St Chad's, Cheetham Hill

St Chad's RC Church is a Grade II listed Roman Catholic church in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, England. It was constructed between 1846 and 1847, on the east side of Cheetham Hill Road. The parish functions under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford.

St Chad's is the Catholic mother-church of Manchester, tracing its origins back to the 1770s. A chapel was built on Rook Street off Market Street in 1776. The Reverend Roland Broomhead was Rector 1776-1820 and built new chapels of St Mary Mulberry Street and St Augustine, Granby Row, he died shortly after the opening of the latter, after which St Chad's became chapel-of-ease to the new church. However, due to a growing need, it became an independent mission again in 1835 when Fr William Turner, who would later become the first Bishop of Salford, was appointed to take charge. He was succeeded in 1842 by Fr Robert Croskell, later to be the second Provost and Vicar General of the Diocese. The Rook Street chapel was sold in 1846 to be converted into a warehouse.

The new church was designed by Weightman and Hadfield in the Gothic Revival style for Fr Robert Croskell. Building work commenced in April 1846 and the new church was opened 4 August 1847 by Bishop George Hilary Brown.

The church was served by clergy of the Salford Diocese until 2003 when the last resident Parish Priest, Fr Bernard McGarry retired. The church was then served for a period from St Anne, Crumpsall. In 2007, the Premonstratensians took up residence following the closure of Corpus Christi Priory, Miles Platting, however they only stayed for a short period and St Chad's then served as the residence for the Strangeway's Prison Chaplain. In 2013, the Oratorian community from the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, Manchester took over St Chad's with permission to establish the Manchester Oratory of St Philip Neri there.

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