Building Name

Church of St. Simon, Springfield Lane Salford

Date
1844 - 1849
Street
Springfield Lane
District/Town
Salford
County/Country
GMCA, England
Architect
Work
New Build
Status
Demolished 1928
Contractor
Mr Hollins

In 1843 Peel introduced an Act allowing separate districts to be formed out of the old parishes, even where no church existed. The Ecclesiastical Commission was empowered to borrow £600,000 from Queen Anne’s Bounty to pay the stipends of the ministers of these new districts. However, Peel realised the political difficulties of further assistance to the Church of England without alienating the Dissenters. He therefore refused the demands of Tory churchmen to provide public money to build churches although he did contribute £4,000 from his own pocket for church building. [Owen Chadwick : The Victorian Church. Page 223].

An architectural competition for St Simon’s Church was announced September 1844, a previous attempt to have E H Shellard directly appointed architect having failed. A detailed history of the competition appeared in the Builder of 19 April 1845. Some fifty designs were submitted and the competition was believed to have been won by Bentham & Petty (?), two young architects of Manchester under the motto “Ignatius”. However, their scheme was abandoned when serious problems arose in respect of both costs and the structural stability of the design. Richard Lane, who had submitted an unsuccessful proposal but had friends on the committee, was instructed to prepare a revised scheme and it was this which was ultimately progressed.

TO ARCHITECTS - ST SIMON’S CHURCH, SALFORD - Persons desirous of sending in Plans and Specifications for BUILDING the above CHURCH are requested to forward the same as soon as possible to Huitson Dearman Esq, treasurer to the committee, Springfield Lane, Salford. Plans are to be sent in not later than 11 of October. [Manchester Guardian 28 September 1844 page 1]

TO BUILDERS AND OTHERS - Persons desirous of CONTRACTING for the several WORKS required in the ERECTION of ST SIMON’S CHURCH, Salford, may see the Plans and Specifications thereof at the office of Mr RICHARD LANE, Architect, Chapel Walks, Manchester - Tenders sealed and endorsed and addressed to Huitson Dearman, Esq, Springfield Lane, Salford, to be delivered on or before Monday the 5th day of May next. The committee do not pledge themselves to accept the lowest tender [Manchester Guardian 5 April 1845 page2]

Built of stone in the Early English style at an estimated cost of £4,500 including the land. It was the first church built under the Act of Parliament known as Sir Robert Peel's Act. The Strangers Guide to Manchester noted "The church is built more in accordance with Ecclesiastical propriety than any in Salford". The church followed Gothic principles with a nave and aisles, chancel, transepts and a south porch while at the west end stood a tower and spire 150 feet in height. The interior was 138 feet in length with accommodation for 800 people excluding Sunday School children. A carved oak pulpit supported by four figures of the Evangelists. No galleries except one in the tower intended for the choir, and open benches instead of pews. Stained glass to east windows by Barnett of York. The first stone was laid by Edward Taylor of Oldfield Road on 24 March 1845 who contributed ,500 towards the cost. The church was opened by licence on 2 January 1848 and was consecrated a year later. The site chosen for the church was on open ground in a loop of the Irwell at some distance from the nearest houses. It was linked to Bury New Road by a new bridge over the River to Springfield Lane. By 1899 the area was completely built up, with the church occupying a small island site in the midst of new terraces.

PROPOSED STRUCTURE - The church of St Simon, when completed will be a correct specimen of its peculiar style, viz - that which prevailed about the time of Edward the First, when the beautiful forms of geometric tracery began to be engrafted on the simpler lancet arch of the early English period this style was selected as one which combined a moderate degree of richness with great simplicity of detail. The character of the building will be cruciform, having a tower and spire at the west end, a south porch, and octagonal apse; it will also have the advantage of standing due east and west.

The tower is supported by eight chamfered buttresses, of four stages, (alternately plain and pedimented) each terminating in four octagonal pinnacles, the body of the tower being divided into three parts by strong mouldings, the lowest occupied by a richly-moulded door; the second by a handsome three-light window, with geometrical tracery; the uppermost by two lancet belfry windows separated by a chamfered shaft headed by a pinnacle. Above this the spire will rise elegantly from a sloping table, to a height of 150 feet, its outline being broken by a row of canopied openings at one-third of its height. The plainness of the  masonry will be relieved by bands of herringbone work, and the whole will be surmounted by a vane with the vigilant cock, emblematic of the watch a pastor should keep over his flock. Simple buttresses, of 2 feet 4 inches projection, divide the nave into five compartments, each occupied by a two-lighted equilateral arched window, with tri-foliated head, from Ely Cathedral. The walls are kept low to admit of a lofty clerestory divided as below by buttresses finishing in a corbel table; the spaces between filled with double lancet windows. This portion of the building to the commencement of the transepts is 68 feet 1 inch internal length and 48 feet broad; the transepts are themselves are extensive being  23 feet broad and  75 feet in length, internal dimensions. Each extremity will have a fine three-light window, with quatre-foil tracery. The roof is lower than that of the nave. The chancel, which is about 31 feet 6 inches from the wall of the transept to the extremity of the buttress, and 21 feet 8 inches wide, terminates in an octagonal apse, similar to those seen in continental churches. On the north side of it will be a low vestry. Internally the building will be light and lofty, and the effect will not be marred by the addition of side galleries; the organ loft filling the tower being all of this description. Nevertheless the transepts may at some future time be galleried over. Clustered columns separate the nave from the aisles;; from these spring equilateral arches, having label moulds over. The plain arched open timber roof spans the nave, rising from demi-columns built into the wall. The chancel will be groined, and will have a reredos of tre-foil headed arches running round it; this will be as it should be, the most beautiful and chaste part of the church, especially if at some period the three eatern windows be filled with stained glass. The font is canonically placed at the south-west corner, near the entrances. The total amount of the building will be about ,3,500; the accommodation is 850. Low open benches form the sittings throughout. [Manchester Guardian 29 March 1845 page 6-7]

