The church is an interesting example of early twentieth-century architectural design which exhibits the influence of Art Nouveau and Free Style trends. The exterior is very little altered. Inside, details such as the design of the roof and the modelling of the arcades continue the Free Style approach. The interior has recently been renovated, with reinstatement of traditional furnishings.

The Longsight area of Manchester is bisected by the busy A6 road, a principal inner city route. The area was still rural in the early nineteenth century, chosen by the novelist Mrs Gaskell for her house (to the northwest) partly for the countryside setting. The originally exclusive residential area of Victoria Park, laid out in 1837, lies to the south. Later in the century as industry began to encroach the area became built up while the character of the area and demographic changed. Clearances were undertaken and new housing estates laid out in the mid-twentieth century, and these were partly rebuilt and restructured in the early twenty-first century.

The mission was started in 1888 by Fr Daly, who began raising money to build a church. He died in 1910 before his plans could be realised and the work was taken forward by Fr C. Wiertz. The church was built in 1914-15. It was designed by Lowther & Rigby, architects and surveyors of Manchester, who also designed the Roman Catholic church of St Joseph in Goole (Diocese of Leeds) in 1913 in somewhat similar style. The firm is not well known, and no other buildings by them have been identified.

All orientations given are liturgical. For a detailed description of the exterior, see the list entry, below.  The church exhibits interesting Art Nouveau and Free Style influences, especially obvious in the detailing of the tracery and treatment of the openings. A possible source for the details of the tower, in particular the manner in which the angle buttress are carried through the roof terminating with finials, could be Edgar Wood’s Lindley clock tower in Huddersfield of 1900.

The list entry does not describe the interior. There is a west gallery, and arcades of pointed arches with mouldings dying into piers. Slender attached pilasters rise from the springing points of the arches to support an open timber roof is of unusual design, somewhat in the manner of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Massive timber trusses mark the bays in the aisles. The baptistery has ironwork gates and a stone font with lettering, painted white. The altar rails, lectern and Lady Chapel altar were carved by Joe Burke, 2010-11. The reredos came from a store and originated outside the diocese. It was put into position during a major reordering of 2010-11, when the sanctuary was remodelled and fitted with a wood block floor. The glass includes some windows possibly of early or mid-twentieth century date and others with tinted glass in square quarries probably of later twentieth century date.

The church was reordered, probably in the 1970s or after, when a suspended ceiling was inserted in the chancel and a central altar introduced in the nave. The architect or designer has not been identified, and the work was reversed during a major period of restoration and reordering in 2010-11.

Description

All orientations given are liturgical. For a detailed description of the exterior, see the list entry, below.  The church exhibits interesting Art Nouveau and Free Style influences, especially obvious in the detailing of the tracery and treatment of the openings. A possible source for the details of the tower, in particular the manner in which the angle buttress are carried through the roof terminating with finials, could be Edgar Wood’s Lindley clock tower in Huddersfield of 1900.

The list entry does not describe the interior. There is a west gallery, and arcades of pointed arches with mouldings dying into piers. Slender attached pilasters rise from the springing points of the arches to support an open timber roof is of unusual design, somewhat in the manner of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Massive timber trusses mark the bays in the aisles. The baptistery has ironwork gates and a stone font with lettering, painted white. The altar rails, lectern and Lady Chapel altar were carved by Joe Burke, 2010-11. The reredos came from a store and originated outside the Diocese. It was put into position during a major reordering of 2010-11, when the sanctuary was remodelled and fitted with a wood block floor. The glass includes some windows possibly of early or mid-twentieth century date and others with tinted glass in square quarries probably of later twentieth century date.

List description:

II

Roman Catholic church. 1914-15, by Lowther and Rigby. Red glazed brick in Flemish bond with red sandstone dressings and slate roof. Arts and Crafts style. Five-bay nave on north-south axis, with north porch, north-east tower, aisles, south chancel. The gabled north entrance front has a projected single-storey porch/narthex with a plinth and stylised embattled parapet, cusped lancets flanking a wide splayed entrance arch of sandstone with cyma-arched head and hoodmould, and 2-centred inner arch containing a pair of doorways which have shaped lintels and wooden-mullioned doors with glazed panels and ornamental L-hinges, and above and between these a carved plaque with lamb-and-flag emblem flanked by batons with lettered banners; and to the right, a canted baptistery. The gable of the nave has buttresses, a tall segmental-pointed 3-light window with chamfered mullions, cusped mouchette tracery and small-paned coloured leaded glazing, and a coped gable with kneelers. To the left is a short 5-sided stair-turret to the tower, which is tall and square with plain diagonal full-height buttresses and a steeply pitched pyramidal roof with swept eaves and stone gargoyles and turrets at the corners, and has a segmental-pointed doorway in the left side, a gable over this, a statue in a niche, and large recessed segmental-pointed 2-light belfry louvres with weathered sills. The aisles and nave have pilaster-buttresses and 2-light mullioned windows, those to the aisle with Art Nouveau cusping and those to the nave very tall with tracery in the heads and small-paned coloured glazing. Interior not inspected.

Listing NGR: SJ8600296036

Heritage Details