 Background At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Cheadle was a peaceful village in the country where many people came for walks and picnics. The industrial revolution brought great changes to the village, and rich people were now able to live in the country and commute to work in Manchester. By the 1870s two distinct communities had developed: a generally wealthier middle class community around the Parish Church to the south and west, and a mainly artisan population between the Queen's arms and Boundry Bridge - known as Cheadle Heath. (The area now known as Cheadle Heath was still heathland with a few houses in those days). The Little community of Cheadle Heath developed rapidly with its own shops and smithy and in 1874 the National School on Councillor Lane was built. Christians in Cheadle Heath could either go to the methodist church on Old Road, or trek to the Parish Church which was often full. The hard working people of Cheadle Heath often found their walk wasted. Mr. James Grimsdick Barford, a lay reader at the Parish Church who had been instrumental in getting the School built, recognised this need for a place of worship and, in 1885, gained the permission of the Rector and Bishop to hold evening services in the school. These proved successful and were well attended.  A New Building
In January 1886, Mr. Barford gathered round him an enthusiastic body of workers determined to have a proper place to worship. The first plan was to build an apse onto the school room, with an altar and a license for Holy Communion. Mr. Thomas Hardcastle Sykes, an eminent Cheadle mill owner, generously offered to pay for the work to be done. The proposed plan was submitted to the church people and the Rector approved it, but preferred not to rely on one man's generosity. Instead, in April, he made an appeal for funds to the congregation. There was a liberal response to the appeal and it appeared that with the £560 they had promised, they would be able to do more with the building than previously thought. Henry Littler, a Cheadle Hulme architect, submitted plans to erect a separate building, a new church that would seat 150 people. He estimated it would cost £660, so a further £100 needed to be found. The idea was to build the church on the land adjacent to the school, on the corner of Councillor Lane and Stockport Road. The next problem was to obtain the land, which was owned, along with Moseley Old Hall and most of the surrounding land, by Sir William Cunliffe Brooks, baronet, the local MP, and an important Manchester banker. He was known to have a generous nature and had already given land to St. Clement's Church, Chorlton, so he was approached on this matter and by June there appeared to be every prospect of obtaining the site. |