Manchester Cathedral by Nicholas Morton

Picture

nmorton5_4 — 2025-05-07 08:42:51 UTC

Picture of Manchester Cathedral

Basic Background

nmorton5_4 — 2025-05-07 08:48:08 UTC

Manchester Cathedral is in Manchester, England. Due to the nature of the building, there is not one single artist or designer, rather a group of people who have all worked on it. Construction began in roughly 1421, with Thomas de la Warre being the lead for the construction of the original building. The building in its later renovations had seen that the Renaissance had already passed by and we had entered a new age so the only iteration of the church that truly relates to the Renaissance is the original.

Broad Background

nmorton5_4 — 2025-05-07 08:54:55 UTC

Manchester Cathedral was primarily constructed using sandstone and was built in a Perpendicular Gothic style, with more victorian style being introduced on some of its more modern restorations. The purpose for its building was that the city of Manchester needed a place to worship, and as the location it was built at was always a place of worship, it was the best place to build a church.

Audience and Uses

nmorton5_4 — 2025-05-07 08:57:42 UTC

The target audience for the Cathedral was the Catholic people of Manchester. They would have used it as a place of worship.

Lessons

nmorton5_4 — 2025-05-07 09:45:02 UTC

The main thing we learn from the construction of this church is the importance that religion plays in Renaissance culture. This building reflects the Renaissance practice of people like Thomas de la Warre making big arcitecture projects to cement themselves as an influential character in history as well as show their commitment for their spiritual values. We also learn that the religious community of Manchester was big enough that they would be able to create a church there and have enough support for it to be worth it. Lastly, it teaches us about architecture style during the Renaissance period.

Reverse Lessons

nmorton5_4 — 2025-05-07 09:55:05 UTC

The Manchester Cathedral would not be able to tell us much about people or culture outside of Manchester.

Relations to the Renaissance

nmorton5_4 — 2025-05-07 09:58:40 UTC

This church may be related to what is called the renaissance as it was a large spiritual hub that had significant influecne on a part of Europe. Religion being one of the key components of the Renaissance sees that it does have some relation as well as suggests that there was a Renaissance. During this time, more people were beginning to think about deeper things like religion more which may have led them to want to construct this new church. So I feel that the creation and design of this church directly shows that there actually was a Renaissance.

Source List

nmorton5_4 — 2025-05-07 10:07:01 UTC

Arthur Ashpitel. “On the History and Architecture of Manchester Cathedral.” Journal of the British Archaeological Association, vol. 6, Sept. 1850, pp. 177–98. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxy.library.kent.edu/10.1080/00681288.1850.11886923.

BLOOMFIELD, ANNE, and TONY HOLLAWAY. “The Art of Contemporary Stained Glass: Tony Hollaway and the West End Windows of Manchester Cathedral (1971-1995).” RSA Journal, vol. 145, no. 5483, 1997, pp. 76–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41377270.

Crotchet, Dotted. “Manchester Cathedral.” The Musical Times, vol. 49, no. 788, 1908, pp. 629–36. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/904140.

GREGORY, JEREMY, editor. Manchester Cathedral: A History of the Collegiate Church and Cathedral, 1421 to the Present. Manchester University Press, 2021. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2gmhhfc.

Manchester, Haunt. “Gothic beyond Architecture: Manchester Cathedral.” Visit Manchester, Marketing Manchester, 14 Dec. 2023, www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/post/gothic-beyond-architecture-manchester-cathedral/.