MANCHESTER - St Francis Church and Friary, Gorton 1861 - 1989

In the first half of the 19th century, when our Province was reduced to a handful of friars, several attempts were made by the Order at large to nurse the Province back to a viable state.  After a false start in Sclerder (Cornwall) which came to nothing, the first successful foundation of the relaunched Province was in Gorton, Manchester.  The friars moved in in 1861.  They commissioned Edward Welby Pugin, son  of the renowned Augustus Welby Pugin, to design the church which opened in 1872.  (When Edward was approached, he was actually supervising the building of the church at Stratford which was later destined to be handed over to the Franciscans).  The friars were to remain in Gorton until 1989, when the property was sold to developers who went bankrupt and left the church to be vandalised, until the Gorton Monastery Trust bought the whole property and developed it into a social centre.

To read the short history of "Gorton Monastery" as told by the Gorton Monastery Trust click on the following link: www.themonastery.co.uk/Our-History.html

To view a Roll of Honour for St. Francis Gorton edited by Anne Hadley click on the following link:    www.freewebs.com/liverpoolannie