Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Manchester Part 5

It consists of three archdeaconries:--Manchester, Lancaster, and Blackburn.

The total number of benefices in the diocese in the year 1900 was 550, of beneficed clergy, 525, and of a.s.sistant curates about 360.

The cathedral church is calculated to afford accommodation for 2000 persons.

Since the foundation of the see it has been presided over by three bishops.

The first was the Right Rev. =James Prince Lee=, D.D., F.R.S., for many years headmaster of King Edward's School, Birmingham, and a distinguished scholar. He was elected in 1847, and consecrated in the first month of the following year by the Archbishop of York and the Bishops of Chester and Worcester. He died in 1869 at Mauldeth Hall, Heaton Mersey, and was buried in Heaton Mersey Churchyard.

He was succeeded by the Right Rev. =James Fraser=, D.D., who when at Oxford had gained the Ireland Scholarship, and became a Fellow of Oriel College. He was a man of great intellectual power, of kindly manner, and won the respect and confidence not only of Churchmen, but of members of all denominations, especially of the mill hands of his populous diocese.

He was nominated to the see in January 1890, and consecrated in March of the same year. He died 22nd October 1885 at Manchester, and is buried in the churchyard of Ufton Nervet, Berks.

The present bishop, the Right Rev. =James Moorhouse=, D.D., was translated from the see of Melbourne to that of Manchester in 1886.

DIMENSIONS OF MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL.

Ft.

Total length over all, exterior, 248 Width, 173 Length of Nave and Choir, interior, 172 Width of Nave exclusive of Projections, interior, 114 Distance from Rood Screen to Screen of Lady Chapel, 88 Length and breadth of Tower, exterior exclusive of b.u.t.tresses, 28 Length of Lady Chapel, E. to W., interior, 18 Width of Lady Chapel, N. to S., interior, 19 Width of Nave, 27 Width of inner Nave Aisles, 16 Width of outer North Aisle of Nave, 24 Width of outer South Aisle of Nave, 22 Projection South Porch beyond Wall of aisle, exclusive of b.u.t.tresses, 22 Projecting of North Porch, beyond walls of aisle, exclusive of b.u.t.tresses, 25 Width of South Porch, interior, 11 Width of North Porch, interior, 13 Diameter of Chapter House interior, 19 Height of Roof, interior, 50 Height of Tower, 140

Area, about 18,000 sq. ft.

CHETHAM'S HOSPITAL AND LIBRARY

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HALL, CHETHAM'S HOSPITAL.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHETHAM'S HOSPITAL FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.]

CHETHAM'S HOSPITAL AND LIBRARY.

As we stand on the north side of the cathedral and look to the north, our eyes rest upon a wide gravelled courtyard beyond a low wall, backed up by a range of mediaeval-looking buildings. These were the domestic buildings of the College, and are now used partly for Chetham's Free Library, partly for the school known as Chetham's Hospital. The endowment and other sources of income provide for the board and education of a hundred boys. They receive a sound elementary education, and are instructed in technical and manual work. The school is carried on under the Board of Education, and is typical of this education at its best. The religious instruction is in accordance with the tenets of the Established Church, and much care is taken to train the boys not only in intellectual and manual pursuits, but in morals and manners. A boy once placed on the foundation of Humphrey Chetham has a successful career a.s.sured to him, unless he forfeits his chances by subsequent folly on his own part. The boys who show the greatest intellectual power can be pa.s.sed on to the Manchester Grammar School, and thence to Owens College, while the feoffees of the hospital have no difficulty in finding good places in the business houses of Manchester for the rest. To have been educated at Chetham's Hospital is a great recommendation to any boy. The boys still wear the picturesque costume of the sixteenth century--caps, bands, long-skirted dark blue coats, knee-breeches, stockings, and shoes adorned with buckles. The visitor to the Hospital will probably be greeted by one of these boys, who will ask if he wishes to see the buildings. The boy will, if the answer is in the affirmative, take the visitor to the library, where, on payment of sixpence, a ticket will be handed to him, franking him for the day, and the boy will conduct him over the whole of the buildings, pointing out the past and present uses to which each part of them was or is put.

