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Until St. John's Church -
built by the pence of the people and the pounds of the gentry
- was opened in 1848 Salford's Catholics had no church of their
own in the town. Each Sunday they crossed the River Irwell to
hear Mass at one of Manchester's five churches: St. Chad's, Rook
Street (1773); St. Mary's, Mulberry Street (1794); St. Augustine's,
Granby Row (1820); St. Patrick's, Livesey Street (1832); or St.
Wilfrid's, Hulme (1842).
Of these the most popular
seems to have been St. Mary's - today more widely known as The
Hidden Gem - so it was a major disaster when one Sunday morning
in 1835 worshippers arrived to find that during the night the
roof and dome had collapsed blocking the aisles and making its
use impossible.
A new church of their own
for which the faithful in Salford were already each contributing
one hard earned penny a week now became an urgent necessity.
Inspired by their spiritual leader Dr James Sharples, Coadjutor
Bishop to Bishop George Brown of the Lancashire Vicariate, they
now redoubled their efforts. By 1840 they were able to buy a
piece of land at Hunts Bank, close to where Victoria Station
stands today.
Fortunately before building
could begin, the Manchester and Leeds Railway planned a big extension
which made the site no longer desirable for the projected church,
but highly desirable to the Railway Company. The Catholics gladly
sold the land to the Railway and were able to buy a new site
in Chapel Street, Salford. Two notable local businessmen, Daniel
Lee and John Leeming, each donated £1,000 towards the cost
of the church and furnishings - large amounts in those days. |
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Whit Thursday in May 1844
was a day of rejoicing, not only for Salford Catholics but for
all those of the Lancashire Vicariate Apostolic, which included
all Lancashire, Cheshire and the Isle of Man. As yet there were
no English dioceses.
In what can be regarded as
the forerunner of the annual Catholic "Whit Walks"
- which began two years later - children from ten Manchester
and three Salford Sunday Schools marched in procession with their
bands and banners to join the crowds gathered at the site for
the new church. In all some six thousand people watched as Bishop
Sharples laid and blessed the foundation stone of the new St.
John's Parish Church.
Matthew Ellison Hadfield of
Weightman, Hadfield, and Goldie of Sheffield, was the architect
chosen for the new church by Bishop Sharples who had met him
during the Fever Plague in Sheffield.
Hadfield greatly admired the
decorated style of architecture favoured by the Catholic builders
of the 13th and 14th century cathedrals, abbeys, and churches.
For St. John's West front and nave he looked to Howden Church,
Yorkshire; for the choir and sanctuary to the Benedictine Abbey
of Selby, also in Yorkshire; for the lofty, lovely spire to the
15th century church of St. Mary Magdalene in Newark, Nottinghamshire.
His design for the decorations of the groined roof was inspired
by that of the church of St. James at Liege.
By the spring of 1845 the
Bishops of the Vicariates may have had reason to hope, but could
hardly have known, that the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy
in England and Wales was drawing close. |
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They may even have believed
in the possibility that St. John's would be required as the Cathedral
for a new diocese. Matthew Hadfield recorded in his diary for
Saturday 24th May 1845, "With the Rev. W. Turner at Salford
discussing lengthening the Choir", and on Tuesday 8th July
the two men met John Leeming and plans were ordered for a new
Choir. The extensions involved the demolition of school buildings
including a recently erected chapel opened in 1843. New schools
were built in Cleminson Street.
The building of St. John's
by Benjamin Hollins of Manchester took four years to complete
at a cost, including the extentions, of £18,000. It was
to be a heavy burden and would take the courageous parishioners
over forty years to pay the debt in full. It was another day
of rejoicing and thanksgiving when on Wednesday 9th August, 1848,
they gathered for the opening of St. John's Church.
Dr George Brown as Bishop
of the Lancashire Vicariate, sang the Solemn High Mass in the
presence of the Bishops of the other Vicariates of England and
Wales, one hundred and twenty priests and a congregation drawn
from all levels of society. In what turned out to be the start
of a lasting, friendly and cooperative relationship between the
Catholic community and the Civic authorities, the use of the
Salford Town Hall was given for the official reception and banquet.
The only sign of hostility
that day came from a small group distributing an anti Catholic
pamphlet to the crowd outside the new church - a demonstration
largely ignored.
In his ninety-minute sermon
Bishop Nicholas Wiseman, speaking of those whose efforts and
sacrifice had built the fine new church, said: "Theirs was
the confidence of old who built churches not for themselves or
their children but for succeeding centuries."
His words had a prophetic
ring, forjust two years later came the restoration of the Catholic
Hierarchy and the dividing of England and Wales into twelve dioceses.
