麻豆社

It鈥檚 taken over a decade, but the 拢6m campaign to restore the historic Monastery of St Francis and Gorton is almost complete. Manchester鈥檚 鈥楾aj Mahal鈥�, has finally re-opened, not as a church, but for hire as a conference venue.

Monument: Gorton Monastery

And on Monday 25 June 2007, the Monastery welcomed in the Gorton community who have supported its restoration but were left devastated by its decline. People like Agnes Bracher, school secretary at the nearby St Francis Primary:

鈥淚t was a place you came to school, and it was an active parish, where there were things going on for children and adults each evening, so it was your social life as well. Those memories were all still there, and it was just so sad. That was my feeling when it closed: just pull it down because it would never be what it was built for. And I鈥檝e held those feelings until I came in today.鈥�

History

Agnes knows Gorton Monastery of old. By the time its final mass was held in 1989, the building had witnessed many of her rites of passage into adulthood. Agnes still hopes it will play an important role in Gorton once again.

Agnes Bracher

鈥淚 was baptized here, had first Holy Communion, confirmed here and married here. Who knows, they may even bring me in here when I die! That鈥檒l be the full circle.鈥� she said.

Adding: 鈥淚t just held people together. I sometimes get the feeling that sometimes children miss that; that beautiful feeling that 'here鈥檚 where we belong'. And I鈥檇 like to see children get back to that.鈥�

Decline

Gorton Monastery, built in 1872 by the architect Edward Pugin, is widely recognised as a Catholic masterpiece. But its fate looked sealed in the 1970s when, under a programme of housing renewal, the surrounding back-to-back terraces were pulled down and the local community dispersed.

Twelve statues of saints, originally located along the walls of the nave, turned up for auction as garden ornaments at Sotheby's.

Restoration

However, in 1996, the Monastery of St Francis and Gorton Trust was set up to raise the 拢6m to restore the Grade II listed building. The campaign grew support and in 1997 the World Monuments Fund designated the Monastery of St Francis as one of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World along with the Taj Mahal and Pompeii.

Before restoration

And after years of fundraising, and two years of careful restoration, Gorton Monastery is back in business again for hire as a conference and banqueting venue.

It鈥檚 already held a banquet for the city鈥檚 business leaders, and is taking bookings ranging from a catwalk show by Boss modelling agency to community events. It鈥檚 a new lease of life for a much-loved building. But is it what the Gorton community wants?

"I still have mixed feelings over that, because I鈥檒l always think of it as a church," said Agnes.

"It will never be what it was, and what it was built for. But there is a need in the community, maybe to lift the people of Gorton; for concerts, things like that.

"This was the heart of Gorton鈥� and I鈥檇 like to see people coming back to it. Not for the reason it was built, it never will be that. But I鈥檇 like the feeling that the Franciscans brought to the community. Maybe it will bring the community back together again."