Subject - The Cotton Church: A History of St Peter’s Ancoats

Posted : (Tuesday 4th September 2007 ) By - Jane (Registered User)

“The Cotton Church: A History of St Peter’s Ancoats” by Carys Edge and Terry Wyke

Published by Heritage Works BPT

Heritage Works Buildings Preservation Trust, based in Ancoats, has recently published a short history of the recently renovated ‘beacon of hope’ St Peter’s in Ancoats, “The Cotton Church”.

As the birthplace of the industrial revolution, Ancoats had mills, workshops, (poor quality) housing and, of course, pubs in abundance, but at first there were few churches. Built in 1859 and consecrated in 1860, St Peter’s was the first Anglican church in the area and was paid for by public subscription. Built in inexpensive brick, with stone decoration, and using an Italianate design, the architects Isaac Holden & Son were able to provide a handsome church in a poor neighbourhood, at a comparatively small cost.

No building, least of all a church, can be extracted from the community in which it exists, so this brief history of St Peter’s embraces the streets and neighbourhood in which it functioned. In many respects the story is the familiar one of almost any Victorian inner-city church, that is one of confident foundation, prolonged struggle and inescapable decline, except that in the case of St Peter’s, demolition did not follow its deconsecration. Even more astonishingly, the building took on a new role as a symbol of the regeneration of Ancoats. In 2005-6 it was meticulously restored and is now ready to play a new part in a district that is once more experiencing a dramatic physical and economic transformation.

Carys Edge researched the history of St Peter’s as part of her final year studies at Manchester Metropolitan University, and wrote the book with Terry Wyke, who teaches social and econmic history at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The publication has been produced as part of the St Peter’s restoration projects, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

Copies of the book are available, price £6 (+ £2 p&p), from: Heritage Works, Beehive Mill, Jersey Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6JG. Make cheques payable to: “Heritage Works BPT Ltd”.

More information about St Peter’s is available at: www.ancoatsbpt.co.uk/projects_peters.htm