Before we proceed to describe the building a few words must be said about its history.

Its site was once occupied by the "summer camp" of Roman legionaries, and when the Romans pa.s.sed away from the island, it is highly probable that the English occupants of the country used it as a place of abode.

The first authentic notice of its occupation by any person whose name has come down to us, dates from 1182, when Robert, the fifth Baron Greslet, kept court here. Thomas, the eighth baron, granted the citizens of Manchester their first charter in 1301, signing and sealing the charter here. He was the last male in the direct line of descent, and on his death the property pa.s.sed to John De la Warre, who was a descendant of the Greslets or Gresleys in the female line. One of his descendants, Thomas, as has been already mentioned, became rector of Manchester, who before his death applied to King Henry V. for a charter to enable him to collegiate the church. He bestowed on it lands to increase the endowment, and gave his baronial hall to the newly founded college of priests to be used as their residence. All this may be read in the grant made in the first year of Henry VI. Certain alterations were made in the buildings, to fit them for the new use to which they were to be put, and from 1422 to 1549 they were occupied by warden after warden, who, a.s.sisted by the Fellows, performed the services in the adjoining church, looked after the sick and poor, and ministered generally to the inhabitants of the parish of Manchester. For some reason the College was not suppressed in the reign of Henry VIII., when the revenues of monasteries, small and great, were seized by the king; but in the first year of Edward VI. it was disendowed, and in the third year of the reign it was granted to Edward Stanley, third Earl of Derby. He used it as a town house. Henry Stanley, the next earl, in the reign of Elizabeth obtained a charter from the Queen, re-endowing the College, and it once more became the abode of the wardens, now priests of the reformed Church. During the civil wars the warden was expelled (1646), and the buildings seized by the Parliament. They were let to a certain Joseph Werden, who sublet the refectory to the Presbyterians, to be used by them as a meeting-house. The Independents made use of a barn in the enclosure for a similar purpose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE NORTH GALLERY OF THE CLOISTER.]

Lieut.-Col. the Rev. John Wigan applied for the reversion of this property, "part of y'e estate of the late Earl of Derby, and part of y'e jointure of y'e Countess Dowager already sequestrated."

Humphrey Chetham also had his eye upon this property, wishing to obtain it so that he might carry out a project formed long before to found a school and home for boys. The survey of the property made at this time describes it as consisting of "Y'e large building called y'e College in Manchester, consisting of many rooms, with two barnes, one gate house, verie much decay'd, one parcell of ground formerly an orchard, and one garden, now in y'e possession of Joseph Werden gent., who pays for y'e same, for y'e use of the Common wealth, ten pounds yearly. There is likewise one other room in ye said College reserved and made use of for publique meetings of X'sian conscientious people."

Humphrey Chetham did not live to see the school founded; but in his will, made three years before his death, which took place in 1653, he appointed trustees to carry out his purpose. They, in accordance with his instructions, bought "y'e great house with buildings, court, gardens, and appurtenances, called ye Colledge or the Colledge House,"

obtaining it for the sum of 500.

On August 5, 1658, the building was formally dedicated to its new use, and Hallworth, chief a.s.sistant to Heyrick, the expelled warden, who, as stated in Chapter IV., was afterwards reinstated, in his speech on this occasion, told the history of the building, and concluded by saying, "Henceforth the said house could fitly and justly be named by no other name than by the name of Mr. Chetham's Hospital," and by that name it is known at the present day.

At the time of the Restoration the Stanleys claimed the property of which they had been dispossessed by the Parliament, but made no difficulty about regranting to the feoffees that part of it occupied by the new School and Library. For the Library as well as the School had been already founded, since after making sufficient provision for the maintenance of the Hospital, the feoffees had money in hand which they spent in the purchase of books, thus forming the nucleus of the first _free_ library in England. To this collection books have been added by gift, bequest, and purchase, so that the library now contains about 60,000 volumes. The books can be consulted free of charge during certain hours of the day, but are not allowed to be removed from the building. The general public, however, does not make much use of the library, as it does not contain the light and ephemeral literature that appeals to modern taste; but the student who desires to read up some special subject will find many valuable books and ma.n.u.scripts to aid him in his work. Among the rare books is a copy of the historical compilations of Matthew Paris, with marginal corrections in the author's handwriting.

