On Broad Street, in the heart of Salford, is the 19th century St Thomas’s Church, Pendleton, known affectionately as Pengy church. The building is a key location – hosting both religious and community events – but what many visitors don’t realise is that nearly two centuries of Salford history lie directly beneath their feet. KENZIE HARRISON went to take a look…
The great and good of Salford down the ages are buried in a rarely-visited crypt in the centre of the city.
The crypt at Pendleton church, opened in 1832, is made up of long, dusty corridors lined with graves of Victorian Salfordians, including James Bevan Smith, Esquire of South Bank, who died in 1853; Samuel Walker, Esquire of Prospect Hill, who died in 1856, and various unnamed tombs, sealed behind brick.
One of the sites in the crypt is that of a family: the Esquire of Belmont, Samuel Nichols, along with his wife, and the remains of their granddaughter Anne, who died as an infant in 1867.
The founder and long term benefactor of St John’s Evangelist Church in Pendlebury, Anna Margaret Heywood’s memorial plaque was also found in the crypt, despite her place of burial being in her own parish.
These tombs are accompanied by various artefacts from the church’s history- including numerous gravestones, spanning the crypt’s two centuries of usage, lined against the walls of the crypt, and a plaque from the second world war, detailing the names of Salford residents who served and lost their lives.
Older church equipment is scattered around the church’s underground, spanning from the church’s construction to the present day, as the crypt is still in use today- although not for its original purpose. “Pengy church,” as it is known among the parish, holds mass every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday at 9.30am, and has a variety of upcoming Christmas Events:
Sunday 22nd December at 4pm: Carol Service
Christmas Eve at 3.30pm: Crib Service
Christmas (Eve) at 11.30pm: Midnight Mass
Christmas morning at 10.30am: Eucharist
Click here to see the crypt
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