buildings during the eighteenth century, viz., neglect and injudicious repairs. But it was left to the early part of the nineteenth century to work the greatest havoc on the building. A thorough process of repair, or "beautifying" as it was then called, was set on foot in the year 1815. Galleries were erected in the nave, the various chapels outside the nave aisles were thrown into the main building by the removal of the screens which separated them from the north and south aisles, so that from that time the western half of the church has had double aisles on either side of the nave proper. But worse than this, the whole interior was covered with Roman cement, and that this might adhere more firmly to the stone-work, the walls themselves and the pillars of the main arcade of the nave and the clerestory walls were hacked about in the most shameful way. In this condition the church remained for many years. When the new see of Manchester was erected in 1847, this church was chosen as the cathedral church of the diocese, and before long proposals were made to rebuild or enlarge it, as it was felt by many that it lacked the dignity and size of the old cathedral churches, and, indeed, suffered in comparison with many of the old abbey churches that existed in England, some of which have since that time been raised to cathedral rank. Queen Victoria visited Manchester for the first time in 1851, and to commemorate her visit, Canon Parkinson suggested the rebuilding of the church, and himself headed the subscription list with a donation of £1000, but the proposal did not meet with much favour.

At this time the municipal seats at the west end were enclosed by a glass screen; above them was the Chetham gallery, as it was called, its back occupied by the organ and choristers, its front by the schoolboys of Chetham's Hospital. The organ had previously stood on the screen beneath the choir arch, but had been removed to the west for a musical festival held in 1828. This old organ loft was then converted into a pewed gallery, intended for the use of the Chetham feoffees, but was usually occupied by the officers of regiments quartered in Manchester.

In 1858 some repairs, external and internal, were carried out, and shortly after this J. E. Gregan, architect, and David Bell, builder, recommended the rebuilding of the tower. Their advice was taken, the old tower was demolished, and a new tower was designed by J. P. Holden. On 4th August 1864 the foundation stone of the new tower was laid by the Bishop, Dr. Prince Lee. In this ceremony, among others, the present Dean of Manchester, Dr. Maclure, took part, acting as chaplain to the High Sheriff, Sir J. P. Kay Shuttleworth, Bart. The tower was nearly four years in building, and was dedicated on Whitsunday 1868.

In 1872 the Dean, Dr. Cowie, and the canons proposed that a new cathedral church should be built on a new site, but this plan met with little favour. Ten years passed away and then Mr. George Milner and Mr. (afterwards Sir) John William Maclure, churchwardens, and Mr. Thomas Lings, comptroller, advocated a thorough restoration of the existing church; plans were prepared by Mr. Crowther, architect; a meeting was called to consider the matter, and it was resolved to accept and carry out these plans. The roof of the nave was repaired, the old bosses being preserved, the galleries were removed, and it was decided to clear off the Roman cement from the pillars and walls, but it was found that the stone-work beneath had been so much mutilated, that it was resolved to rebuild the main arcade of the nave and the clerestory.

Various donors undertook to defray the cost of rebuilding the different bays. A muniment room containing the celebrated parish registers mentioned by Macaulay, was built in memory of Alderman Graves by his son, and the baptistery, in memory of Thomas Chesters, by his son.

The Derby Chapel was re-roofed. The Earl of Derby, notwithstanding the agreement made in 1774 by which the chapel was handed over to the church on condition that the Earls of Derby should no longer be required to keep it in repair, generously contributed £1000 towards this work. The choir roof was renewed in English oak, but the bosses and carved angels were boiled in oil and replaced. Fortunately the Roman cement could be removed from the walls of the choir more easily than from the nave, and the old stone-work was allowed to stand.

The south porch was erected by James Jardine in 1891; the north porch was built as a memorial to James Craven by his children in 1888. The west or Victoria porch was built in 1900 by subscription raised by the present Dean.

The conical roof of the octagonal chapter house is modern; the chapel to the east of it was built by his widow as a memorial to Dr. James Fraser, the second Bishop of Manchester, who died in 1885.

At the present time, 1901, further building operations are being carried on in the yard on the south side of the church, a new and larger chapter house and vestries being in course of erection.