Building Name

Trinity United Presbyterian Church Manchester Road and Dane Street Rochdale

Date
1869
District/Town
Rochdale
County/Country
GMCA, England
Work
New Build
Status
Closed 1978 and demolished

ROCHDALE - Trinity United Presbyterian church has been opened for divine service. The edifice is situated at the corner of Manchester Road and Gashouse Lane, and immediately opposite the road opened out in front of the new town hall. The building is in the Gothic style, faced with Yorkshire parpoints, and dressings from Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield. At the north-east angle there is a tower, with buttresses. The spire is not yet erected, but when complete, will rise to a height of 140 feet. There are three entrances, one in the tower and the others in the centre of the front and side porch. The central doorway, leading to the vestibule has a moulded arch, with label, terminating in carved bosses. In the front gable there is a five-light window, with double reveals and tracery head. The side windows to the nave are two-light, with tracery heads, varied in alternate design. The transept windows are four-light, with tracery heads. The chancel window is also four-light, the tracery being arranged to symbolise the Trinity. The building is cruciform on plan, and consists of a nave , transepts and a chancel; in inside dimensions of the nave are 74 feet (exclusive of vestibule), and 43 feet wide; the transepts 244 feet by 14 feet; and the chancel 22 feet by 14 feet. There are no galleries in the church with the exception of a small one over the front vestibule. The glazing, which has been executed by Messrs Edmundson and Son of Manchester, presents a series of geometrical designs in varied tints, all the windows having painted borders. The roof is open timbered. The chancel is divided by a dwarf wall in Bath stone, and is intended to be surmounted with Mediaeval wrought iron creasting and gate in the centre. The chancel arch springs from granite columns with Bath stone corbels and capitals. The whole of the woodwork inside is of pitch pine, an will be left free from stain or varnish. The carving, which has been executed by Mr Bonehill of Manchester is natural generally but slightly conventionalised. On the four transept corbels are sculptures of the four Evangelists. There is a school-room formed in the basement, but it is only intended for temporary use, and will eventually be converted into a lecture room. There are about 800 sittings provided, and the contractor was Mr Robert Rhodes of Rochdale, the joiner’s work having been executed by Mr Crabtree. The whole of the work has been carried out from the design and under the superintendence of Messrs Woodhouse and Potts, architects, Oldham. [Builder 24 July 1869 page 592]

The new building called Trinity Church lately erected for the United Presbyterian congregation of Rochdale in connection with the Lancashire Presbytery is a Gothic edifice with a massive tower, which is to be surmounted by a spire rising to a height of 140 feet. It stands at the corner of Manchester Road and Gashouse Lane, opposite the new road opening in front of the new Town Hall. The internal design is cruciform with nave transepts and chancel; there are no galleries except a small one over the entrance vestibule. The chancel is divided from the body of the church by a dwarf stone wall with Mediaeval ron railings or cresting on the top and a gate in the centre. The pulpit is octagonal with Devonshire marble columns at the angles, and the panels inlaid with marble. The chancel window bears the device of a triangle, with a Latin inscription, to signify the symbol of the Trinity; the four transept corbels are sculpted with figures of the Evangelists. There is a schoolroom or lecture room below. The church, which will accommodate 800 persons, has been built for about ,5,000. The architects are Messrs Woodhouse and Potts of Oldham. [Illustrated London News 11 December 1869 page 593]

Reference    Builder 24 July 1869 page 592
Reference    Illustrated London News 11 December 1869 page 593 with illustration