St. Malachy School, Erasmus Street, Collyhurst

A SCHOOL ON STILTS- The new school of St. Malachy, Collyhurst. which was opened by the Bishop of Salford, yesterday. is architecturally, as well as in another sense, an interesting example of difficulties overcome. Rarely does a building site present so many obstacles. The people of the parish. who built this school, had only one site to offer the architect, Mr. William Ellis, of Deansgate. and also of St Helens and London. This was a disused quarry.

But Mr Ellis built. Part of the quarry was filled in to a depth of about forty feet with rubbish Through this, seventy-eight concrete piles were driven, and concrete beams were over-spanned. A reinforced concrete platform - or "raft" was then laid down over this under structure, and it is on this platform that a four-storey building has gone up. It has a first-storey frontage to Erasmus Street and a basement frontage to a large playground, which overlooks the rest of the quarry from an elevation of some sixteen feet. The building of rustic brick—is a church and school combined. The church, superseding the temporary premises in an old blacking works in-Rochdale Road, is in the lowest storey, and has been used for worship for some weeks. The rest of the building is the school. which will be in use for the first time tomorrow. The cost approaches £40,000. [Manchester Guardian 25 August 1930 page 11]

Reference           Manchester Guardian 25 August 1930 page 11