St. Augustine's Church, Pendlebury
Encyclopedia
Anglican Diocese of Manchester
The Diocese of Manchester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York, England. Based in the city of Manchester, the diocese covers much of the county of Greater Manchester and small areas of the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.-History:...
, once called "The Miners' Cathedral" due to its almost "cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
esque" stature in the heart of a one time coal mining community. Also sometimes called "Gussie's" by locals.
It is situated just off Bolton Road (A666) in Pendlebury
Pendlebury
Pendlebury is a suburban town in the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies to the northwest of Manchester city centre, northwest of Salford, and southeast of Bolton....
. Its address is 380 Bolton Road, Pendlebury, Manchester, M27 8UX. There is a primary school connected to the church (St. Augustine's C of E Primary School).
It is a Grade I listed building. It was built by George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley was an English architect working in the Gothic revival style.-Personal life:Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D. of Edinburgh, physician at Hull Royal Infirmary, Kingston upon Hull, who in 1838 retired to his wife's home town, Brighton, Sussex, England....
between 1871 and 1874, and was generally used by the coal miners and cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
workers that lived in the area. It has a capacity of 'hundreds', but nowadays, due to a decline in population and a decline in church attendances across England, the congregation numbers around the 40 mark. Originally, the church was designed to have a bell tower on the southwest side which would have towered higher than the current height of the roof, sadly funds for the church ran out, and the plans for a bell tower were not carried out.
It was described by Professor Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
, as being one of the most moving of all Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
churches, he described the interior as being of "breathtaking majesty and purity" and that it was "one of the English churches of all time". It has a red brick exterior and an exquisite interior roof design, some of which is in need of restoration. It has detailed stained glass windows, as well as an impressive interior which boasts several balconies running the width of the church allowing passage to the old pipe organ which no longer is in use.
It was built largely at the expense of local banker, Edward Stanley Heywood, who donated it for the benefit of the local coal mining community.
The first vicar of the church was Doctor Dewes (b. Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
1825; d. Pendlebury
Pendlebury
Pendlebury is a suburban town in the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies to the northwest of Manchester city centre, northwest of Salford, and southeast of Bolton....
1911), who worked there from its consecration in 1874 until his death in 1911. He worked unceasingly throughout the smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
and cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
outbreaks, and helped the poor and afflicted. Both vicar and church were the focal point for the mourning following the 1885 Clifton Hall Colliery
Clifton Hall Colliery
Clifton Hall Colliery was one of two coal mines in Clifton on the Manchester Coalfield, historically within Lancashire which was incorporated into the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England in 1974....
explosion, in which 178 men and boys were killed. There is a memorial to the 178 killed miners in the churchyard immediately below the east window. The memorial states that, of the 178 of those who perished in the explosion on the 18th of June, 1885, 64 were buried in the churchyard.
In April 1994, George F. Wells, husband to a member of the church's congregation, donated a model painstakingly made entirely from matchsticks, the scale model of the church now sits at the back behind the ornate font which boasts an elegantly carved stone structure raised from the ground by several steps and a carved wooden hood suspended from the walls.
The church was drawn and painted by L.S. Lowry several times.
Currently, the church is in need of at least £1 million for refurbishments to the interior roof and to repair the pointing on the exterior of the church, and is a priority project for English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, who quote it as being "exceptionally important".
In recent years, several restoration jobs to the church have been carried out, which includes a full re-pointing of the entire southwest side. The church has had building work completed allowing it to now make use of new toilets and a new kitchen, which have been put into use, with many evening events being held, including the annual film night, where the church is dressed and tables set alongside several screens to show the film, with cuisine prepared by the congregation being served afterwards.