The engraving above shows
the New Jerusalem Church on the north side of Peter Street
in Manchester. The image is undated but I believe
that the church was founded in 1793. It can be seen
in the OS map for 1849, shown below. The entrance to
the church was on Peter Street and the back of the
building, on Bootle Street, was home to the New Jerusalem
Church School.
The congregation of the
New Jerusalem Church were followers of a new religeous
movement based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, an
18th Century Swedish scientist and theologian. The
Church of New Jerusalem was one of a number of
manifestations of this movement. The first General
Conference of this movement was held in London in
1789.
There were other Swedenborgian churches in the city including the "round House" on Every Street in Ancoats and the New Jerusalem Temple and Temple School on Irwell Street, in Salford.
Missionaries carried the Swedenborg word around the world including to America. The most famous of the American missionaries was John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed. In addition to his religeous work he is credited with introducing apple trees to parts of the Mid-West of America and rsing in his lifetime to a legendary status.
The section of the Friends Reunited website dedicated to the Manchester Central High School for Boys can trace its beginnings to the New Jerusalem Church School, on Peter Street. They say this about their school, "Central High School for Boys developed from a Sunday School, and was originally known as THE NEW JERUSALEM DAY SCHOOLS in 1827, through the Swedenborgian Church, on a site in Peter Street, opposite the rebuilt Free Trade Hall, and where the Albert Hall is now' Joseph Moss was it's first Headmaster, and his neice Eliza Moss, was the first Headmistress of the Girls School, which was added in 1844. In 1882 a new school was built on Deansgate, and the school became known as The Central Higher Grade School. the School opened there in 1884 The Schools were founded by the New Church Society, with the object of spreading the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg"
My version of a map from 1886, below, shows that the timber yard at the end of the block, in the 1849 map, is now the location of the "Grand Theatre of Varieties". The New Jerusalem Church and the church yard seem to have been combined into a "Technical School", presumably replacing the church and the church school, since the account above suggests that the New Jerusalem School moved out in 1882.
There were other Swedenborgian churches in the city including the "round House" on Every Street in Ancoats and the New Jerusalem Temple and Temple School on Irwell Street, in Salford.
Missionaries carried the Swedenborg word around the world including to America. The most famous of the American missionaries was John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed. In addition to his religeous work he is credited with introducing apple trees to parts of the Mid-West of America and rsing in his lifetime to a legendary status.
The section of the Friends Reunited website dedicated to the Manchester Central High School for Boys can trace its beginnings to the New Jerusalem Church School, on Peter Street. They say this about their school, "Central High School for Boys developed from a Sunday School, and was originally known as THE NEW JERUSALEM DAY SCHOOLS in 1827, through the Swedenborgian Church, on a site in Peter Street, opposite the rebuilt Free Trade Hall, and where the Albert Hall is now' Joseph Moss was it's first Headmaster, and his neice Eliza Moss, was the first Headmistress of the Girls School, which was added in 1844. In 1882 a new school was built on Deansgate, and the school became known as The Central Higher Grade School. the School opened there in 1884 The Schools were founded by the New Church Society, with the object of spreading the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg"
My version of a map from 1886, below, shows that the timber yard at the end of the block, in the 1849 map, is now the location of the "Grand Theatre of Varieties". The New Jerusalem Church and the church yard seem to have been combined into a "Technical School", presumably replacing the church and the church school, since the account above suggests that the New Jerusalem School moved out in 1882.
It seems possible that the
New Jerusalem Church as a building may have survived into
the 20th Century. The site has been occupied since
1910 by the Albert Hall, designed by the architect W. J.
Morley for the Manchester and Salford Wesleyan
Mission. The image below shows roughly the same view
as the engraving at the top of the page but some 200 years
later.
