Damon managed to organise a look round the monastery with the people who look after it now. They were very friendly, let us see what we wanted to see and were perfectly happy for us to spend as much time as we liked taking photos.
For the benefit of those who won't have seen the place/pictures from before it was renovated, I've done a 'before and after' report here. For those interested in some history, this is from my website report from last year...
The Monastery of St Francis was designed by Edward Pugin and completed in 1867, and was the home to the Fransiscan Brothers. The 100ft high gothic church is a distinctive building with its high bell tower, red and blue brickwork and stone dressings.
Catholics worshipped at the monastery, and for over 100 years the monastery was a vital part of the local community. After housing renovations in the 1970s, many of the congregation moved away and the monastery fell into poor condition, necessitating the demolition of the front facade of the Friary.
During the 1980s a fund was set up to help repair the church, but eventually the Brothers had to leave, and by 1989 the monastery was no longer in use. After the Brothers had left, the buildings were sold off for redevelopment, but this didn't work and the monastery was vandalised.
The 'Monastery of St Francis & Gorton Trust' took over the site in 1996, and their aim is to restore the monastery buildings, and the monastery will finally house a hotel, conference centre and other attractions while retaining the original structures.
Visited with Damon on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon. The place had been cleared out and scaffolding put up, but it was still in a real state. A lot of the corridors, or 'cloisters', were roofless and practically falling apart. The word derelict described it nicely. At that time work was underway to refit the roof, a top priority before work could begin inside.
August 2007
Visited with a load of the Manchester locals, plus some visitors from other parts of the country. The transformation is amazing. Bits of the building, such as the altar area, are being kept in a semi-original state. Rather than totally redoing it, they want to keep bits as they were before renovation started as a reminder of what the building was like. I think that's a great idea, and the place has lots of character.
It's shocking that the monastery was allowed to decay like it did, but walking round there now is breathtaking.
For the benefit of those who won't have seen the place/pictures from before it was renovated, I've done a 'before and after' report here. For those interested in some history, this is from my website report from last year...
The Monastery of St Francis was designed by Edward Pugin and completed in 1867, and was the home to the Fransiscan Brothers. The 100ft high gothic church is a distinctive building with its high bell tower, red and blue brickwork and stone dressings.
Catholics worshipped at the monastery, and for over 100 years the monastery was a vital part of the local community. After housing renovations in the 1970s, many of the congregation moved away and the monastery fell into poor condition, necessitating the demolition of the front facade of the Friary.
During the 1980s a fund was set up to help repair the church, but eventually the Brothers had to leave, and by 1989 the monastery was no longer in use. After the Brothers had left, the buildings were sold off for redevelopment, but this didn't work and the monastery was vandalised.
The 'Monastery of St Francis & Gorton Trust' took over the site in 1996, and their aim is to restore the monastery buildings, and the monastery will finally house a hotel, conference centre and other attractions while retaining the original structures.
May 2006
Visited with Damon on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon. The place had been cleared out and scaffolding put up, but it was still in a real state. A lot of the corridors, or 'cloisters', were roofless and practically falling apart. The word derelict described it nicely. At that time work was underway to refit the roof, a top priority before work could begin inside.
August 2007
Visited with a load of the Manchester locals, plus some visitors from other parts of the country. The transformation is amazing. Bits of the building, such as the altar area, are being kept in a semi-original state. Rather than totally redoing it, they want to keep bits as they were before renovation started as a reminder of what the building was like. I think that's a great idea, and the place has lots of character.
It's shocking that the monastery was allowed to decay like it did, but walking round there now is breathtaking.