Interior of St Wilfrid's Church, Hulme, Manchester, 1842

St Wilfrid's Church in George Street,

Hulme Hulme () is an inner city area and Ward (politics), electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, the nam ...

, Manchester, England, was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

place of worship. Designed by

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 ...

, it was his only known church building in that city. Construction of St Wilfrid's began in 1839 and the church building was completed in 1842, although a planned tower was never built. The church served a small number of Irish people who lived in the area. In July 1852, during a period of

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its Hierarchy of the Catholic Church, clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestantism, Protestant states, ...

demonstrations, the building was mistakenly rumoured to be the target of

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

people who desired to burn it down. There had been sectarian riots in nearby

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

in the previous month and the heightened tensions led to a fight in a pub becoming misconstrued as an imminent attack on the church. A large mob of Irish people arrived to defend the building against this non-existent threat and, although the priest, Reverend Toole, attempted to calm them and urged them to disperse, for several days afterwards a group of people stood watch over it. The church had the services of Irish priests from

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

continuously from the 1890s until the 1930s. St Wilfrid's became 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 Irel ...

in December 1963. Facing declining enrollment, the parish was suppressed and the church was deconsecrated in 1990. The church was converted into a factory that manufactured beds and in 1994 became an enterprise centre. Among those buried at the church was

William Bally William Bally (1796 – 8 November 1858) was a Swiss sculptor and phrenologist active in Manchester, United Kingdom. Life Born in 1796 in Locarno, Switzerland, William Bally travelled as an artist with Johann Caspar Spurzheim from 1829. In 1 ...

, a Swiss sculptor and

phrenologist Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hulme, Saint Wilfrid Roman Catholic churches in Manchester Augustus Pugin buildings Grade II listed churches in Manchester 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in 1842 Religious organizations established in 1839 Organizations disestablished in 1990

See also

References