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This splendid church was located
at the end of Acton Square in Salford with the Manchester, Bolton
& Bury Canal at the rear of the Church. The Canal Company
changed its affection for the new form of bulk transport - railways.
In 1838 the Manchester, Bolton and Bury line opened with its
terminus situated in Salford. The population figures exploded
as people crowded into the limited accommodation of the village
and in no time the picturesque half-timbered houses had been
demolished and replaced by brick high density, back-to-back terraces
which became notorious as "The Classic Slum". Into
this needy area came one man whose name can still be found in
many places in the Diocese - Hugh Stowell (e.g. St. Matthew's,
Bolton, is flanked by Stowell Street). It was actually with great
reluctance that Bishop Bloomfield of Chester licensed this firebrand,
evangelical Curate of Huddersfield, to be in sole charge of St.
Stephens. In his generation the preaching and influence of Canon
Stowell eclipsed that of Bishops, Deans and Residentiary Canons.
Hugh Stowell born 3rd December
1799 was the son of a Manx clergyman of the same name noted for
his piety and simple eloquence. Young Hugh was educated privately
and then in 1818 went to St. Edmund Hall : Oxford where he graduated
in 1822. He was ordained the following year by the Bishop of
Bristol and licensed to the curacy of Sheepscombe in the Cotswold
Hills. In 1824 he moved to Huddersfield for a second curacy and
stayed about two years before coming to Salford and transforming
the congregation of St. Stephen's within a few weeks of his arrival,
to "standing-room only". Men of Stowell's ability were
in great demand and it was obvious to the townsfolk of Salford
that if their young minister was going to stay in the town then
a church of some grace must be provided to counteract the many
attractive offers which would come from beyond the ancient Manchester
Parish boundaries. It was equally apparent that the Warden and
Fellows of the Collegiate Church would never offer Stowell one
of the churches in their Patronage; in fact they took all possible
measures to hinder the St. Stephen's curate and his friends.
These were days of church
building. St. Philip's Salford was built in 1825 under the "Million
Pound" Act but Parliament also wished to encourage the private
patronage of church building. In 1827 the Trustees Church Building
Act was passed which granted to anyone building a church, the
right of nomination in perpetuity, and their successors. The
first church to be built under the Act was Christ Church : Salford.
Early in 1828 a group of twelve men, under the Chairmanship of
Mr. Robert Gardner, founder of the great Manchester textile firm
of Tootal, Broadhurst Lee, wrote to the Commissioners for permission,
under the Act, to build a church and claimed the right to nominate
the Incumbents, a right contested by the clergy of the Manchester
Collegiate foundation under their Royal Charter. To remove any
possible doubt another Bill called "The Trustees Church
Building Act" was inspired by the Salford Committee and
passed through Parliament in 1831. This second Act became law
on 5th October, yet further legal opinion was taken to satisfy
the Trustees that their right of Presentation was fully protected
before finally committing their new church to the rule of the
Established Church. On 29th October 1831 Counsel stated that
they "will be secure against any attempt on the part of
the Collegiate body to interfere with their rights". Within
three weeks of the passing of the 1831 Act, on 4th November,
Christ Church was consecrated and Hugh Stowell appointed its
first Incumbent, the one and only preferment he held and that
until his death. The total cost of the original building (the
spire was not added until 1843) was only £6,075 - 16s -
41/4d but optimism must have overrun the sponsors for when it
was opened there was an outstanding debt of £3.750 - 10s
- 7d or well over 50% of the cost.
Stowell remained aloof from
the building Committee meetings, although the layout of this
veritable preaching house, seating 1,300 people carried the orator's
stamp with its huge central three-decker pulpit. Even so the
intended Minister did actually lay the first stone on 28th April
1830 of the church built "in Acton Square beyond the Crescent".
The architect was Mr.Thomas Wright and the builder Mr. James
White.
One biographer states "Mr.
StoweIl's name has not come before the world as the author of
any great and learned works of theology or other subjects"
but his influence centred at Acton Square was considerable in
the Church and County. He was one of the founders of the Church
Pastoral Aid Society and an ardent supporter of the Church Missionary
Society forwarding an average of £500 per annum to its
work from his congregation. In recognition of his labours he
was in 1845 appointed a Canon of Chester Cathedral, in 1851 an
examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Manchester and subsequently
Rural Dean of Salford. There was also a good measure of parochial
charity in Hugh Stowell's work, not least his advocacy of education.
In 1831 the Hulme Street School was opened as a Sunday School,
and in 1839 another school, in Hope Street, opened as both a
Day and Sunday School. When the great discussion arose in Manchester
on the education question he took a prominent part on behalf
of the religious party. He spoke for more than two hours persuading
the House ,"not to sanction any system of general education
of which the Christian religion is not the basis". His educational
policy was direct and simple, "either Christianise it or
crush it".
Hugh Stowell made enemies
as easily as friends. When he was invited to speak at the meeting
of the Manchester Church Congress he was howled down by rows
of Ritualist curates. He was a Protestant of vigilant nature.
