Church of St James, Didsbury

In 1235 Albertus de Gresley granted land to Nicholas de Longford, Lord of the Manor of Withington, for the foundation of his own chapel in Didsbury. The first mention of the chapel appears in the records of the Lancashire Assizes when "William, Chaplain of Didsbury, came not on the first day and was fined." In 1352 the Bishop of Lichfield gave permission for the consecration of a churchyard for the burial of the victims of the Black Death. In 1541 the Diocese of Chester was formed, and the church was transferred from the Diocese of Lichfield. The parish covered an area from the River Mersey to Moss Side, and from Chorlton-cum-Hardy to Heaton Norris and Reddish. In accordance with the orders…

St James is an ancient Anglican church of medieval origin with significant subsequent 17th and mid-19th-century modifications. The original chapel is believed to have been a 13th-century oratory. Rebuilding, including the "dumpy" tower, took place in the early 17th century. A memorial stone over the tower's north door commemorates its benefactors, Sir Edward Mosley and Anne Mosley, and bears the date "1620". The pinnacles and loops surmounting the tower date from 1801. The Mosley family, local magnates, were the benefactors. The chapel became the parish church of Didsbury in 1850. The nave was constructed in 1855, the chancel in 1871, and the east part of the south aisle in 1895. The church…