New Wesleyan Chapel Pooley’s Park City Road Manchester

The site of the chapel whose foundation stone was laid yesterday afternoon is on a portion of the ground known as Pooley’s Park, fronting City Road and near to Stretford Old Road. It will be in the early pointed style, with stone dressings and capable of seating about 800 persons. The frontage to City Road will be about 60 feet, and the interior of the chapel 72 feet by 38 feet 6 inches; besides the semicircular apsidal end in which the communion will be administered. The roof will be constructed so as to gain the effect of the ordinary steep pitched church roof, while columns will be avoided. The gallery is to transverse the sides and across the front of the chapel, the body of which will be lighted by three light windows under the gallery and above by circular cusped windows instead of the usual long windows, stretching nearly from floor to ceiling. The chancel will be lighted by three cusped lancet windows. A tower and a spire are to be raised, the extreme height of which from the ground will be 100 feet. The work will be executed from designs by the architects, Messrs Haley and Sons (sic) of Cross Street, Manchester; and the contract has been entrusted to Mr Warburton, of Harpurhey, for about £6,000. A certain portion of the sittings will be free. [Manchester Guardian 9 November 1860 Page 3]

Foundation stone laid 8 November 1860 by Thomas Davis MP, Hill Top Staffordshire

An earlier scheme for this chapel by E Bassett Keeling AJBA 3 Upper Terrace Islington advertised in the Manchester Guardian Saturday 7 April 1860 Page 2 (Contracts) and the Manchester Guardian Saturday 14 April 1860 Page 2 appears not to have been progressed