History

HISTORY OF ST ANNE’S CHURCH

The history of the post-Reformation Catholic Church in the area of Fairfield dates from the year 1846. At that time, Fr. William Turner (afterwards the first Bishop of Salford ) had charge of the Mission of  St. Augustine, Granby Row, and the extensive boundaries of that parish stretched over Ardwick, Chorlton, Hulme, Clayton, Bradford, Openshaw, Ashton-under-Lyne and even beyond the river Medlock. The few Catholics living in the neighbourhood of Hr. Openshaw and Gorton met together and, encouraged by Fr. Turner, established a Sunday school in a house which used to adjoin the Bridge Inn, off Abbey Hey Lane. This was the nursery ground of the early parish of Fairfield, which in the beginning comprised of Gorton, Droylsden, Openshaw and part of Clayton townships.

In 1849, Fr. M.J Daly O.M.I. and Fr. P.J. Gray O.M.I became the first pastors. Accommodation for the priests had previously been bought by Fr. Turner for £650. Fr. Daly left almost immediately to establish a new mission at Failsworth. Fr. Gray continued working in the parish until July 1851, but he returned to Fairfield in 1855 where he remained for another year.

When the Franciscans came to Manchester in 1861, they were given charge of St. Anne’s. They stayed for the next four years, when they transferred to Gorton Lane (St. Francis). After several priests, Fr. Richard Power took charge and he built a new school, church and presbytery in the 1880s at the cost of £3800. The school cost £600 and accommodated 300 children and was erected by Mr. Smith of Droylsden. The church cost approximately £2500. The 26 years of Fr. Power’s administration were years of remarkable progress in terms of building, population growth and consolidation. His zeal for the common good broke down many prejudices he had encountered in his early days in Fairfield. He provided a religious and social life for the people of the parish. The church remains much the same as when he built it. The old school and original presbytery have gone now but the school lasted until the 1960s and 1970s when it moved to its present site.

Fr. Hanrahan came to St. Anne’s in 1904. He extended the school premises and in October 1907 Bishop Casartelli laid the foundation stone of the new extension which was opened the following April. The school then accommodated 508 pupils. He also acquired the property in Rosina Street which became the presbytery for many years until the purchase of the present house next to the church. In more recent years parish priests at St Anne’s have included Fr. Victor Mann, Fr. Humphrey Lynch, Fr. Kilian Walsh,  Fr. Liam Keane, Fr. James Clarke, Fr. Christopher Lough and our present priest is Fr. Churchill Emeghara MSSCC