It is said he, more than anyone else, was responsible for ensuring
the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Salford was built where it is
and not within his own Parish. He agitated for the passing of
the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill and was for more than twenty-five
years President of the Manchester and Salford Operative Protestant
Association. So outspoken and bitter was his condemnation of
the Roman Catholicism that he was taken to Court in 1840 by one
priest for his libelous attacks. Stowell only proved his innocence
after an appeal to the Court of the Queen's Bench.
The main population growth
of Salford took place towards the middle of 19th century. In
1821 there were 25,700 inhabitants and by 1841 probably 40,000.
If steps had not been taken by Stowell and others to divide the
Parish of Christ Church it would have had about 60,000 folk living
within its borders by 1880. In 1841 St. Bartholomews Church,
the first of four new churches whose parishes were to be carved
out of Christ Church, was built, largely through the influence
of Hugh Stowell by the Ten Churches Association and one of his
former curates was appointed its first Minister. This church
closed on the first Sunday in 1974 and was demolished in 1975.
In 1856 the small Waterloo Church of St. Pauls, Ellor Street,
was built and a portion of the district of Christ Church assigned
to the charge of its Incumbent. It is somewhat ironical that
after Christ Church had been demolished the residual Parish area
was transferred to the care of St. Paul's.
The third church to be built
in the former Parish of Christ Church is the Stowell Memorial
Church, on Regent Road. It was built as its name suggests, to
commemorate the life and labour of Hugh Stowell, shortly after
the Canon's death and consecrated in 1869. It was designed by
Medland Taylor and the 150 foot spire, so placed as seemingly
in the centre of the road junction. The foundation stone of the
church was laid on 19th October 1867 by Bishop Prince Lee and
cost about £8,000 to build. The whole scheme, including
a School and Rectory was paid for by public subscription and
ministered to a Parish constituted out of those of Christ Church
and St. Bartholomew. The tower is all that remains of the church
standing as a beacon at the start of the M 602 motorway. The
fourth "daughter" Church was built in 1878 St. Clement,
Ordsall.
The seating accommodation
at Christ Church itself proved inadequate and an extra bay was
added, with the semi-circular apse, in 1847-8. This was the church
which witnessed the incredible funeral scenes on 13th October
1865 when Canon Stowell was buried in his family vault under
the church by express permission of the Home Secretary. The Diocesan
Bishop led more than 200 clergy at the head of a mile long procession
as Salford mourned the death of their Rector. The family name
was not to leave Christ Church as the Trustees appointed the
youngest of the Canon's two surviving sons. The Rev'd Thomas
Alfred Stowell to follow his father, a post he held until 1890
when he accepted an offer to the living of Chorley. In 1874 the
spire of the church was hit by lightning and was rebuilt with
a central iron reinforcing. In 1958, due to the added reinforcement,
the demolition contractors took five days to demolish the spire.
The tremendous impact of Christ
Church on all spheres of life both locally and nationally is
self evident from the list of Wardens, Trustees, Members of the
Congregation and Leaders of the many and varied organisations,
and the shrewd businessmen provided over £1,500, about
a quarter of the capital cost, as an "Endowment and Repair
Fund". This sum proved totally inadequate generations later
to meet the cost of eradicating the dry rot at an estimated sum
of £40,000. The defect lay in the structure allowed in
the first phase of building when the committee had permitted
the architect to use natural stone for the front portico and
to stucco-render the side and rear brickwork. The chancel extension
of 1847 brought the building within a few yards of the canal
banking which caused perpetual dampness; perhaps another factor
in the final chapter of this once great church. In 1946 Mr. Ernest
Hill, the son of a former Rector, an architect and also a trustee,
examined a serious outbreak of dry-rot and diagnosed it as the
most virulent type which would cause the disintegration of timber,
mortar, brickwork and plaster alike. There seemed no alternative
but to demolish the building for if any money was spent on trying
to cure the outbreak it would only reoccur a decade later. Unfortunately
Mr. Hill died soon after giving his professional opinion and
his advice was ignored. Money was spent but in 1955 Mr. Hill
was proved right as even more extensive outbreaks were found
- the beam across the apse opening had completely disintegrated
to powder. The last service to be held in the church was the
Harvest Thanksgiving Service on 30th September 1956 after which
the Mission Church of the Good Shepherd was used as the Parish
Church until 1963 when the Parish was joined to St. Paul's.
The decision to demolish the
building was not taken lightly as it was scheduled under the
Town and Country Planning Act as of architectural merit with
it's fine interior of square Georgian period. On 17th September
1957 a faculty for demolition was granted in the Manchester Diocesan
Consistory Court and the actual work done in Summer of 1958.
The last words of the Christ Church saga belong to Bishop Warman
when he preached the centenary sermon. "When during the
last few days I was reading a history of the Church of England,
written by a churchman who had not very much sympathy with the
Evangelical Movement, I came across this passage: "Evangelicalism
touched the great towns of the North,' invaded them; captured
their pulpits and, perhaps chiefest among them, Hugh Stowell
conquered Manchester".
The text has been taken from
the book` Like A Mighty Tortoise' by The Rev'd Arthur J Dobb
& Derek Ralphs. |