St Simon’s Church, Springfield Lane is not far from the (Richmond Chapel). It is on the Salford bank of the river, in a very favourable situation for the display of architectural skill. It is also by Mr Lane, and is certainly an improvement upon the Independent Chapel, though neither much better nor much worse than the general run of cheap early English churches. It consists of a nave and aisles, a short chancel, with octagonal east end, transepts, a south porch, and a western tower. It is built of Yorkshire stone, backed with Collyhurst stone. The tower will support an octagonal spire, rising to a height of 150 feet. The chancel will be groined, and will have three windows to the east. At the ends of the transepts will be windows of three lights, with quatrefoil tracery, and the aisles will have windows of trefoiled tracery, with two lights. There will be cusped windows in the clerestory, and a window of three lights over the western door. The tower is ascended by a turret in the angle formed by the tower and the north aisle. There will be open benches. [Builder 3 November 1845 page 547]

CONSECRATION OF ST SIMON’S CHURCH, SALFORD - The church of St Simon, Springfield Lane, Salford, was on Monday last consecrated for divine worship by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Manchester. The foundation stone of this church was laid on 24 March 1845 by Mr Edmund Taylor, surgeon, of Oldfield Road; but it was not until May that the building was proceeded with. It was completed about eighteen months since, and about twelve months since was licensed for divine worship. ... It was the first parish church commenced under the act 6th and 7th Vict. Cap 36, commonly called Sir Robert Peel’s Act, and up to the period of its being licensed, the population surrounding it amounting to nearly 7,000 persons, had been wholly without church or chapel accommodation. The chief originators and supporters of the building were a committee consisting of Messrs Huitson Dearman, William Blacklock, Joseph Lowe, James Haslam, Thomas Briggs, James Parker, William Atkins and Thomas Kirkman, who, with one exception only, are wholly unconnected with the district, either by residence or property. At the time of its commencement, these gentlemen had succeeded in obtaining subscriptions to the amount of £2,000, £500 had been received from her majesty’s commissioners for the building of churches, and £300 from the incorporated society, making a total of £2,800, the estimated cost of the building being £4,500.

St Simon’s Church stands at the bottom of Springfield Lane, upon a piece of land originally purchased from Mr Huitson Dearham for £840. It was erected by the late Mr Hollins from the designs of Mr Richard Lane of this city. The following is a sketch of the building - The architect has selected for his work the early pointed style, which prevailed about the time of Edward I, as that which allowed the union of beauty and economy in a greater degree than any other. The building is cruciform, having a tower and spire at the west end, a south porch, and an octagonal apse; it stands due east and west. The tower is supported by eight chamfered buttresses, of four stages, each terminating in four octagonal pinnacles, the body of the tower being divided into three parts or storeys by strong mouldings. Above this the spire rises to a height of 150 feet, the plainness of the masonry being broken by a row of canopied openings at one-third of its height; and the whole is surmounted by a cock and a vane. The nave is divided by buttresses into five compartments, each occupied by a two-light equilateral arched window, with tri-foliated head. The portion of the building to the commencement of the transepts is 68 feet internal length and 48 feet broad; the transepts are 75 feet long and 23 feet broad; and the chancel, which is about 31 feet 6 inches from the wall of the transept to the extremity of the buttress, and 21 feet 8 inches wide, terminates in an octagonal apse. The entire length of the building internally is 138 feet. The chancel is the most beautiful part of the building, having a groined roof, springing from slender shafts; three graceful windows, filled with stained glass, by Mr Bennett of York; and an arcade running around it. Internally, moulded columns of great lightness support arches approaching the equilateral form, above them being clerestory windows coupled by detached shafts. The roof is of open timber, framed with arched principals, resting on full length figures of angels bearing scrolls. There are no side galleries, the organ loft, filling the tower, being the only addition of this kind; a small temporary organ is placed here for the present. The pulpit is octagonal, of carved oak, and rests on figures of the evangelists, 3 feet 6 inches in height. Open benches have been adopted instead of pews, and the effect of the poppy-head standards of these is very rich and pleasing. The church is calculated to seat about 800 persons (exclusive of accommodation for Sunday school children), and rather more than half of these a free. Altogether the church is a very correct specimen of its peculiar style, and the interior has an air of combined comfort and lightness. [Manchester Guardian 28 February 1849 page 6]

Church featured in drawings by LS Lowry (1927). The parish was further divided by the building of St. Chads Waterloo Road.

Reference    Manchester Guardian 18 September 1844 page 1- architectural competition
Reference    Manchester Guardian 28 September 1844 page 1- architectural competition
Reference    Manchester Guardian 5 April 1845 page 2 - contracts
Reference    Manchester Guardian 29 March 1845 page 7
Reference    Manchester Guardian 28 February 1849 page 6 - consecration
Reference    Incorporated Church Building Society Archive
Reference    Builder Vol III 19 April 1845 page 186-187 - competition
Reference    Builder Vol III 3 November 1845 page 547