The Hidden Gem, or formally, St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, is located on Mulberry Street in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England. It was first dedicated at the site in 1794 with devotion to St Mary, Our Lady of the Assumption. In 1835, the roof collapsed, was restored and now The Hidden Gem remains the oldest Catholic Church in Manchester. (The second in the City Centre was St Augustine's in Granby Row, afterwards moved to Chorlton on Medlock.)

Reformation

In 1422, Henry V

Henry V of England

Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....

 gave permission for a collegiate church dedicated to St Mary, the Virgin of Manchester. Papal confirmation was issued by Martin V in 1426. The church was dissolved during the reign of Edward VI, but was re-founded by Mary I

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

. It subsequently passed out of papal control, and it is now the Manchester Cathedral

Manchester Cathedral

Manchester Cathedral is a medieval church on Victoria Street in central Manchester and is the seat of the Bishop of Manchester. The cathedral's official name is The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George in Manchester...

 of St Mary, St George and St Denys.

End of Penal Laws

The Penal Laws proscribed the celebration of the Latin Rite. They were finally abolished 1829 with the Catholic Emancipation Act. Catholic families had existed in Manchester throughout the period and had met secretly in order to conduct services. In 1774, a small chapel had been set up in Rook Street dedicated to St Chad. The chapel serviced about 600 people coming from as far away as Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

, Glossop

Glossop

Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...

 and Macclesfield

Macclesfield

Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...

. In the following years, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

, Catholic families from Ireland were attracted to the cotton industry in Manchester. The chapel remained in use until it was destroyed by fire in 1846. St Chad’s relocated to its own purpose built church in Cheetham Hill

Cheetham Hill

Cheetham Hill is an inner city area of Manchester, England. As an electoral ward it is known as Cheetham and has a population of 12,846. It lies on the west bank of the River Irk, north-northeast of Manchester city centre and close to the boundary with the City of Salford...

.

Dedication of The Hidden Gem

The rector of St Chad’s, Father Rowland Broomhead, purchased a plot of land near Deansgate in 1794. He quickly set about the task of building a new church. On 30 November 1794, the church was dedicated to St Mary. It was chosen as a symbol of the original parish church in Manchester.

Collapse of the roof

In 1833, the rector of The Hidden Gem, Father Henry Gillow, decided that the building was looking tired. He enlisted the help of some of the congregation to have the church re-roofed and re-decorated. It was to be tremendous folly not to have had the work overseen by a master builder.

At lunchtime on 8 August 1835, a strange breaking sound could be heard. On looking up people were alarmed to see a crack forming in the dome above the altar. The church was locked up and at 11 pm the whole dome and part of the roof collapsed, damaging much of the interior of the church. Services were moved to Lloyd Street, and the search started for a new site for the church.

Hidden Gem rebuilt

Father Gillow died in the Manchester typhus

Typhus

Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...

 epidemic of 1837. Any plans for a new church were put on hold. Two architects were consulted, Richard Lane

Richard Lane (architect)

Richard Lane was a distinguished English architect of the early and mid 19th century. Born in London and based in Manchester, he was known in great part for his restrained and austere Greek-inspired classicism. He also designed a few buildings – mainly churches – in the Gothic style...

, the architect of Salford Town Hall and The Friends Meeting House, and Edward Pugin. Richard Lane’s design was chosen at a cost of £265 17s. (Pugin had been paid £138 3s 6d). The architect chosen to oversee the work was Matthew Ellison Hadfield

Matthew Ellison Hadfield

Matthew Ellison Hadfield was an English architect of the Victorian Gothic revival. He is chiefly known for his work on Roman Catholic churches, including the cathedral churches of Salford and Sheffield.-Training:...

, who later went on to build Salford Cathedral

Salford Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist, usually known as Salford Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. Located on Chapel Street, Salford , not far from Manchester city centre, it is the seat of the Bishop of Salford and mother...

 and the new St Chad’s church in Cheetham Hill. The work was finished in 1844 and St Mary's formally opened in October 1848.

Exterior and interior

Externally, The Hidden Gem is made of plain red brick, and could easily be mistaken for a Victorian mission house or factory. However, the entrance is marked out with an ornate stone doorway. It is finely carved and depicts two Angelic Hosts bearing a medallion of Agnus Dei. A hand above forms the sign of the Ascension of Christ. The inscription is "Ascendamus in momtem Domini. Et adoremus in loco Sancto eius" a construction of two bible verses: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord",_{(Isaiah 2:3)} and "Praise Him in His Holy places". _{(Psalms 150:1)}

Internally, the visitor will find majestic Victorian carving. The High Altar is made of marble, finely carved and life size images of Our Lady, St Stephen, St Patrick, St Peter, St John, St Hilda, St Augustine and St Joseph. Central to this above the tabernacle

Church tabernacle

A tabernacle is the fixed, locked box in which, in some Christian churches, the Eucharist is "reserved" . A less obvious container, set into the wall, is called an aumbry....

 is Christ bearing the Sacred Heart. The Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...

 were painted in 1994 by artist Norman Adams and are in a striking expressionist style.

External links

• Hidden Gem Website