Manchester Cathedral was originally the parish church of Manchester, a huge parish as many of the Lancashire Parishes were at the time. It was built within the confines of the Baron's Court. After the last of the De La Warrre family line, the manor house was given over to the Church to form a collegiate church (college of priests). This manor house and college is now part of Chetham's Library and you can still see the cells where upto a dozen priests lived and worked and went to say masses their daily masses at the Collegiate church for their sponsors. The priests were looked over by the Church Warden. In the 16th century several chapels of ease were built (can't remember exactly how many -7?)including at Gorton, Hulme, and Denton. Each of these chapels had a chained library of ecclesiastical books in ornate wooden cabinets. The first mobile libraries!! It wasn't until 1847 that the church became a cathedral. Chetham's library is well worth a visit, an original chained library is in the reading room and there is a window seat is where Marx and Engells met and where Engels looked over the poorer slums of Manchester when he wrote his book "the Conditions of the Working Classes in England". best wishes, GAY Gay J Oliver, Stalybridge, Cheshire www.members.aol.com/victoroly/genealogy.htm www.members.aol.com/gayjoliver/Tameside.htm www.fhsc.org.uk/fhsc/dukinfield.htm www.tamesidehistoryforum.org.uk