St Mary’s Home for Female Penitents. 62 Dickenson Road, Rusholme

ST MARY’S HOME, RUSHOLME - Yesterday afternoon in the presence of a numerous company, the Bishop of Manchester laid the foundation stone of St Mary’s Home, Dickenson Road, Rusholme. The institution has been established in connection with the Church of England as a refuge for fallen women who are penitent and are desirous of reforming their character. The plan of the building is an oblong, placed broadside on to the public road. The front portion is to be set apart for the accommodation of those who manage the home and the back portion is devoted to the inmates, also to the cooking and washing departments. Special attention has been paid to the ventilation of every room; and the elevations, although plain, are well proportioned. The chapel will project from the east end and will be lighted not only by windows at both sides, but also by a triplet at the east end.  The building is being erected from the designs of Mr John Lowe, architect, Manchester, by Mr G Napier, builder, Hulme, and will cost about ,2,400 excluding the boundary walls. It is anticipated that it will be ready for occupation within six months. [Manchester Guardian 2 May 1871 page 6]

ST MARY’S HOME FOR FEMALE PENITENTS, RUSHOLME - St Mary’s Home for Female Penitents, Rusholme, the foundation stone of which was laid last May, was formally opened yesterday afternoon by the Lord Bishop of Manchester. The building (of which we gave a description at the time of the foundation stone laying) is situated in its own grounds in Dickenson-road, Rusholme. The building consists of two floors, the lower containing the day rooms and the upper the bedrooms. The former consists of dining room, workrooms, kitchen, scullery, wash-house, laundry etc., which are at the back, while at the front portion are the rooms for the ladies superintending the Home. The dormitories for the inmates are two in number, one containing eighteen beds and the other ten, and are lofty, well lighted and ventilated, and the larger one is provided with two large stoves and the smaller one with one stove. At the east end of the building is a small but neat chapel for the use of the inmates, with a chaplain’s room adjoining. Several of the windows of the chapel have been filled with stained glass, the gifts of various friends, while the aisles and altar space have been laid with encaustic tiles, also the gifts of friends. The stained glass windows have been done by Messrs Lavers, Barraud and Westlake of London and Manchester, and represent the Crucifixion (in the triplet east window) and SS James and Andrew, the Good Shepherd and the ANoli me tangere.@ The staircase window, which forms the central feature of the front elevation is also filled with stained glass, arranged in geometrical patterns, and the gable over it is terminated with a wrought iron terminal. Adjoining the laundry is a drying stove, while the wash-house will be fitted up with all the latest improvements. The buildings are of brick, the front being finished with Awhite headers,@ with stone dressings to the main entrance and staircase gable. The roofs are covered with slates of two tints and are finished with enriched red roof tiles. The grounds will be laid out to best advantage, and an arrangement has been entered into with the local board for the widening of this part of Dickenson-road.  A neat boundary wall will be erected the whole length of the frontage. The total cost of the buildings and boundary wall is about ,3,000 but this amount is exclusive of the before-mentioned gifts. Mr George Napier, City-road, was the general contractor for the work, the sub-contractors being Hodkinson (brickwork), Fleetwood (masonry), Heywood (plumbing), Thomason and Company (gas lighting), Nickson (plastering), barrow (slater), and the whole has been carried out from the designs and under the superintendence of Mr John Lowe, architect, St Ann’s-square, Manchester.[Manchester Courier Friday 1 December 1871 page 3]

Reference    The Builder 1871: 430.
Reference    Manchester Guardian Saturday 25 February 1871 Page 8 (Contracts)
Reference    Manchester Guardian 2 May 1871 page 6
Reference    Building News 8 December 1871 Page 441
Reference    Manchester Guardian Friday 1 December 1871 page 3
Reference    Manchester Courier Friday 1 December 1871 page 3
Reference    Builder 16 December 1871 Page 994 (report as Manchester Courier)