Wesleyan Day and Sunday Schools. Cheetham Hill

WESLEYAN SCHOOLS CHEETHAM HILL -On Saturday afternoon, Mr. John Clapham, of Mansfield, laid the foundation stone of a new Wesleyan day and Sunday schools, in Thomas-street, Cheetham Hill. The schools are intended to supply the place of the present Cheatham Hill Day and Sunday Schools at the top of Fountain Street, adjoining Canary Island. The projected building will be a handsome and commodious structure, in the Gothic style, with a turret and spire surmounting the front entrances. The Interior accommodation will consist of two large classrooms, one for infants, and the other for older boys and girls, a library room, four classrooms, lavatories, etc., and are calculated to accommodate 400 scholars, 'The schoolroom will be divided by moveable partitions, so as to admit of their being thrown into one large room for public meetings and other purposes. The library will occupy the centre portion of the front of the building, between the porches, and it will be accessible by doorways from either school. There will be two entrances for girls and infants from the front street, on either side of the library. The boys' entrance will be at the end of the building, between the classrooms. Three of the classrooms will be In connection with the boys’ and girls' schoolroom, and the fourth with the infants' schoolroom. Each of the school rooms will have a recessed gallery with raised floor. The design has been furnished by Messrs Clegg and Knowles, of this city, and the contract for the work has be entrusted to Mr Foggett, builder, Elizabeth Street, Cheetham, his tender amounting to £1,762. The project however, is not confined to the erection of these schools, but comprehends the building of a chapel and Sunday school at Rooden Island, for which a site has been purchased. The money subscribed and promises up to this dated amounts to about £2,500, and it is estimated that the completion of the entire project will necessitate an outlay of £5,000. [Manchester Weekly Times 29 July 1865 page 6]

Reference    Manchester Weekly Times 29 July 1865 page 6 – foundation stone
Reference    Builder 17 March 1866 Page 202
Reference    Manchester Courier 9 March 1866 page 4