The Georgian Group condemns the loss of the Grade II-listed former All Souls Church in Ancoats, Manchester.
Built in 1838–40, this distinctive Romanesque church was an important part of Ancoats’ historic townscape and was recently marketed as the ‘Holy Grail of redevelopment properties’. After decades of vacancy and neglect, however, its condition deteriorated to the point that structural failure led to the emergency closure of the adjoining road on public safety grounds, and ultimately to its demolition.
There is a bitter irony in seeing a building constructed by a community to serve and enrich the public left to decay until it posed a direct threat to that same public.
We are deeply concerned not only by the loss of this building, but by the systemic failures that enabled it.
This case joins a wider pattern of historic buildings being lost after years of neglect — through fire, demolition or collapse. It must prompt urgent questions about how we safeguard listed buildings before public safety becomes the determining factor in their future. Effective heritage protection cannot simply acknowledge significance once a building is already in jeopardy; it must ensure that historic buildings are actively maintained and protected before deterioration becomes irreversible, and total loss the outcome.
We have now written to Manchester City Council for an internal review and requesting key information.
By Bill Boaden, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23490576