Holy Name, Chorlton on Medlock

Introduction

The church is constructed of coursed sandstone rubble with steeply-pitched slate roofs in the 13th-century Gothic style.

Architecture and furnishings

The church comprises a nave with a west tower, north and south aisles with side chapels, north and south transepts, and a polygonal apse. Inside, the church features very tall aisle arcades on quatrefoil piers and rib-vaulted roofs with banded cells of polygonal terracotta blocks. The church contains an elaborate pinnacled reredos.

The church has a fine organ by William Hill. The west front includes a rectangular two-bay tower of two high stages, with a third stage added in 1928. The tower's top is an octagonal stage with pinnacles, corner buttresses, a large two-light window with a wheel in the head, and a blind-arcaded parapet. At the right-hand corner stands an octagonal two-stage turret with moulded lancets at ground floor and spherical-trangles to the top.

The four-bay nave and aisles feature flying buttresses, various gabled projections, and two traceried two-light windows in each bay. The polygonal apse has an ambulatory and flying buttresses, with tall traceried two-light windows and gablets in the parapet. The church contains carved Stations of the Cross.

Music and liturgy

The choir is dedicated to preserving Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony while also performing music by later composers up to the present day. The Holy Name Music Collective presents a repertoire ranging from traditional hymns to Taizé and modern worship songs.

Parish life

The chaplaincy serves the Catholics of the Universities in Manchester. Students lead the Catholic Societies of the University of Manchester and of the Manchester Metropolitan University. The chaplaincy runs a weekly clear-up of Whitworth Park. A weekly talk from an invited speaker on a theme of faith, with time for questions.

The Holy Name Circle of Prayer is a group of people who pray for anyone who needs help from God. The chaplaincy prepares adults to become Catholic through the RCIA between October and May. The chaplaincy team includes a Jesuit who is National Chaplain to the Catholic Deaf Association in England & Wales. A chaplaincy group goes for walks in the hills and by the waters of the landscape around Manchester every other week.

Visiting

The church gift shop sells many mini Catholic Truth Society books and booklets. When the church is open, many people enter to pray quietly or to contemplate the beauty of the space.