The Church of St Cross, Clayton,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, is a Victorian church by

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was born in Lon ...

, built in 1863–66. It was designated a

grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

in 1963. The church is very tall, in Butterfield's trademark red brick, with blue brick and pale stone banding.Hartwell et al. 2004, p 362-3 The style is Middle Pointed. To the south-west, the church has a high tower, "narrow and tall, with slender angle buttresses and a steep pyramidal roof of banded slate, and a gabled south porch with 2-centred arched doorway". The interior has lost most of its furnishings but remains "unmistakably Butterfield". It has a timber-framed roof with five-bay arcades, with patterns of coloured stone and tiles that have been echoed in late 20th century stencilling. There is some notable stained glass of the

patron saints A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person. I ...

of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. The churchyard contains the

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regu ...

of seven soldiers of World War I and two of World War II.
CWGC Cemetery Report, details from casualty record.

History

The area where St Cross is now used to be part of the parish of St Mary Droylsden. In the early 1860s, land was gifted to Revd. Charles Henry Lomax by Peter Hoare on which the parish church of St Cross was to be built. The renowned Gothic Revival architect

was invited to draw up plans for this new church and construction began in 1862. At the time of construction, Bishop Prince Lee was in charge of Manchester Diocese. Lee, a lowchurchman, did not take to the ornate decorative style of St Cross and initially refused to consecrate the parish church, despite the opening services happening in 1866. Bishop James Fraser eventually consecrated the church in 1874. Originally, St Cross was built without many stained glass windows. However, when the Church of St Peter, Oldham closed in 1970, the sixteen stained glass windows were gifted to St Cross, and now reside in the nave of the church.

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Grade II* listed churches in Manchester Churches in Manchester William Butterfield buildings {{England-church-stub

History

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