Building Name

Congregational Church Every Street Manchester

Date
1868 - 1869
Street
Every Street
District/Town
Ancoats, Manchester
County/Country
GMCA, England
Work
New Build

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH ANCOATS MANCHESTER  Among the illustrations in the (congregational) Year Book of 1866 was one of a new church at Pin Mill Brow in Ancoats, Manchester. Very shortly after that building was opened, the Midland Railway obtained powers for a line to a new goods depot which necessitated its purchase It still stands, but has not been used for worship since then. With the proceeds from the sale of the property, the trustees purchased the only available plot of land in the township - the site of the old gas works. The accompanying engraving shows the structure, as now in progress. The river is about 25 feet below the road; and after allowing for floods, the depth at that end admits of a large room below the church floor, 17 feet by 30 feet and 15 feet high. This will be temporarily divided, and used for infant and elementary class-rooms. The interior of the building is 88 feet long by a mean width of 50 feet. Galleries are provided on three sides and two spacious staircases thereto. Underneath the galleries will be class-rooms, ten in number, temporarily separated from the central portion of the church by lath and plaster partitions. It is intended to set up the galleries with pews for appropriate sittings for the congregation and to use the ground floor for school purposes at present. The entrances are so arranged that access to the galleries is exclusively confined to the congregation. The body of the ground floor will consist of moveable forms, capable of seating 300 adults, which, added to the sittings in the galleries will give accommodation for a congregation of 650 persons.

The roof is supported by wood pillars in a line with the side gallery fronts, connected by framed spandrel panels above. All the timbers will be exposed to view, and stained and varnished. The walls are of brick with stone dressings The roof will be covered with Kuelhelli (Pwllheli?) slates. Provision is made in the cellar-basement for Haden’s heating apparatus. The cost of the building proper is ,4,710 which is the amount of the builder’s contract. This includes ,500, at least, for additional foundations, the whole of the walls having to be taken down to the level of the bed of the river between 20 feet and thirty feet below the ground surface. The lighting, heating, moveable furniture, boundary fences and architects’ commission will swell the total outlay to about £5,800. The architects are Messrs. Paull and Robinson, Manchester. [The Builder 16 January 1869 Page 45]

On Saturday the memorial stone of a Congregational Chapel was laid in Every‑street, Ancoats, Manchester. Messrs Paull and Robinson are the architects of the building, the main details of which are of Gothic design. The interior will be 88 feet long by a clear width of 50 feet. The body of the ground floor will contain movable forms, capable of seating 300 adults, which, added to the sittings in the galleries, will give accommodation for a congregation of 650 persons. The cost of the building proper is ,4,710, which is the amount of the builder's contract. The lighting, heating, movable furniture, boundary fences, anel architect's commission will swell the total outlay to about ,5,800. [Building News 5 February 1869 page 122]

The church was opened in December 1869 and the report on the opening of the new Church in the Manchester Guardian included a description of the building as follows: "The church which is Italian Gothic in style has been erected at a cost of about ,6000. It is of brick with stone dressings and seated to accommodate 650 worshippers. Should the congregation increase, however, accommodation can be provided for about 200 more by the conversion into pews of aa number of rooms which run along each side of the church under the galleries, and are,in the meantime, to be used as Sunday-school classrooms. [Manchester Guardian Friday 3 December 1869 Page 3 Column 5]

According to Year Book of the Congregational Union, for 1865, the earlier church was by Alfred Waterhouse in 1864.

Reference     The Builder 16 January 1869 Page 45
Reference    Building News 5 February 1869 page 122 - foundation stone
Reference    Manchester Guardian Monday 1 February 1869 Page 3 Column 2; Report of the laying of the foundation stone by W Armitage and description
Reference    Manchester Guardian Friday 3 December 1869 Page 3 Column 5 - opening