Roman Catholic Church of St Francis and Monastic Building Attached to Church

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ST FRANCIS AND MONASTIC BUILDING ATTACHED TO CHURCH, GORTON LANE

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1282967
Date first listed:
18-Dec-1963
List Entry Name:
Roman Catholic Church of St Francis and Monastic Building Attached to Church
Statutory Address:
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ST FRANCIS AND MONASTIC BUILDING ATTACHED TO CHURCH, GORTON LANE
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Date:
2005-11-20
Reference:
IOE01/14428/16
Rights:
© Mr Brian Lomas. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1282967
Date first listed:
18-Dec-1963
Date of most recent amendment:
06-Jun-1994
List Entry Name:
Roman Catholic Church of St Francis and Monastic Building Attached to Church
Statutory Address 1:
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ST FRANCIS AND MONASTIC BUILDING ATTACHED TO CHURCH, GORTON LANE

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ST FRANCIS AND MONASTIC BUILDING ATTACHED TO CHURCH, GORTON LANE

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:
Manchester (Metropolitan Authority)
Parish:
Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:
SJ 87662 96872

Details

MANCHESTER

SJ89NE GORTON LANE, Gorton North 698-1/5/694 (North side) 18/12/63 Roman Catholic Church of St Francis and monastic building attached to church (Formerly Listed as: GORTON LANE, Gorton (North side) Roman Catholic Church of St Francis, Monastic building attached to Church)

II*

Roman Catholic church, with attached monastic building. 1864-72, by Edward Welby Pugin, for the Order of St Francis. CHURCH: Red brick with dressings of sandstone and blue brick, steeply-pitched slate roof. Late C13 Gothic style. Nave on north-south axis with east and west aisles, south narthex, and north chancel with polygonal apse. The 13-bay nave and 2-bay chancel with its apse form a single tall narrow vessel, the nave having buttresses which form 13 very narrow bays with corbel tables, the buttresses banded, and each bay containing a 2-light window with a multifoil in the head; the chancel has larger but similar windows and unusual coupled dormers with multifoils; and the apse has 3-light traceried windows with multifoils in the head. The aisles have buttresses and 3 or 4 lancets to each bay. By contrast with this simple regularity, the gabled south front makes a very elaborate demonstration of Gothic features and decoration with strong vertical emphasis: 3 flying buttresses to the full height of the nave, with polychrome bands and 4 diminishing stone offsets to each, the outer finished with gablets and corniced octagonal shafts, and the centre carried up to a large stepped-out and canopied Crucifixus attached to the front of a stepped pedestal from which rises a banded and pilastered bellcote with a spirelet. The bases of the buttresses are pierced by a 4-bay narthex which has 2-centred arched moulded stone doorways linked by an impost band carried round the buttresses, and a pierced stone parapet with a pierced gablet breaking through. Above the narthex, the nave has 2 very tall elaborately moulded 2-light windows with geometrical tracery and banded extradoses, deeply-raked stone sills and hoodmoulds from which rise pedestals to canopied statues; and the aisles have short 2-centred moulded stone arches each containing 4 small multifoils. MONASTIC BUILDING: cloister attached to east side of church, and returned along front of very plain 3-storey range on north side of garden, which has small widely-spaced segmental-headed sashed windows to the 1st and 2nd floors, ridge chimneys, and a bellcote at the west gable. Unocuppied at time of survey.

Listing NGR: SJ8766296872

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:
388148
Legacy System:
LBS

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of Roman Catholic Church of St Francis and Monastic Building Attached to Church

Map

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End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

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