Free Christian Church Longsight

NEW FREE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, LONGSIGHT The memorial stone of a new Free Christian Church, situated at the corner of Albert Road and Birch Lane, Longsight, and to be occupied by the members of the old Whitfield-street (Hyde Road) Church, was laid on Saturday afternoon by the Rev. W. Gaskell. The new church, the cost of building which will be some £3,000, and which will accommodate 400 persons, is situated in a prominent position at the corner of Birch Lane and Albert Road, at their junction with Stockport Road, and will be in the early English Gothic style. At the east end, fronting Birch Lane, is situated the principal entrance and vestibule, as also an ante room for the convenience of the congregation. At the west end will be the rostrum on which will be placed. the pulpit and organ. The choir will also be accommodated on this platform. The vestry is conveniently situated near this end on the south side. The church will be lighted by eight large two-light windows, with tracery heads; the transepts each by a large four-light window filled with tracery. Over the porch of the main front will be placed a large, handsome traceried window, which it is intended to fill with stained glass as a memorial window. The roof will be what is known as an open-timber roof, being ceiled near the apex with the object of providing air space in the church. The visible woodwork of the roof will be pitch pine, as also will all the interior fittings of the church. The ventilation has received special attention in conjunction with the heating. It is intended at some future period to provide schools in connection with the church on the plot of ground at the west end of the same. The church has been designed by, and is being carried out under the superintendence of, Mr. W. Telford-Gunson, architect and surveyor, 10, Marsden-street, in this city, and the contractor is Mr. L. O. Webster, of Brook-street, C.-on-M.  [Manchester Times 30 September 1882 page 7]

OPENING OF A UNITARIAN CHAPEL AT LONGSIGHT. -The new and handsome building which has been erected at the corner of Birch-lane, Stockport-road, Longsight, to accommodate the Unitarians of Ardwick and Longsight, was formally opened yesterday afternoon. The chapel, or Free Christian Church, as it is entitled, is Gothic in architecture and built of grey stone with Yorkshire stone dressings. The interior is faced with white plaster, and the whole of the fittings are of pitch-pine varnished. The windows are with the exception of the large one over the front porch, glazed with cathedral tinted glass in designs, and the east or front window is of stained glass, contributed by the widow of the late Alderman Nicholls, in memory of her deceased son. The chapel will accommodate about 400 persons. [Manchester Courier 8 June 1883 page 8]

The church was closed in 1949, after which the building was sold to the BBC and converted into a garage for outside broadcast unit vehicles. The BBC used the building until the 1970s. The church has since been demolished.

Reference    Manchester Times 30 September 1882 page 7 – memorial stone
Reference    Manchester Courier Friday 8 June 1883, Page 8