There is much matter to be found on these shelves dealing with the antiquities and history of Lancashire and Cheshire. Canon Raine bequeathed a fine series of Lancashire ma.n.u.scripts; besides these may be seen a collection of broadsides, formed by Mr. T. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, and the library of John Byrom. In the last named collection is the final draft of the well-known hymn, "Christians, awake; salute the happy morn." Among the other books there are some fine specimens of Caxton's printing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE COLLEGE GATEWAY.]

We leave the churchyard, cross the street that skirts it to the north, and pa.s.s through a small doorway in the wall at the opposite side of the street, and so enter the play-ground of Chetham's Hospital. On our left hand as we make our way to the original building, we pa.s.s the modern schoolroom, which stands by itself. This, like many other buildings in Manchester, was designed by A. Waterhouse, R.A. The main building runs east and west, with projecting wings at either end. Near the eastern wing we notice the old entrance gateway, and the modern staircase leading up to what was the "hospitium" or guest-house. This has been converted into a dormitory for the boys. The most interesting part of the College is to be found in the western wing, of which an ill.u.s.tration is given, p. 63. The three windows crossed by transoms are those of the hall; the lower windows to the left of these belong to the audit room, the upper to the warden's private room, now the reading-room of the library. The building to the extreme left contains the library on the upper floor, and offices on the lower.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORRIDOR AND ENTRANCE TO THE HALL.]

There is a long corridor, shown in the ill.u.s.tration below, running from east and west of the building; it can be entered by a door at its eastern end not shown in the ill.u.s.tration on p. 63. After entering this, as we proceed towards the west we pa.s.s on the right hand the fine kitchen; it has an open timbered roof about 35 feet from floor to ridge, and measures 29 feet in length and 17 in width; beyond this, on the same side, are two doors giving entrance to the cellar, where the warden and Fellows kept their wine, the b.u.t.tery or rather _butlery_. Opposite this, on the left hand side, is the Hall; its north end is partially closed by ma.s.sive screens of black oak. It has windows on the east and west. One of those on the west gives light to a staircase with Jacobean bal.u.s.ters, which, starting in a direction parallel to the west wall of the hall, turns round and gives access to the upper story. As we still pa.s.s westward we come to the cloister on the left hand, and the old infirmary on the right; and a door still further on leads out into a garden, where the fish pond was formerly situated; in this the fish required for Fridays and other days of abstinence were kept. Caught in other water--the streams of Irwell and Irk probably--they were brought here and stored so that they could always be caught without difficulty when required for the table.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CLOISTER--SOUTH-WEST ANGLE.]

The cloister is small and has only three walks, the one to the north forming part of the corridor which has been just described; the one to the west is terminated at its south end by an iron gate; and the walk on the south leads to, and is terminated by the entrance to the audit room. From the west walk (ill.u.s.tration, p. 83) an archway leads into the cloister itself. This is a very secluded spot, and the walls show signs of great age. This cloister has one peculiarity: the walks already described have other walks or corridors over them. Over the south walk is a corridor leading by what was St. Mary's Chapel into the warden's room; the corridor over the west walk opened out into what was once the dormitory, now filled with bookcases; the walk over the long eastern corridor below gave access to the old refectory, which has now been divided into living-rooms for the governor and the librarian.

The long straight line of building between the eastern and western wing contained the old school, the brew house, and the bakery; the upper story, used formerly for guests, has been converted into a dormitory for the boys; this is the most ancient part of the hospital.

The reader, from the sketch just given, will understand the general arrangement of the building, various parts of which will now be described in more detail.

