Building Name

Restorations: Manchester Cathedral

Date
1851
District/Town
Central, Manchester
County/Country
GMCA, England
Client
Dean and chapter
Work
Restoration

 

RESTORATIONS AT THE CATHEDRAL – Our Manchester readers are well aware that “the Old Church" is a building partly parochial, partly collegiate and now, in addition, a cathedral. The parochial part is the westerly portion of the building, in which divine service is held on Sunday (with the tower); the collegiate part is the eastern portion, or choir, with its aisles, and some of the attached chapels. By the foundation charter of the college, the warden and fellows, now the dean and chapter, are bound to keep in repair the collegiate part of the church; and we are glad to find that the dean and chapter, who a short time since caused the outer walls  of the chapter house to be renewed, are now extending their restorations eastward from that point. The old dilapidated portion of the outer wall, from the chapter house to the east end of the edifice, being that of the south aisle of the choir, has been taken down – at least as far as regards the decayed stones on the outside, and is now being cased anew with a better and more durable stone, under the direction of Messrs. Holden, architects. The original structure being built chiefly, if not wholly, of Collyhurst stone, which is the new red sandstone which pervades the district and the valley of the Irwell, suffers greatly from the corrosive action of the atmosphere on a stone so soft and friable, that it soon crumbles and decays. The masonry of the outer wall, now removed, has only been a casing at some former period, probably of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. It has never been secured to the inner parts of the wall by any bonds, clamps, or other modes of securing masonry. The new external wall is to be well-clamped, bonded and tied to the inner portion of the wall. The stone employed is the same as was used for the restoration of the chapter house. It is a hard and clean white stone. Which seems to become even harder under the action of the atmosphere, and in the opinion of the architects, it is the best stone for building purposes to be got within a very considerable distance. It is from the Fletcher Fold quarries of the Earl of Derby, beyond Bury, and is the stone used in the erection of the fine range of public buildings at Bury. The portion of outer wall now being renewed includes two large gothic windows, the stone framework of which is to be entirely new, the restorations being made strictly in accordance with the character and style of the old structure. In pulling down the outer wall, a number of marks were observed on the external face of the large squared stones. Several of these are old forms of the capital letter A; others resemble an upright V and an inverted V interlaced; some are like the capital X, but in various positions and sometimes with an additional mark, and one resembles a W, with the last two limbs elongated. One we saw bearing some resemblance to the "broad arrow" usually marked on possessions and materials the property of the crown. These marks have given rise to much conjecture; but they are in all probability the distinctive marks put on the stone by the journeymen masons worked them, either in order that, being engaged on piece-work, the quantity done by each might be the better estimated, or that each might know his own work. The custom is one which has prevailed amongst masons for centuries, and still exists. An instance of it may be seen upon one of arches of the sunk road near the Barton aqueduct - a portion of the works constructed under the great Brindley, in connection with the Bridgewater canal. Upon the outer face of some of the stones in one of the arches, and next the road, are several of these mason’s marks. The practice is not confined to one of the building trades; the Joiners have their peculiar “bench marks," which they "scribe" with a sharp tool or mark with a lead pencil, upon their finished work. Another discovery was made in the removal of the old masonry. Imbedded in the wall of the south aisle of the choir were found several tooled and shaped stones, evidently potions of the tracery work of a window of an earlier period. A few of these stones have been preserved and are lying in the locked-up space at the extreme east end of the choir, formerly named St. Mary's Chapel, but now better known as the Chetham Chapel. We cannot conclude this brief notice without expressing a hope that the dean and chapter will continue these judicious restorations round the east end of the outer wall of the church. We must add, that no casing of outer walls, however, will relieve the necessity which exists for an entire new roof for the whole choir. It is now in a condition which to say the least of it is extremely perilous. [Manchester Guardian 9 August 1851 page 7]

This appears to have been the last commission for restorations at the Cathedral undertaken in partnership. From November 1851 JP Holden was solely responsible.