Holy Trinity Platt Church

Holy Trinity Platt Church stands in Platt Fields Park in Rusholme, Manchester. It is an active Anglican parish church designed by Edmund Sharpe, a Lancaster architect. The church is built mainly of terracotta, giving it the nickname ‘pot church’. Platt Fields Park surrounds the church, providing a green setting. The building is listed at Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England. The church is worth visiting for its unusual terracotta construction and its role in local religious history. It was built in 1845–46 for Thomas Carrill Worsley of Platt Hall. Worsley chose the dedication to the Holy Trinity to oppose the nearby Unitarian chapel. The church cost £4,000 when built and could seat between 650 and 700 people. Its spire was not finished until 1850 and had to be rebuilt in 1912. Inside, the church shows terracotta used even for structural piers. The font is a plain octagonal stone bowl. The chancel windows contain stained glass from 1849–50, a memorial to the Worsley family. The north aisle holds a window dated 1871 by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake. The exterior features a tall octagonal spire supported by flying buttresses and a west window with four lights.