Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/766

Rh MANCHESTER. 758 MANCHESTER. civil court is rather too large for the convenience of the persons chiefly interested, and for acoustic purposes, the general arrangement and construction of the building reflect great credit on the architect. The Free Trade Hall, near the Theatre Royal, in Peter-street, with massive stone front ; conspicuous as containing one of the largest meeting halls of the United Kingdom ; opened 8th October, 1856 ; cost upwards of 40,000 ; erected, by a joint-stock company in 10 shares, from designs of Mr. Edward Walters, a local architect, in pursuance of a resolution passed 19th July, 1853: it contains a chief hall, 134 feet long, 78 feet wide, and 52 feet high, capable of holding nearly 5,000 persons ; an assembly room, 75 feet by 37 feet, and 28 feet in height, accom- modating 600 persons, and several other rooms of smaller dimensions ; the facade in Peter-street is 75 feet in height, and has a total length of 159 feet. Manchester contains about 50 Episcopal churches, 29 Wesleyan Methodist, 1 7 Methodist Associate, 10 Roman Catholic, 25 Independent, 10 Baptist, 5 Scotch Presbyterian, 6 Unitarian, 1 Catholic Apostolic, Greek, German, Welsh, and Calvinistic chapels, together with a variety of meeting-houses for the Friends and the various Metho- dist denominations. Of the churches the principal are the Cathedral, or old Collegiate Church, which is situated in Victoria-street, midway between the Victoria railway station and the Royal Exchange. It was erected by Thomas de la Warr, under a license from Henry V., in the ninth year of his reign, 1422, the first stone being laid in July of that year. The living had been origin- ally, and early in the 13th century, a rectory. Otto de Grandison, in 1299, was appointed rector, by presenta- tion of the king. Its value in the 14th century was established by a survey to be the same as at a former estimate made by inquisition in 1282, and as being 200 marks. Its endowment consisted of eight burgage tenements in Manchester and in the villages of Newton and Kirkmoneshulme, with parks, woods, and pastures ; a manor, which contained within the precinct two acres of land, and a place of pasture without the gate, between the waters of the Irk and Irwell; also the wood of Alport, which might be enclosed, and made a park at the will of the town ; a manor-house, with woods and moors of turbary so many and so large that they were not measured, but esteemed, according to the custom ; together with a mill upon the water of the Irk ; a mill for dyers ; and a common bakehouse, at which it was compulsory, by the custom of the manor, for the bur- gesses to bake. At the Conquest the manor of Man- chester was assigned, with a large tract of land extending between the Ribble and Mersey, to Roger of Poitiers, by the Norman William ; but Hugh of Poitiers having afterwards forfeited his rights by treason, the same lands were reassigned to another follower, the Baron Albert de Gredley, from whom it descended to Thomas de la Warr. This Thomas de la Warr, as will be found by a reference in Camden printed elsewhere, was lord of the manor, patron, and parson of the parish, and also parliamentary representative. In order that the spiritual duties might be properly performed, he applied to the king for a license to found a college, to he endowed with the lands of the rec- tory of Manchester, which license having been accorded, the existing edifice was commenced as a collegiate church, attached to the college, in virtue of the new endowment under the royal license. The foundation consisted of a warden keeper, eight fellow chaplains, four clerks, and six choristers. By a deed of gift and feoffinent, the lands of the rectory were then assigned to Thomas Bishop of Durham, chancellor of England, and other trustees, Thomas de la Warr, the patron, presenting to the bishop of the diocese John Huntington to be master or keeper. The college was dissolved by Edward VI., but was restored by Queen Elizabeth to train the youth of Lancashire and extend Protestantism, and in the church were uttered some of the most violent philippics of that reign against Popery. This fine old historical church remained a collegiate church till 1847, when the see of Manchester was created, and it became the cathedral of the