St James (originally St Thomas), Gorton - Church of England

St James,
Church Lane/Cambert Lane,
Gorton
Lancashire

Cemeteries

The church has/had a graveyard. The Monumental Inscriptions in the graveyard were recorded in the Owen Manuscripts (copies held at Lancashire Record Office).

There are copies of the Monumental Inscriptions for 1704-1964 at Manchester Archives and Local Studies.

Church History

The original place of worship for Gortonians was a wattle and daub, thatched building erected sometime towards the end of the 15th century (no exact date recorded), which was dedicated to St.James. This lasted until 1753, when it was in such a poor state of repair that it was resolved to build a new brick church, which took 2 years to construct and was opened on St.Thomas's day 1755. This one was dedicated to St.Thomas. By 1868, this too was in a poor state and the present church was built with money supplied by the local industrialist and philanthropist, Charles Beyer. This present church of St.James - it reverted to its original patron - was opened in 1871 and is the 2nd church to stand close to the site of the original.

Ian Rhodes has an alternative picture of St. James, and its steeple.

Church Records

Whilst every effort has been made to record exact details of record office and library holdings you are recommended to check with them before visiting to ensure that they do hold the records and years you wish to examine. Similarly check with transcript publishers to ensure they cover the records and years you require before making a purchase.

Original registers

Manchester Archives and Local Studies, Manchester Central Library, hold:

• Baptisms 1600-1974
• Marriages 1601-1981
• Burials 1651-1970

Bishop's Transcripts

Lancashire Record Office hold:

• Baptisms 1678-1684, 1721-1846
• Marriages 1678-1684, 1721-1753
• Burials 1678-1684, 1721-1846

Register Transcripts

Published by the Lancashire Parish Register Society:

• Volume 47 - Baptisms 1599-1741, Marriages 1601-1741, Burials 1675-1741.

Indexes

Boyd's marriage index 1601-1741 is held at Lancashire Record Office.

The IGI contains:

• Baptisms - 1599-1875
• Marriages - 1601-1741, 1838-1880

Marriages 1838-1884 are held within Lancashire BMD. N.B. Select "Manchester" region.

Church Records

Whilst every effort has been made to record exact details of record office and library holdings you are recommended to check with them before visiting to ensure that they do hold the records and years you wish to examine. Similarly check with transcript publishers to ensure they cover the records and years you require before making a purchase.

Register Transcripts

Baptisms

• 1599-1741 available from Lancashire Parish Register Society volume 47

Marriages

• 1601-1741 available from Lancashire Parish Register Society volume 47

Burials

• 1675-1741 available from Lancashire Parish Register Society volume 47

Maps

The church is located at OS grid reference SJ8863596462. You can see this on maps provided by:

• this church marked on a Google map. (Use this to report a corrected location)
• Google Streetview (Drag pegman to centre of map to show picture)
• OldMaps
• StreetMap
• Open StreetMap
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Magic
• Vision of Britain
• English Jurisdictions in 1851
• Google maps showing nearby churches with satellite image option.

The original church was located at OS grid reference SJ8863896475. You can see this on maps provided by:

• this church marked on a Google map. (Use this to report a corrected location)
• Google Streetview (Drag pegman to centre of map to show picture)
• OldMaps
• StreetMap
• Open StreetMap
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Magic
• Vision of Britain
• English Jurisdictions in 1851
• Google maps showing nearby churches with satellite image option.

This site provides historical information about churches, other places of worship and cemeteries. It has no connection with the churches themselves. For current information you should contact them directly.