Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, Manchester

Holy Name Church
Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, Chorlton on Medlock
View of the entrance
Holy Name Church Location with Manchester Show map of Manchester Holy Name Church Holy Name Church (Greater Manchester) Show map of Greater Manchester
53°27′52″N2°13′52″W / 53.4645°N 2.2311°W / 53.4645; -2.2311
OS grid reference	SJ8475796438
Location	Manchester
Country	UK
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	www.holyname.info
History
Status	Chapel of ease
Founded	15 October 1871 (1871-10-15)
Founder(s)	Bishop William Turner
Dedication	Holy Name of Jesus
Consecrated	1923
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	18 December 1963
Architect(s)	J. A. Hansom and Son
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1869
Completed	1928
Specifications
Capacity	800
Length	186 ft (57 m)
Width	122 ft (37 m)
Spire height	185 ft (56 m)
Materials	Moulded Terracotta Warwick Bridge stone
Administration
Province	Liverpool
Diocese	Salford
Deanery	Chorlton-on-Medlock
Parish	St. Augustine Church [1]
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Rt. Rev. John Arnold
Rector	Fr Paul Fletcher SJ
Priest in charge	Fr Dushan Croos SJ
Priest(s)	Fr Philip Harrison SJ
Laity
Director of music	Mr Luke Mather
Organist(s)	Mr Simon Leach
Business manager	The University of Manchester
Music group(s)	Mrs Sarah Insall
Parish administrator	Br Geoff Te Braake SJ

The Church of the Holy Name of Jesus on Oxford Road, Manchester, England was designed by Joseph A. Hansom and built between 1869 and 1871. ^[2] The tower, designed by Adrian Gilbert Scott, was erected in 1928 in memory of Fr Bernard Vaughan, SJ. The church has been Grade I listed on the National Heritage List for England since 1989, having previously been Grade II* listed since 1963. ^[3]

History

Fr Bernard Vaughan SJ

In 1860, William Turner, the first bishop of Salford, invited the Jesuits to make a home in Chorlton-on-Medlock, at the time a middle class suburb.

As well as the growing middle classes, Manchester was home to a large and expanding population of Irish immigrants who migrated to work in cotton manufacturing, especially after the Great Famine. In the area known as Little Ireland, the Parish of St Mary, Mulberry Street was unable to cope; in twenty years, thirteen priests had succumbed to typhus whilst working amongst the city's poor. ^[4]

The Jesuits had a formidable record of outreach and missionary work, and this was put to good use. Whilst he was rector from 1888 to 1901, ^[5] Fr Bernard Vaughan SJ took part in a series of debates with the Anglican Bishop of Manchester, James Moorhouse, over rival claims of the Catholic Church in England and Wales and the Church of England to be the Catholic Church in England and successor of St. Augustine. In their jubilation, the young men of Holy Name pulled his carriage from the city centre all the way to the church. ^[6]

Construction

Main altar

Bishop Turner was keen to have a church in Chorlton-on-Medlock staffed with priests who could meet the intellectual, apologetic and controversial needs of Manchester. Jesuits from St Helens came to settle, at first in a temporary church (now the site of the Holy Name Hall, which has since been sold). Holy Name was made a parish church to serve the growing populations of the parishes of Longsight and Chorlton-on-Medlock, as villas were replaced by streets as the population of industrial Manchester grew. The construction of the building re-inforced the power of the Jesuit order and the revived confidence of the English Catholics. It is the largest church in Manchester and dominates the surrounding area. ^[7]

The church's dimensions and proportions are on the scale of a 14th-century cathedral; it is 186 feet long east to west and 112 feet wide. The architect Joseph Aloysius Hansom (who gave his name to the Hansom Cab) based the building on Gothic styles of France. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described it as

"...a design of the very highest quality and of an originality nowhere demonstrative; ... Hansom never again did so marvellous a church." ^[8]

Although mediaeval in appearance, it is a counter-Reformation church, designed to teach the faith through its external liturgical and devotional manifestation. It gives maximum exposure to the solemn celebration of the Mass (a raised altar near the congregation with no rood screen, and a shallow, broad sanctuary), the cult of the Eucharist (the eye is first carried to the tabernacle and the exposition throne above), preaching (a large pulpit to place the preacher intimately in the congregation), and the hearing of confessions (the whole north side is taken up with confessionals designed for long hours of priestly ministration). Consequently, the pillars in the church are unusually slender, accomplished by making the roof of the church from hollow terracotta tubes, manufactured by Gibbs and Canning. ^[9]

Built in brick, it is clad in brushed Warwick stone. It has been suggested that Hansom's original design called for a broad steeple 73 feet high. In 1928 the tower was built, designed by Adrian Gilbert Scott.

