The Collegiate Church under the Old Regime, 1660–1829
in Manchester Cathedral
Abstract only
Log-in for full text

Until 1828–29, the special position of the Established Church in relation to the state was still intact in legal terms both at the national and local level. The clergy of the Collegiate Church of Manchester and their lay officials still appeared to be the chief ecclesiastical authority in the town. They also frequently took the lead in local affairs. The clergy moved from their suspect Tory Jacobite associations of the earlier eighteenth century to the uncompromising loyalism of the 1790s onwards. This strengthened the alliance of Church and State, and in the 1790s ‘Church and King’ became a potent war-cry for suppressing political reformers and smearing Dissenting associations. But the Church’s control in Manchester was not absolute. The demise of Church and King mobs, the growth of non-Anglican churches, congregations and schools and of absenteeism from Church tell their own tale, as do the voices of critics, the failure of Sabbath discipline, and the increasing recourse to voluntary persuasion. The cracks in the ruling edifice were deepened by the reaction against Peterloo. The erosion of Establishment begun with the emancipation of Dissenters and Roman Catholics in 1828–29 continued during the following decades.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Manchester Cathedral

A history of the Collegiate Church and Cathedral, 1421 to the present

Editor:

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 183 66 3
Full Text Views 1 0 0
PDF Downloads 1 0 0