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Tuesday, 24th February 2004

Vicar in a tutu? Not very likely

Susan Press

HOLY NAME: Oxford Road

ICONIC band The Smiths immortalised many places in Manchester and environs - Salford Lads Club, for instance, is now a permanent memorial to Morrissey and the boys. Lesser known, but equally significant in their musical canon, is the Holy Name Church on Oxford Road.

As Smiths aficionados will know, this grand and imposing building, opposite Manchester University Students' Union, is referred to - more than a little irreverently - in a song called Vicar In A Tutu. It goes as follows: "I was minding my business lifting some lead off the roof of the Holy Name Church. It was worthwhile living a laughable life, just to set my eyes on the blistering sight of a vicar in a tutu. He's not strange, he just wants to live his life this way".

The sight of a vicar, complete with tutu or not, would, of course, be extremely unlikely, given that it is the Roman Catholics who, for over 130 years, have offered spiritual solace to their flock here. But that was probably Morrissey's idea of a joke.

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On a more serious note, the Catholic Church of the Holy Name of Jesus (to use its full title) is one of the most beautiful in the city and still serving the hundreds of people who every day come to hear Mass.

Built in 1871, it is regarded as the most important work of Joseph Aloysius Hansom, perhaps more widely known for his two-wheeled conveyance, the Hansom cab.

The "Holy Name" is one of the few buildings in the area which Hansom would recognise today. The original design was to have had a 240ft spire, but Hansom died before this could be completed, so Adrian Gilbert Scott finished it off - and went for a tower a little less elevated.

ARCHITECT: Joseph Aloysius

Inside, it is an awe-inspiring church - more cathedral, in feel, than humble parish church. It is said that Hansom got the inspiration for this building from a church in Amiens, France. It certainly has an air of Notre Dame about it, and indeed its chapel of Our Lady of the Victories is furnished with a small-scale reproduction of the altar of that very same church.

It was founded by the Jesuits, highly intellectual clerics who were, and are, a powerful force within the Catholic Church. They often built large churches in cities, where their influence could be effective through preaching, the confessional and parochial work. They were invited to come to Manchester by the then Bishop of Salford, the Rt. Rev. William Turner, in the late 1860s. The foundation stone of the Holy Name was laid in 1869, and the church opened on October 15, 1871.

The design is said to be typical of a Jesuit city church - a broad nave, prominent pulpit and a short sanctuary, with the altar near and in full view of the congregation. It is 186ft from east to west, 112ft from north to south and 100ft from the floor to the inside of the vault. The high altar has representations of 10 Jesuit saints: St Ignatius, St Aloysius, St Francis Jerome, St John Berchmans, St Francis Borgia, St John Nepomucene, St John Francis Regis, St Peter Claver, St Francis Xavier and St Stanislaus Kostka.

The altar is of alabaster, inlaid with green Russian malachite. The frontal is based on da Vinci's The Last Supper. This was not a church built on a budget.

The building is brick, faced inside with moulded terracotta, and outside with Warwick Bridge stone. Famous design expert Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, in his introduction to the South Lancashire volume of his Buildings Of England series, wrote that "Hansom never again did so marvellous a church".

But it is anything but an empty monument to past glories - despite the fact that, much to the joy of the traditionalists, you can still hear Latin Mass on occasion.

At the Holy Name they do not fight shy of moving with the times.

The Jesuit order moved out 11 years ago, and it now run by a team of priests under the auspices of the Diocese of Salford. Though it is 20 years since it was officially a parish, the church has survived troubled times and is once again thriving. Last year, the Ackers Street entrance was adapted to provide disabled access to the church, with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Holy Name has hosted many an occasion - both happy and sad. It saw the the funeral of Sir Charles Hallé, founder of the Hallé Orchestra, in 1895 (Mozart's Requiem was performed, and the Bishop of Salford presided), and the late Pat Phoenix, legendary star of Coronation Street, chose it for her funeral, too. On the latter sad day in autumn, 1986, thousands of Mancunians turned out to pay their last respects to the actress who won the hearts of millions as Elsie Tanner. Mourners included her young son-in-law, Tony Blair, and his wife, Cherie Booth.