The former Lancashire district was split into two of the new
dioceses: Salford, comprising the Hundreds of Salford, Blackburn,
and Leyland (which included the strongly -Catholic town of Preston);
and Liverpool which comprised the Hundreds of Lonsdale, Amounderness,
and West Derby. John O'Dea in his book "The Story of the
Old Faith in Manchester" written in 1910, tells how Bishop
George Brown, who had jurisdiction over the Lancashire Vicariate,
when appointed first Bishop of Liverpool persuaded the Vatican
authorities to remove the Hundred of Leyland (including Preston)
from Salford and add it to Liverpool.
The title Salford rather than
Manchester was chosen - Manchester had become an Anglican Diocese
in 1847 with the "Old Church" as Manchester Cathedral.
So it was that on 25th July 1851, Nicholas Wiseman, now Cardinal
Archbishop of Westminster, returned to Salford and the church
which was henceforth to be the Cathedral Church of St. John the
Evangelist.
This time he was to consecrate
by the mandate of Pope Pius IX, the Rev. William Turner the first
Bishop of Salford. In the same ceremony the Rector of St. John's,
Dr George Errington was consecrated Bishop of Plymouth.
Thirty years later in October
1881 a violent storm caused serious damage to the Cathedral's
240 ft. spire - when built the tallest in Lancashire and a notable
landmark appreciated by Salfordians both Catholic and non-Catholic. |
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Canon Beesley, then the administrator,
succeeded in raising funds for repairs to the spire and generally
refurbishing the fabric of the building. He also managed with
extra gifts to increase the dignity of the Cathedral by building
the new Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the South transept.
The good Canon's expertise
in fundraising must have been considerable for by early 1890
the last £1,000 was paid to settle the original debt for
the building of the Cathedral. The way was then clear for the
consecration of the Cathedral by the second Bishop of Salford,
Herbert Vaughan - who was later to become the Cardinal Archbishop
of Westminster.
In 1919/20 the turrets on
the West front were found to be in danger of collapsing into
the street below. They were taken down and rebuilt by the Sheffield
firm of O'Neill and Son under the direction of Mr Charles M.
Hadfield the grandson of the Cathedral's architect Matthew Hadfield.
Fifteen years later another
disaster threatened when the famous spire was found to have strayed
from the perpendicular and for safety's sake the Civic authorities
ordered that some sixty feet be removed.
It was now the turn of another
Bishop, Thomas Henshaw, and administrator, Canon Sharrock, to
set up a fund to restore the dignity of the spire and make much
needed repairs to the building - this was done in 1938.
The Second World War (19:39-45)
left its mark - damage by enemy action and the impossibility
of proper maintenance and a fresh appeal, this time by the Sixth
Bishop, Henry Vincent Marshall, resulted in a £35,000 new
lease of life for the Cathedral.
In 1969 rot was again discovered
and it became a question of repair or demolish and rebuild. Both
options were bound to be very expensive. |
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Bishop Holland and his Auxilary
Bishop Burke made the decision to restore and the work was carried
out in 1971/2 at a cost of £80,000.
It says much for the loyalty
and love of the parishioners of St. John's that they have always
played their part in looking after their Cathedral - despite
their greatly reduced numbers caused by the population shift
of the last half - century. Inevitably the major fund-raising
role has fallen on the parishes of the Salford Diocese. Their
success is seen in the beauty that is the Cathedral today. It
is also living proof of the continuing strength of the Faith
of our Fathers.
This brief history will have
given you a background to your visit to St. John's, but before
you enter we suggest that you look first at the exterior.... |
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St. John's Cathedral stands
on Salford's busiest and least lovely main street. It was the
first Catholic church to be built in cruciform shape since the
Reformation but other buildings less pleasing to the eye mask
the beauty of 'its form. Only the elegant cloud-piercing spire
proclaims our Cathedral's presence to the approaching visitor.
But there is one quite splendid
viewpoint - the other side of Chapel Street opposite the Cathedral
House gateway. From here you can appreciate the full Gothic strength
of the West front - four massive buttresses with open turrets,
the solid main door in its deep splay beneath the great West
window.
On the buttresses immediately
flanking the window stand figures of St. Peter with the keys
and St. Paul with the sword. At the point of'the window a small
statue of Our Lady and Her Divine Child looks down at us. Beyond,
tower and slender spire rise in complementary glory.
The tower, square with coupled
windows beneath gabled pediments, forming a solid base for the
tapering spire, its upward thrust accentuated by the four tiers
of diminishing gabled windows. The North side of the building
is largely hidden by other structures, and the North porch is
now rarely used.
The South side gives on to
a large courtyard with Cathedral House taking up the other two
sides.
In 1972 a grant from the Salford
Corporation for the cleaning of the outside of the Cathedral
enabled us to see the full beauty of the cream Yorkshire stone
used for the building.
Taken from the Cathedral guide
by Owen French |
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