The nave can accommodate 800 worshippers. Small chapels adorn the south side, along with the baptistery towards the west. On the north side are confessionals, each with a fireplace. Between the confessionals and the chapels are the Stations of the Cross. The pulpit has a mosaic of the English Martyrs. According to Simon Jenkins, the church interior has "an aura unlike any church I know", and the interior decoration gives an "impression of no expense spared". ^[7]

Liturgy

Nave

At the Holy Name Mass is celebrated in English. The celebration of the liturgy is designed to be catechetical, with solemn ritual, music, hymns and a familiar preaching style. Sunday Mass lasts about an hour. Weekday Masses, designed to suit the student timetable, are at 12:30pm. Each lunchtime there is exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at noon, during which confessions are heard.

Music

The organ is located at the west end of the nave. Built in 1871 by William Hill & Son of London, ^[10] it has 48 speaking stops over three-manuals and pedals. ^[11] It was completely rebuilt in 1926 by Messrs Wadsworth Ltd and restored in 2004. It is maintained by David Wells of Liverpool. The pipes on the front of the case are ornately diapered and were restored to their original colour scheme of lighter shades of red and green with gold motifs. Above the organ and choir loft are two gilded angels.

Music for the Solemn Mass follows the decrees of the Vatican, and utilises Gregorian chant and polyphony on Sundays (with congregational English hymns), whilst for major solemnities there are classical organ and orchestral settings from the 17th to the 21st century.

Clergy

The bishop asked the Jesuits to close the church in 1985. By then the congregation had dwindled because of local shifts in housing and demographics, and the church was closed for most of the day. The diocese did not want it, so the major superiors of England and Wales were asked to consider its viability. A community of secular priests and lay brothers (an Oratory of St Philip in Formation) came to Manchester in 1992 and since then the church has been in the process of massive renovation project. It is open daily and congregational numbers have increased.^{[ citation needed ]}

In September 2012, it was announced that the Jesuits would return to Manchester to take over the chaplaincy to the Universities, the Royal Northern College of Music and the church. The Oratory community at the Holy Name under Fr Raymond Matus was relocated to St Chad's, Cheetham Hill where Bishop Terence Brain had granted them permission to establish a Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri. ^[12]

The Smiths

Manchester band The Smiths referred to the Holy Name church in the opening line of Vicar in a Tutu, "I was minding my business lifting some lead off the roof of The Holy Name church". ^[13]

Funeral of Pat Phoenix

The funeral of locally born actress Pat Phoenix, best known for her role of Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street , was held at the church following her death in September 1986.^{[ citation needed ]}

See also

• Greater Manchester portal

• Diocese of Salford
• Manchester University
• Grade I listed churches in Greater Manchester
• Listed buildings in Manchester-M13
• List of churches in Greater Manchester
• List of Jesuit sites in the United Kingdom

References

1. Directory, Diocese of Salford Retrieved 29 January 2013
2. Harris, Penelope, The Architectural Achievement of Joseph Aloysius Hansom (1803–1882), Designer of the Hansom Cab, Birmingham Town Hall and Churches of the Catholic Revival (The Edwin Mellen Press, 2010).
3. Historic England, "Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Name of Jesus (1271296)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 4 December 2017
4. History, Hidden Gem Church, Manchester Retrieved 29 January 2013
5. Holy Name Church, Oxford Road, Manchester History Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 January 2013
6. Vaughan's Sermon a Paean of Praise, New York Times Archive Retrieved 29 January 2013
7. Jenkins, Simon (1999). England's Thousand Best Churches. St Ives: Penguin. p. 399.
8. Pevsner, Nikolaus, Lancashire: Manchester & the South-East (2004) ISBN   978-0-300-10583-4
9. Pevsner Architectural Guides - Manchester, Clare Hartwell, 2001, ISBN   0-300-09666-6
10. "Holy Name of Jesus, Manchester - The Organ". Archived from the original on 6 August 2007.
11. "The National Pipe Organ Register - Holy Name of Jesus, Manchester".
12. "The Manchester Oratory by Holy Name" . Retrieved 2 September 2012.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
13. Petracco, Susan (13 February 2013). "6 Places in Manchester Any Smiths Fan Must Visit". www.travelguideline.net. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Historic England. "Church - Grade I (1271296)". National Heritage List for England .
• Historic England. "Presbytery - Grade II (1247067)". National Heritage List for England .