Manchester Cathedral -A walk around the interior
Manchester Cathedral is an iconic Manchester landmark. I’m a born and bred Mancunian in my 60’s and apart from a visit to watch a special Alicia Keys concert I am ashamed to say I’ve never really taken the time to visit and take a walk around inside. Therefore having a day to myself recently I took the time to visit. Here is my short visitors guide.
A Brief history of Manchester Cathedral
Manchester Cathedral, originally a collegiate church founded in 1421, became a cathedral in 1847 after the creation of the Diocese of Manchester, and is a notable example of Perpendicular Gothic architecture. It is a Church of England Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George.
The cathedral is known for its Perpendicular Gothic architecture, with notable features including the wide nave (widest in England), fine 15th and 16th-century carvings, and magnificent post-war stained glass windows. lt has been a venue for various events, including the first public meeting of the campaign to abolish the slave trade in 1787.
Early Origins
The site of the cathedral has been a place of worship since at least the 10th century, with a church destroyed by Vikings in 923, later rebuilt and mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The church was extensively reconstructed and further enlarged following the creation of the Diocese of Manchester and its attainment of cathedral status in 1847.
The area around the cathedral is pedestrianised and is accessible for anyone with mobility issues. And great bonus is that its free to enter.
I visited on a midweek morning and there were quite a few other visitors around. The cathedral was really a large space to walk around with many smaller chapels inside. It wasn’t fully set up for a service – mostly a vast open space at the time of my visit. I think different smaller chapels are used on differing occasions.
There is an area devoted to Manchester people who have fought for the Country in World Wars, The Regiment Chapel, and within this dedicated areas acknowledgments are made to many nationalities who fought alongside us. In the seats of this chapel are Perspex figures used to represent victims of war, the day I visited the figures were decorated to represent Holocaust victims, quite symbolic figures.
Like many Cathedrals and churches there are so many amazing sculptures and statues, I’ve got to admit I have a ‘thing’ about any statue. The details fascinate and amaze me.
An interesting fact I discovered is that in the 19th Century the Reverend Joshua Brookes performed nearly 2000 weddings – often in mass groups. This is because if couples were from separate parishes they had to pay two fees to be married – if married at the Cathedral then only one was required. This made it popular with the poor in the area. Thousands applied every year and, in the early to mid 1800s, the eccentric Reverend Brookes refused to let them leave disappointed. In 1821 alone he personally conducted 1,924 marriages, that’s more than 5 a day. During busy periods he married people in batches of twenty.
A Personal Connection
Interestingly for me, whilst researching my family tree I found that my maternal second great grandparents George and Annie were married there in August 1864. I thought they were posh! but researching for this piece I now understand why – my ancestors were from poor working class backgrounds, my maternal side mostly living and working in the Greengate area of Salford.
Anyway I digress – as I usually do in my conversations! If you visit please take time to admire the magnificent stained glass windows, they are not the original as the Cathedral was very badly damaged by bombing in the Manchester Blitz of 1940 and again the Fire Window in The Regiment Chapel is a replacement following an IRA bomb exploded nearby in 1996.
If you are visiting Manchester I recommend you take some time – even only 30 minutes to look inside the Cathedral – if it’s raining as is usual in Manchester it is somewhere to while away some time away from the horrible weather.
Also whilst visiting the Cathedral please take a moment to also visit the Glade of Light Memorial garden which is just outside. This was created to pay tribute to the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. Each victim have there name etched into marble to be forever remembered. It’s very moving to pay your respects and see some of the individual flowers and mementos left by their families.
