The Church and Friary of St Francis, known locally as Gorton Monastery, is a

Grade II* listed 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 I ...

former

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in North West England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A major landmark is Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century ...

, Manchester, England. It was designed by the noted Victorian architect Edward Welby Pugin and built 1866–1872. Gorton Monastery is a noted example of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

. The building ceased to be used for Christian worship in 1989 and fell derelict for many years. After a restoration programme, it reopened as a secular events venue in 2007.

History

In 1861 the then Bishop of Salford, Herbert Vaughan, invited a Belgian community of Recollects, a branch of the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teac ...

, to come to Manchester and found a new church. The Franciscans arrived in Gorton in December 1861 and began work on a new friary. The construction lasted from 1863 to 1867, and most of the building work was done by the friars themselves, with a brother acting as clerk of works. The noted architect Edward Welby Pugin (1834–1875) was appointed to design the new monastery church. Pugin was the son of the celebrated architect

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

, who championed the revival of

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

as the style of architecture which was the ideal expression of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

faith and worship in church buildings. Edward Welby Pugin had designed two other large Catholic churches in Manchester,

St Ann's, Stretford St Ann's Church, Stretford is a Grade II listed Roman Catholic church in Stretford, Greater Manchester, England. It was constructed between 1862 and 1863, on the east side of the A56 Chester Road. The parish functions under the jurisdiction of t ...

(1863) and All Saints' Church, Urmston (1868). The foundation stone for the Gorton Monastery church was laid in 1866 and it was completed and consecrated in 1872. The monastery closed for worship in 1989. The building was sold to a

property developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. ...

, who stripped the monastery of its furnishings and fittings, including mahogany pews, oak doors and sculptures. A

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''rank ...

built by the Wadsworth Bros of Manchester was sold for scrap. The property developer subsequently went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

and the scheme to convert the monastery into flats was abandoned. The monastery lay empty and derelict for many years and suffered from

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and #Defacement, defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owne ...

and

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting ...

. In 1997, Gorton Monastery was placed on the World Monuments Fund Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World alongside Pompeii, the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

and the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

Modern developments

A campaign was begun to save Gorton Monastery, and a charitable trust, the Monastery of St Francis and Gorton Trust, was set up by Cheshire businesswoman Elaine Griffiths and her husband Paul Griffiths, who had served as an altar boy at the monastery during the 1960s. Following bankruptcy of the property developers, the building was in the hands of receivers. It was bought by campaigners in 1997 for the sum of £1. The trustees applied for funding from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

and

European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...

to restore the monastery. Their first proposal for an educational and arts centre was rejected as it was considered too uncommercial for Lottery funding. The second scheme, for a hotel and conference and centre, was also turned down as it was too commercial. A new proposal for an events and weddings venue was successful and the requisite funding was secured in 2003. The church and associated friary buildings underwent a £6 million restoration programme which was completed in June 2007. A separate trading company, The Monastery Manchester Ltd, was set up to operate the premises on a commercial basis as a venue for conferences, business meetings weddings and community events. In 2013, the volunteers of the Monastery of St Francis and Gorton Trust were awarded the

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, also known as The Queen's Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service by Groups in the Community and The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award is an annual award given to groups in the voluntary sect ...

. In November 2013,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

visited the monastery for a private lunch during a visit to the area. Construction of a new "Welcome Wing" with facilities for education and the community, along with further restoration on the altars, decorations, and floor tiles, started in February 2016, following from a £1 million donation from

Norman Stoller Sir Norman Kelvin Stoller (born 1934) is a British businessman and philanthropist. After three previous honours of the MBE in 1976, the OBE in 1999 and CBE in 2010 he was knighted in the 2016 New Years Honours List for his philanthropic servi ...

in September 2014, and £2 million from the

in December 2014. The wing, designed by Eco Arc, was built by HH Smith & Sons Ltd on the footprint of a building that was demolished in the 1960s. In March 2017, a memorial service was held in Gorton Monastery for Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP for

Manchester Gorton Manchester Gorton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Labour's Afzal Khan, who was elected at the 2017 general election. It is the safest Labour seat in Greater Manchester by numerical majority an ...

and supporter of the monastery restoration project. In 2021, the

Manchester Camerata The Manchester Camerata is a British chamber orchestra based in Manchester, England. A sub-group from the orchestra, the Manchester Camerata Ensemble, specialises in chamber music performances. The orchestra's primary concert venue is The Bridg ...

chamber orchestra established Gorton Monastery as its new home.

