St John's Gardens in central

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 ...

, England, lies between Lower Byrom Street, Byrom Street and

Quay Street Quay Street is a street in the city centre of Manchester, England. The street, designated the A34, continues Peter Street westwards towards the River Irwell and Salford. It is the northern boundary of Spinningfields, the city's business dist ...

. Previously occupied by St John's Church and its graveyard between 1769 and 1931, the site was redeveloped into a formal garden in 1932. It contains a central memorial to the church and those buried in its graveyard, whose tombstones have been covered over by of soil except for that of John Owens, founder of

Owen's College The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

. The garden was awarded a

Green Flag Green Flag or Green Flag Rescue, is a British roadside assistance and vehicle recovery provider, which is part of the Direct Line Group. Formed in 1971, as the National Breakdown Recovery Club, as an alternative to the AA and RAC, it used a ...

in 2012 and is part of the St John Street

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

Background

St John's Church, Manchester, circa 1900

St John's Church was built on the site now occupied by the gardens in 1769 in response to the needs of a rapidly rising population. Its founder was

Edward Byrom Edward Byrom (13 June 1724 – 24 April 1773) was a prominent figure in 18th-century Manchester and served for a period as borough-reeve. The oldest surviving son of John Byrom John Byrom or John Byrom of Kersal or John Byrom of Manchester ...

(13 June 1724 – 24 April 1773), a co-founder of the first bank in Manchester and the oldest surviving son of

John Byrom John Byrom or John Byrom of Kersal or John Byrom of Manchester FRS (29 February 1692 – 26 September 1763) was an English poet, the inventor of a revolutionary system of shorthand and later a significant landowner. He is most remembered as t ...

, whose family was well known in the area. The residential area around the church changed in character during the 19th century, as properties once occupied by affluent families became lodging houses and the locale became a place of business. Falling attendances led to a merger with St Matthew's parish in 1927. In 1929, the

Ecclesiastical Commissioners The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Chu ...

proposed to hand over the site to

Manchester Corporation 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 ...

, in the hope that it would be converted into an open space similar to Parsonage Gardens. The church was demolished in 1931.

Garden

In March 1914, Manchester Corporation was negotiating with the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to turn St John's dreary city-centre churchyard from an "eyesore" to a garden planted with trees and shrubs. The church is commemorated by a stone cross in the garden; a plaque states that more than 22,000 bodies lie buried in the vicinity. Among those buried in the churchyard are John Owens, founder of

Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States *Owens Station, Delaware *Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota *Owens, Missouri *Owens, Ohio *Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Owens Bro ...

, the forerunner of

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, and William Marsden, who successfully campaigned for the introduction of a half-day holiday for workers on Saturdays. With the exception of Owens' grave, the tombstones in the churchyard were covered with of soil. A garden and children's playground was formally opened on 10 February 1932. The Black or Manchester Poplar,

Populus nigra ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref> ...

(subspecies betulifolia), Britain's most endangered native tree, was planted in the garden. Like the

London Plane London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

, the only other British tree named after a city, it is one of the few trees that can survive in heavily polluted conditions. In 2011 an orchard of twelve

crab apple ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone of th ...

trees and wildflowers designed by Daniela Coray, was moved to the garden after the RHS

Tatton Park Flower Show RHS Flower Show Tatton Park held at Tatton Park, near Knutsford, Cheshire, first began in 1999 by the Royal Horticultural Society. The show houses the RHS National Flower Bed Competition, Young Designer of the Year Award and a wide range of ins ...

. Coray, RHS National Young Designer of the Year, had been awarded a gold award for the design, ''A Stitch in Time Saves Nine''. The garden was awarded a

in 2012 for promoting a "welcoming, safe and well-maintained" environment. and is in the St John Street

References

External links

The tombstone-paved graveyard of St John's Church in 1914.
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