St Ann’s Church and Presbytery, Chester Road, Stretford

In 1861, when Sir Humphrey de Trafford was High Sheriff of Lancashire, he commissioned Pugin to design a new Roman Catholic Church in Stretford, donating the site on Chester Road and the construction costs of £24,000. Built by Mr Glaister of Liverpool, it was designed by Pugin during the early years of his partnership with his former pupil, Ashlin. The church was planned with its major axis running east to west, the west end facing Chester Road. The presbytery was sited to the north of the church, with a linking cloister. Although the report in the Manchester Guardian indicates that the presbytery was built after the church, the similarity of site arrangement to that at Barton-upon-Irwell would suggest that the church and presbytery were planned concurrently.

The church comprised a tower, the nave and chancel with a continuous ridge, a polygonal apse, narrow north and south aisles but no transepts. Repetitive sexfoil wheel windows were used to clerestory. Entrances were provided at the west end and at the base of the tower. The walls were of coursed stone with rock faced finish, contrasting with the smooth finish of the ashlar dressings to quoins, angles string courses, door and window openings. The virtually detached north west tower, ten feet square in plan with a short spire and plain pinnacles, shows distinct Germanic influences and is in many respects similar to that of St James the Less, Westminster (1859) by Street. The major feature of the west front is a large rose window of white Stourton stone enclosed by deeply recessed jambs and pointed arch mouldings and incorporating a life sized sculptured crucifixus, the ends of the cross being worked into the moulding of the tracery.  Internally, the nave has an open timber roof with the exposed scissor trusses stained. The aisle arcades have Northern French cylindrical columns of red Mansfield stone on octagonal bases with carved foliage capitals. The chancel arch, twenty feet wide and forty feet high, separates the nave and chancel. The chancel is narrower than the nave but shallow to improve the visibility of the altar. The chancel is raised by five steps and the altar by a further three steps. The communion rail, now removed was by Hardman & Co. of Birmingham who were probably also responsible for the stained glass. The Manchester Guardian of 23 November 1863 recorded:

The chancel has a tiled floor.... The altar and reredos are the magnificent gift of the Lady Ann de Trafford. The former is supported by two pillars of green marble, with carved capitals. The back panel has the "Adoration of the mystical Lamb of God" by the 24 elders, crowned and bearing harps. The tabernacle is of Caen stone with embossed brass door, and the pelican feeding her young sculptured above. The step for candles is of red marble.

The church was opened in 1863, the opening Service being reported in The Tablet of 28 November 1863 and the building was consecrated by the first Bishop of Salford in 1867.

Reference    Builder 5 April 1862 Page 252 - tenders
Reference    Building News 4 April 1862 p244 – tenders
Reference    Building News 4 December 1863 page 911-912
Reference    Building News 24 December 1863 page 960]
Reference    Builder 19 December 1863 page 902]