One of a number of churches of similar date in the Manchester area by Greenhalgh & Williams. The stained glass windows and fixtures brought from elsewhere in recent years include work of interest and quality, although they are somewhat incongruous in the setting of a 1950s church. 

This part of Manchester was earmarked for development with council housing to replace substandard housing in the Collyhurst and Miles Platting areas during the interwar period. A parish was formed shortly before the Second World War in 1937, and Mass was initially said at the convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor on Culcheth Road (now demolished). A school church was built in 1939, replaced by the present church and presbytery designed by Greenhalgh & Williams in 1958-9. The completed church was opened by Bishop Beck on 25 February 1960, and was consecrated on the same date fifteen years later.  In recent years the church has been enriched by furnishings brought from the Peter Paul Pugin church of St Edmund, Miles Platting (demolished in 1994), and from a former convent in Bolton.

Description

All orientations given are liturgical. The church consists of nave with south aisle and projecting northeast Lady Chapel. There is a west tower with statue of Christ, and a link with peaked roof to a presbytery, which is set back on the southeast side. The church is constructed of steel portal frames and a mixture of brick and stone.

Inside, a narthex with west gallery over leads into the main space, consisting of a wide nave with low north aisle. The division between the nave and the sanctuary is marked by a parabolic archway. Original furnishings include bench seating and a pale marble font. A furnishing scheme of 1904 by J. Stuflesser brought from the P. P. Pugin church of St Edmund, Miles Platting, includes an altar and pulpit adapted to fit around the existing furnishings, and a large and elaborate reredos with statuary. This was installed in 1994-5. The church also has stained glass from St Edmund’s, probably of early twentieth century date, along the south side. Glass in the west end and south side is from the demolished chapel of the Convent of Mount St Joseph in Bolton. It was reset by Design Lights in the years leading up to 2007, the date which appears in a window on the northwest side visible in the gallery. The glass appears to date from the 1930s or later, and is possibly by the studio of Harry Clarke.

Heritage Details