Madison Rodriguez
Manchester Cathedral Is a church dedicated to St Mary, but the only surviving evidence from this period is a small carving of an angel with a scroll. That stone translates as “into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit .” In the year of 1075, William the Conqueror gave land between the River of Ribble and River Mersery to Roger de Poitou, the son of the Earl of
Shrewsbury. In 1086 Manchester was recorded in William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book,
Which said that the church was located at the corner of St Marys gate. However, this sight was abandoned when Robert Greslet decided to build the current church to his home. This became the parish church of Manchester.
The construction of the predecessor church started in 1215 within the confines of the
Barons court besides the manor house on the site of Manchester Castle. In 1311 the estate passed by marriage to the de la Warre family. The west tower in eastern Lady Chapel of this building were incorporated in the church. In 1421 Tomas de la Warre obtainted a licence from King
Henry V and from Pope Martin V to establish a collegiate foundation in Manchester, this included the parish church
Under the Cathedrals Act of 1840, the collegiate church of Manchester were translated into Dean and Canons in preparation for becoming the cathedral of a new diocese of Manchester which was effected in 1847. By then all stone work was in very poor shape. Stone work was replaced between 1850 and 1870 by J.S. Crowther. The cathedral gives the overall impression of a 19 th
century structure after restoration. During the Manchester blitz of 1940, a german bomb damaged the cathedral and demolished the Lady Chapel, it took almost 20 years to complete the repairs. The cathedral became a Grade I listed building on January 25, 1952. The building was again damaged by an IRA bomb in June 1996. The cathedral will be refurbished in 2013.

Madison Rodriguez
There are 10 bells in the cathedrals tower hung for change ringing, cast in 1925 by Gillett in Johnston. The largest bell in keyed in the tune of D. The bells or rung for church service on
Sunday mornings and special occasions. Most recently for a visit by the queen.