Architecture

Edward Welby Pugin's monastery church is a tall and imposing

polychromatic Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

red and blue brick building inspired by the late 13-century Gothic style with sandstone dressing. Unlike the traditional

liturgical east and west Liturgical east and west is a concept in the orientation of churches. It refers to the fact that the end of a church which has the altar, for symbolic religious reasons, is traditionally on the east side of the church (to the right in a diagr ...

alignment, the monastery church sits on a north–south alignment. At the north end is a polygonal

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

. The south front facing the main street is elaborately decorated with Gothic features with strong vertical emphasis. Three oversized, full-height flying buttresses are surmounted by canopied statues and a large central sculpted crucifix. The pinnacle of the south front is an ornate

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

topped with a small

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

. Between the buttresses are two high lancet windows with elaborate stone

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

, flanked by

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window ...

s. At ground level is a

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

with four

Gothic arch A pointed arch, ogival arch, or Gothic arch is an arch with a pointed crown, whose two curving sides meet at a relatively sharp angle at the top of the arch. This architectural element was particularly important in Gothic architecture. The earli ...

es, leading to two central arched doorways. To the east of the church is a

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

and the monastery building, a plain, three-storey brick building with sashed windows, chimneys and a bellcote. In 1963, Gorton Monastery 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 Ire ...

. Edward Welby Pugin (1).jpg, Architect Edward Welby Pugin File:Gorton Monastery 19 07 37 279000.jpeg, Narthex arches and south front flying buttresses Gorton Monastery 19 06 58 918000.jpeg, The south front crucifix File:The Old Gorton Monastery on Gorton Lane - geograph.org.uk - 4702.jpg, The derelict monastery in 2005 with Spashett's fire-damaged wing prior to demolition File:Gorton Monastery 19 07 43 510000.jpeg, The 2016 Welcome Wing by Eco Arc

Interior

The interior is dominated by the 13-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

with east and west

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

s and lined by buttresses, with each bay pierced by lancet windows. At the north end, the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

is lit by large dormer windows high in the roof which focus sunlight on the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in pagani ...

. Behind the altar is a tall

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ...

stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

were designed by Ralph Bolton Edmundson. Placed on -high plinths in between the nave bays is a series of 12 life-size French

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

statues of Franciscan saints. After the church fell derelict in the 1980s, many of the internal fixtures and furnishings were removed by property developers, including the ''Saints'' statues. A local historian spotted them listed in a

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

catalogue in 1994 listed as "garden ornaments", and the statues were purchased by

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three f ...

. After they had been held in storage for 16 years they were restored over a period of eight months and finally hoisted back to their original positions in 2012. The saints depicted are: *

St Clare of Assisi Clare of Assisi (born Chiara Offreduccio and sometimes spelled Clara, Clair, Claire, Sinclair; 16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253) was an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies ...

St Louis of Toulouse Saint Louis of Toulouse (9 February 1274 – 19 August 1297), also known as Louis of Anjou, was a Neapolitan prince of the Capetian House of Anjou and a Catholic bishop. Life Louis was born in Brignoles, Provence (or in Italy, at Nocera, where ...

* St Berard Nobleman * St Elizabeth of Hungary * St Leonard of Port Maurice * St Didacus Penitent * St Ivo of Brittany *

St Peter of Alcantara ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

* Saint Louis, King of France * St Bernadine of Siena * St Bonaventure *

St Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was bor ...

Gorton Monastery interior.jpg, The nave in 2007 File:Gorton Monastery 19 36 40 118000.jpeg, The nave in 2021 File:Gorton Monastery 19 34 59 764000.jpeg, Peter Paul Pugin's ornate high altar File:Gorton Monastery 19 35 41 320000.jpeg, The polygonal apse with stained-glass windows by Ralph Bolton Edmundson Gorton Monastery saints 001.jpg, Statues of Franciscan Saints in storage prior to being reinstated in the nave File:Gorton Monastery 19 34 06 110000.jpeg, Statues of Franciscan Saints reinstated in the nave

Notes

References

Sources

Citations

External links

*
Parliament.uk: Supplementary memorandum submitted by Sotheby's, on the 12 figures of saints, May 2000
{{Manchester B&S Roman Catholic churches in Manchester Grade II* listed buildings in Manchester Roman Catholic churches in Greater Manchester Tourist attractions in Manchester Roman Catholic churches completed in 1872 E. W. Pugin church buildings Grade II* listed Roman Catholic churches in England Grade II* listed churches in Manchester Franciscan monasteries in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Recollects