diocese ; it consists of a nave, tower, aisles, with clerestory, choir, side aisles, chapels, vestry, &e. ; its style is perpendicular Gothic, and offers some features of superior excellence of its order, but the softness of the stone has led to frequent repair and the replacement of nearly the whole of the original structure by more modern work. The work of restoration has been carried on without the necessity of closing the edifice, principally by the subscriptions of parishioners, who have raised more than 8,000 for that purpose, besides nearly .5,000 towards restoring the tower, the foundation-stone of which was laid on the 4th of August, 1864. St. Ann's church, Grecian, stands in the centre of the town, and forms the Southern side of St. Ann's-square ; consecrated July, 1712, the foundation-stone having been laid in May, 1709 ; sittings for 1,175 persons ; had originally a cupola, taken down in 1777, and a spire erected in its place. St. Mary's, near St. Ann's, in St. Mary's-street, consecrated in September, 1756, the foundation-stone having been laid July, 1753; and St. John's, at the bottom of St. John-street, leading out of Deansgate; it was founded by Edward Byrnn, Esq., April 28, 1768, and was consecrated in 1769 ; it contains a stained-glass window by Pickett, of York, and a marble monument by Flaxman at the back of the rector's pew, erected in commemoration of the Rev. John Clowes attaining the fiftieth year of his ministry ; it also pos- sesses a modern monument in Caen stone, of an elaborate Gothic design, to the memory of Mr. William Marsden. St. Mary's, Hulme, in Moss-lane, at its junction with Boston-street ; erected in fulfilment of the last will and testament of the late Wilbraham Egerton, Esq., of Tattou parish, Cheshire, by whom it was also endowed ; the spire is 224 feet high, and is surmounted by a vane of 18 feet ; in all, 252 feet ; the style is the early geometrical decorated, from designs by Mr. Crowther. Among other churches noticeable on account of their architectural merits, or decorations, are Trinity Church, Salford, the oldest in the borough, with a tower of perpendicular Gothic, and fitted with dark oak pews. St. Matthew's, a large building, erected after designs by Barry, and which has a spire of 132 feet in height. St. Simon's, Salford, early English, with a spire 150 feet, a carved oak pulpit, and tm-ee well-executed coloured windows. St. Luke's, Cheetham Hill-road, perpendicular Gothic; a fine building, with a tower terminating in an elegant crocketted spire 170 feet. All Saints, Grosvenor-square, which has a fine tower, surmounted by a dome with a ball and cross, and is a very capacious building, standing on an admirable site at the point of intersec- tion of the Stretford and Oxford roads. St. George's, Hulme, perpendicular, built by Godwin, consecrated 9th December, 1826; is handsomely fitted up, and has a tower with clock and fine bell ; contains organ by Reun, and three stained-glass windows by Warrington, of London. The principal Roman Catholic chapels are, St. John the Evangelist's, a very fine cruciform struc- ture, decorated English, situated in Chapel-street, Sal- ford ; it consists of aisles and nave, transept, choir and aisles, and is surmounted by an elegant crocketted spire, said to be the loftiest in Lancashire ; opened on the 9th August, 1848, by the late Cardinal Wiseman ; con- tains windows by Hardman, of Birmingham, and three large pictures, copied from well-known originals at Malines. St. Augustine's, Granby-row, brick, with stone front ; early Gothic ; opened in 1820 ; window by Wailes, of Newcastle. St. Marie's, Mulberry-street, Norman. St. Patrick's, in Livesey-street. St. Anne's, Junction-street, Ancoats. St. Chad's, Cheetham Hill- road, near Ducie-bridge. St. Wilfred's, Bedford-street, Hulme. St. Joseph's, Guilden-street. St. Aloysius's, Ogden-street. Cavendish Street Independent Chapel has a handsome interior, a fine stained-glass window, and a tower terminating in a spire 171 feet high ; its style is early English, and it was erected from the designs of Mr. Walters. The interior is handsomely fitted, and contains a gallery all round, and the building is com- puted to hold more than 1,600 persons. The Greek church in tho Waterloo-road, Strangeways, is a small but - looking edifice, copied from an Athenian model. The chiei