Church of St Nicholas Burnage

Contained within the Manchester Diocese are two of the most remarkable inter‑war churches in this country, designed by the architect Nugent Francis Cachemaille‑Day (1896‑1976). The earlier of these, the church of St. Nicholas, Burnage (1931-2), has been described by Nikolaus Pevsner as 'a milestone in the history of modern church architecture in England'," and the later one, the church of St. Michael and All Angels, Lawton Moor, Wythenshawe (1937), as 'a sensational church for its country and its day'.

The church is situated in an area which developed as part of the substantial growth of Manchester between the wars. As city centre slums were cleared new estates were created to provide modern sanitary housing for the displaced populations. Both Burnage and Wythenshawe were laid out as garden suburbs, the former in the late 1920s and the latter from 1931. It soon became apparent that the existing parish churches were not capable of serving the enlarged populations and that new churches would be required. Often initially they were of a temporary nature, but as they eventually became the centres of new parishes permanent churches were erected.