St Mary of the Angels and St Clare, Levenshulme, Roman Catholic

The church does not have a graveyard.

^Click the arrow on the line above to find links to search for web sites of current churches when one is not listed here, or within the address. Some churches keep closing so if it has had to close then please let us know.

It was founded in 1853 and was originally attached to the Convent of the Poor Clares, Clare Road, Levenshulme. A new church opened in 1883. In 1957 it then moved to a former cinema on Stockport Road, Levenshulme and in 1975 moved into a new building in Elbow Street, Levenshulme.

The mission was not cut off in its beginning: it was a new neighbourhood. The parish at first, in 1853, comprised the following places: Levenshulme, Reddish, Heaton Norris, Withington, Barlow Moor and Fallowfield. It was opened through the interest of Samuel Grimshaw, Esq., a native of Levenshulme, who lived at Errwood Hall, near Buxton. In 1853 he gave the land for the parish-about two acres. Errwood Road, a fine, wide and gracious road in this neighbourhood, is named after the estate of the Grimshaw family.

The first Rector was the Rev. Thomas Unsworth who became a Chaplain in the Crimean War, volunteering with Fr. Patrick Meaney, the latter dying in the Crimea. He was uncle of the Blackburn priests called Meaney. A subsequent Rector was Fr. Henry Fox who built St. Edward's, Rusholme, and left here for that parish.

Eight Sisters -Poor Clares Collettines- came from Belgium in 1863 and settled in Levenshulme in 1871. All were Belgians. Part of the present Convent was built that year.

In 1867 the Right Rev. Mgr. Robert Croskell who had built St. Chad's, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, was appointed Rector. In 1877 he built the present presbytery and in 1882 he built the present church. He died at Levenshulme in 1902 at the great age of 94 years.

In 1898 the present school was built chiefly through the efforts of Fr. Moran.

In 1914 Father Sassen enlarged the church and in the same year built the Infant School. In 1915, through the efforts of Fr. Sassen, St. Robert's, Longsight, was cut off from St. Mary's and made into a separate parish.

Fr. Joseph Lomax was parish priest for many years and in 1940 Monsignor Masterson became parish priest after him. In 1947 he was consecrated Archbishop of Birmingham.

Taken from "Salford Diocese and its Catholic past", a survey by Charles A. Bolton, a Priest of the above Diocese. Published 1950 on the First Centenary for the Diocese of Salford.

The Stockport Rd church was located The Clare Rd church was located

This site provides historical information about churches, other places of worship and cemeteries. It has no connection with the churches themselves. For current information you should contact them directly.

Whilst every effort has been made to record exact details of record office and library holdings you are recommended to check with them before visiting to ensure that they do hold the records and years you wish to examine. Similarly check with transcript publishers to ensure they cover the records and years you require before making a purchase.

Copies of Original Registers

It is located at SJ8751594077 (Lat/Lon 53.443313, -2.189429). You can see this on maps provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

It is located at SJ8746094005 (Lat/Lon 53.442664, -2.190254). You can see this on maps provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

It is located at SJ8735593540 (Lat/Lon 53.438482, -2.191816). You can see this on maps provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)