On 11th August at 11:45am Social Circle are setting off on the Gorton Monastery and Gorton Tour.
Firstly, we will be meeting at the cafe at The Monastery, 89 Gorton Ln, City Centre, M12 5WF
This is a really interested tour that shouldn’t be missed, here’s a little background information about Gorton Monastery.
Gorton was once the workshop of the world.
Here the first locomotives taking trains across South Africa, New Zealand and Palestine were built at Gorton Tank and Gorton Locomotive Works. Here the world’s first commercial computer, Ferranti’s Mark 1, was created.
All that’s gone, but what remains is extraordinary – the world heritage site that is the church and friary of St Francis, now deconsecrated and known as Gorton Monastery.
It’s one of the most startling Gothic revival buildings in Britain; powerful, awe-inspiring, exquisite and expertly detailed by E. W. Pugin, son of the Houses of Parliament designer A. W. Pugin.
It is where we begin and end the tour. Not only do we examine this sacred space in detail, with a Powerpoint talk and a short walking tour but we also venture outside to find the remains of Gorton’s industrial hey-day; great stories of love, labour and lore.
At the end we return and flop into the café for much needed sustenance.
Why on earth would you build a parish Church of Cathedral like proportions to meet the needs of just 300 Catholics? Follow in the Franciscan footsteps for 800 years from Assisi to Manchester. Discover the architectural secrets of E.W. Pugin and the ‘sacred geometry’ and codes he left.
Learn about the rise, decline and fall of the Monastery and its magnificent restoration. Above all, get a unique and fascinating insight in to the life and works of those extraordinary Friars who created a masterpiece of worldwide architectural and religious significance.
To book Gorton Monastery and Gorton Tour simply click here: http://www.social-circle.co.uk/event-view.asp?id=7230&event=Gorton-Monastery-and-Gorton-Tour