St_Luke's_Church,_Manchester

St Luke's Church, Manchester

St Luke's Church, Manchester

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53°30′13″N 2°14′4″W

St Luke's Cheetham Hill

St Luke's Church was an Anglican parish church in the Cheetham Hill district of Manchester, England. The structure is now mostly derelict.

The church of St Luke was a Commissioners' church,[1] situated on the corner of Cheetham Hill Road and Smedley Lane. The building was completed in 1839, using ashlar, to a Perpendicular Gothic design by T. W. Atkinson. Construction had commenced in 1836.[2]

A wealthy local resident and enthusiastic amateur musician, J. W. Fraser, commissioned William Hill to design and install a three-manual church organ in the German System style. This was completed in 1840.[3] Mendelssohn gave a recital using this instrument in April 1847.[4]

Although now mostly derelict, the tower and west end of the aisles and vestry survive and are classified as a Grade II listed building.[5]

In the grounds of the ruined church also lies a large crypt supported by pillars and archways, that still contains remnants of pottery and headstones. Eerie photos of the crypt have appeared online, attracting attention to this historic site.[6]

The church was considered the best early Gothic Revival church in Manchester. The large churchyard was once a fashionable burial site. The church was a stronghold of Protestantism and became notorious when the rector, Hugh Stowell, was accused of libel in 1840.[7]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Parkinson-Bailey, John J. (2000). Manchester: An Architectural History. Manchester University Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-71905-606-2.
  2. [2]
    Pevsner, Nikolaus (1969). Buildings of England: South Lancashire: The Industrial and Commercial South (Reprinted, revised ed.). Yale University Press. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-30009-615-6.
  3. [3]
    Thistlethwaite, Nicholas (1999). The Making of the Victorian Organ. Cambridge University Press. pp. 178, 202, 466. ISBN 978-0-52166-364-9.
  4. [4]
    "Dr Mendelssohn's organ recital: 'considerable curiosity and interest were excited'". The Guardian. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  5. [5]
    "Ruins of Church of St Luke". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  6. [6]
    "The huge creepy abandoned crypt people 'walk past every day'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  7. [7]
    "Church of St Luke Cheetham Hill Manchester - Building". Architects of Greater Manchester. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
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