We will begin with the =Hall=. This measures 43 feet from north to south, 24 from east to west; its walls are 22 feet in height, and the distance from the floor to the ridge of the open timber roof is 35 feet.

At the south end is the dais, behind this the wall is panelled; on the west side near the dais is a recess shown in the ill.u.s.tration on page 72, and on the same side of the hall, further north, and in the centre of the wall, is the "Ingle-nook," as it is called.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RECESS IN THE HALL.]

This Ingle-nook did not originally form part of the hall. It is said that at one time it was a barn, or place for storing grain for use in the baronial buildings.

The hall was in all probability warmed, according to the usual custom, by a brazier standing on the centre of the floor, the smoke from which gathered under the high pitched roof, blackening beams and rafters, and finally escaped through a spire or turret rising from the ridge of the roof furnished with louvre boards. The fireplace was at some subsequent time removed to the west side of the room, and afterwards placed inside the ingle-nook, first at the back of it, then at the north-eastern corner.

It will be seen from the ill.u.s.tration that this recess was at one time entered through an arch, but the sides of this were afterwards cut away and a flat lintel, composed of two enormous stones, was inserted; the s.p.a.ce between this and the arch was then filled in with masonry; at the same time, no doubt, the interior s.p.a.ce was covered with a plaster ceiling at a height of about six feet from the floor; this has been recently removed, and the roof vaulted with stone. The recess is lighted from the back with windows, and provided with seats, and has an open fireplace. The ingle-nook is a picturesque addition to the hall, and forms no doubt a very cosy corner when on a cold day the fire is blazing in the grate; but as a means of warming the hall the present arrangement is manifestly far inferior to the old plan of having an open fire in the centre of the floor of the hall.

On the wall above this recess may be seen a bust of the founder, with crossed swords on either side of it, and a flintlock hung below it. The ill.u.s.trations show that the walls are built of large-size squared stones, and are not covered with plaster. Across the end of the hall, cutting off the western part of it to form the main pa.s.sage spoken of above, is a battlemented screen. This is peculiar in that it is not a continuous screen furnished with doorways for entrance, and does not rise to the level of the roof, but consists of three detached pieces, one resting against the east, one against the west wall, and one standing in the middle, each rising to the height of about nine feet. Thus two entrances, each about five feet wide, are left. Here, as in other parts of the building, the improvements of the nineteenth century have found their way, and the mediaeval walls of the old hall are lighted with electric lamps--a most convenient and safe addition, but striking one, at first, as out of harmony with the surroundings. Sundry portraits adorn the walls, the floor is neatly sanded, and the room is kept scrupulously clean; an air of refinement is added to it by vases of fresh flowers placed on the table. In this hall the boys of the Hospital a.s.semble at stated hours for prayers and meals.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WEST SIDE OF THE CLOISTER.]

The next part to be examined is the cloister court. This is a very small enclosure, surrounded by somewhat high walls. Admission to it is obtained from the west walk through the archway cut in one of the windows, shown in the ill.u.s.tration. The curious form of the gla.s.s in the windows is worthy of note; the pavement of the cloister-garth is formed of cobblestones, and towards the south end may be seen the top of the college well. The cloister is not rectangular, the line of the eastern side being broken by sundry projections.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STAIRCASE LEADING TO CLOISTER GALLERY.]

As we leave the cloister, we examine the walks to the south and west.

The latter (see ill.u.s.tration, p. 83) is terminated at its south end by a wrought iron gate through which we get a glimpse of the outside view and the entrance to the library. The roof is nearly flat, with ma.s.sive oaken beams. Several doors may be seen on the western side opening into cells--the living-rooms of the clergy connected with the college. As we turn round the corner and pa.s.s into the south walk, we see before us the door of the audit room. The oaken ceiling of this room is of fifteenth century date; the walls up to a certain height are wainscoted; above this they are covered with a plaster frieze. Here may be seen what is known as the "Founder's Chair," although it is of far earlier date than Chetham's time--earlier, indeed, than the date of the conversion of the baron's residence into a college in the fifteenth century.