Wednesday 10 February 2021

That Ancoats war memorial ….. and some good news

Just a week ago I wrote about the perilous state of the war memorial in St Andrew’s Square.*


It had been erected in 1921 to commemorate the men from St Andrew’s Church who fought in the Great War.

But the closure of the church in 1958, and its demolition three years later left the stone cross increasingly isolated, and over the next sixty years it was pretty much left alone and forgotten.

A large tree threatened the stability of the cross and in the summer months vegetation all but obscured the war memorial.**

I was unsure of who to contact, given that the church authorities had signed off the former church land a long time ago, and so I contacted the relevant elected Manchester City Councillors.

That same day Cllr Sam Wheeler was in touch asking for more details and today his colleague Cllr Jon-Connor Lyons emailed me with the good news that the area had been cut back, and that the Council officers were looking into who owned the land.

So a good start, with the promise that the men of St Andrew’s Church will no longer be forgotten

Location; St Andrew’s Square, Ancoats,

Picture; the wall memorial St Andrew’s Square, Ancoats, 2021, courtesy of Angela Wallwork, Amato Food Products***

*Neglected and forgotten ……. the men from St Andrew’s in Ancoats, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2021/02/neglected-and-forgotten-men-from-st.html

**Heritage Report, St Andrew’s Church, Lee, Anthony, Report No.SA/2019/12


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