The cotton boom with all its associations brought a swelling
tide of humanity into the towns Lancashire. As their boundaries
expanded to house the workers a narrow belt of elegant residence
of merchants and wealthy tradesmen always seemed to preceed the
surf of the working-class! The C19th churches were, generally
speaking, built in those wealthy suburbs by the enterprising
and successful businessmen as a further possible financial investment
and sometimes as a living for the youngest son of the family
who had entered the Ordained Ministry. Once the wave of affluence
had moved on and Parliamentary legislation ensured that the Church
of England should be more spiritual in its Ministry and less
lucrative to its patrons, these vast stone edifices were left
to the following generations who had neither the means to maintain
them nor always the inclination to repair their predecessor's
often poor quality and cheap buildings.
The "Waterloo"
Churches.
Although fine words were spoken about the need for some spiritual,
restraint of the working classes to their indulgent practices
of gambling lounging, drinking and debauchery, nothing was done
to provided churches in the slums until, under a Parliamentary
Act of 1818, £1 million was granted to build new churches
"lest a godless people might also be a revolutionary people".
As less emotive reason for building these churches, they were
to be the nation's token of Thanksgiving to Almighty God for
the victory at Waterloo, hence they are sometimes known as "Waterloo
Churches". The overall intentions may have seemed worthy,
yet the monies were mainly spent in the middle-class suburbs
and did little to alleviate the acute distress and harsh repression
which manifested themselves in such demonstrations as "Peterloo".
Perhaps the most dignified
of these Waterloo Churches is St. Philip, Salford , built in
the Classical style and designed by Sir Robert Smirke (1781-1867)
the architect of the British Museum. The Greco-Roman style did
not enjoy much favour with church architects and Smirke was forced
to put his grand colonnaded porch and clock tower in the centre
of the south wall to create his imposing design rather than the
more logical position at the west end to serve as the main entrance.
There is a mystery in the
dedication to St. Philip as its consecration took place on St.
Matthew's Day, Wednesday 21st September 1825. It is surmised
that the Consecration of another Waterloo Church, St. Matthew
- Compfield, had been previously arranged with the Bishop for
the following Saturday and he refused to consecrate two churches
with the same dedication so near to each other.
The text has been taken from
the book` Like A Mighty Tortoise' by The Rev'd Arthur J Dobb
& Derek Ralphs. |
