St Peter’s Church
The Industrial Revolution transformed Manchester from a rural community to one of the industrial hubs of Britain. Irish and Italian Catholic immigrants. In the 19th century, Ancoats was a predominantly Catholic area. Talks of building an Anglican church began in the 1840s.
St Peter’s Church was built in 1859, and consecrated on 14th January 1860. It was one of the first Anglican churches built after the creation of the Manchester Diocese, a project undertaken by Bishop Prince Lee and designed by Isaac Holden, an American architect, with a budget of £4,200. The church initially seated 1,336 people, though after renovations in the early 1900s capacity was reduced to 300. The largely working-class parish contained 14,000 people.
The church officially closed in 1960 when the population of Ancoats declined due to slum clearances. Despite a brief stint as a knitting factory and warehouse, the building fell into disuse and disrepair in the early 1990s. Restoration work began in 1998, aided by a Heritage Lottery Fund in 2003.
The Hallé Orchestra, founded in 1858, and has used the former church as a rehearsal venue since 2013. A three-storey extension, Oglesby Centre, was added in 2019.
For more information, see:
Manchester History
The Hallé website
Hallé St Peter’s events
www.hallestpetersevents.co.uk/about/
Visit Manchester
Architects of Greater Manchester
FOMV 