To Pare: Paring back the Layers

During my time at Salford I took the local authority lead for the Greater Manchester Archaeological Service, and visited a number of digs, including one on the site on which I am standing. Archaeology is all about paring back the surface, layer by layer. It’s fascinating what lies under our feet, especially at the centre of our cities snd towns.

So I am standing on a new park, Greengate Park, although I think I’ve been fortunate to walk in - it may not be formally open yet. I know that getting to this point has involved a lot of intense negotiation. That’s another story. But underneath my feet lie the foundations of a really interesting building, and an estimated 35000 people who are buried on this quite small site.

The building was Christ Church, built in 1800 and originally a Swedenborgian Chapel. Its construction was funded by Reverend Cowherd, who preached abstinence and (ironically, given his name) vegetarianism. He founded the Bible Christian movement. There was a library and printing press, free vegetarian food was distributed, education was provided to all denominations from an attached school building, and the site served as a burial ground for the congregation and for the poor, who were offered free burial here (which is why the site contains the remains of so many people). The church moved elsewhere after 1860 and has had all sorts of alternative uses. Most recently, like much of Greengate, it has been surface level car parking, with the retaining walls of the burial ground threatening to collapse in places.,

The new park is a massive transformation, and looks really good. Information boards tell the site’s history.