They are planning to dig up a graveyard in Salford. But the aim is to lift the lid only on a rich, lost, social history.
In the 1970s hundreds of graves at St Thomas's the landmark which sits next to the A6 at Pendleton, were covered in turf, erasing the existence of many forever. But the footprint they left on that corner of the city is about to be rediscovered.
A Grade II listed building and a fine example of Gothic Revival architecture the church was consecrated in 1831. It's creation was a response to the influx of the working classes to the booming textile industry.
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Today, the church graveyard is home to about 9,700 burials, the majority of which relate to the 19th century. In 1973, turf was laid on the gravestones. Now the grass is to removed in two sections of the sloping plot to permanently reveal the engraved slabs beneath.
Research will be done on those buried, including finding out their jobs and where they worked from census records. This will shine a light on the dynamic mix of trades and services which fuelled the growth of Pendleton, and the industrial revolution.
The project is one of several in the North West to get a £10,000 grant from Historic England to uncover the region's hidden working class heritage. It is being led by The Friends of St Thomas and the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service.
Members of the congregation, the local community, Iranian refugees, asylum seekers, Salford Veterans, two schools and the mental health charity START Inspiring Minds will be involved.
Theresa Emberton, of The Friends group, said: "The record keeping was atrocious, as illustrated by a story of an accidental exhumation and a burial in the wrong grave. Heaven knows what we will turn up. The untold stories of the individuals and their employment will be permanently displayed on interpretation boards within the graveyard and an academic report will be written.
"Although some gravestones are visible, the vast majority cannot be seen as they were covered over in the 1970’s. Approximately 8 inches of topsoil was dropped to cover the site and grass laid. As the area was grassed over, it is difficult to get a sense of the numbers buried. It is in fact circa 9,650 individuals that are buried here. Certain plots are 8 coffins deep.
"As graves were tightly packed together, issues were inevitable. The burial registers are annotated with comments such as 'nearly full' and 'maybe room for one more'. The last burial here was in 1966 in a family grave. Today, ashes are still buried near to the war memorial."
During 190 years it has survived two world wars, the Blitz, shrinking congregations, the rise and fall of industrialisation, and 1960s and 70s regeneration.
The Ford Lane church was built in Pendleton Green where once stood a maypole. It was to replace a tiny "chapel of ease" to Eccles Parish Church, built on Brindle Heath Road in 1776. By 1818 the population of Pendleton had risen to 8,000 and a bigger place of worship was needed.
But the cost was beyond the locals to muster. At the third attempt the Church Commissioners approved a grant from the "Million Fund" - cash set aside for church building as an expression national thanksgiving for the end of the Napoleonic War.
Research has already led to interesting tales about those buried at St Thomas'. Benjamin Boothman died in 1901. He had worked in the cotton mills. He had a reference describing him as a trusted and of good character. It is this character reference that is notable as it was presented at his trial in 1867 for the manslaughter of Mr John Caldwell.
A report of the case at the time said that a maid at the Church Inn - a pub which is still standing - had purchased caustic potash for washing purposes. It was put in a pitcher with water and left in the kitchen. That evening, Benjamin Boothman was in the Church Inn and at some point, he walked into the kitchen, where John Caldwell was apparently cleaning the windows.
It is said that Caldwell “importuned” Boothman for liquor and, seeing the jug of caustic potash, Boothman offered it to him, saying "sup that lad, it will do thee no harm". Later that evening, Caldwell drank from the jug believing it to be porter.
A minute or two after drinking it, he rushed into the yard vomiting, in pain and screaming for water. He was taken to the workhouse infirmary where he remained for a week, returning to his mother’s house on August 2, unable to eat. On September 20 he died from severe throat injuries caused by drinking the caustic potash. Benjamin Boothman was charged with manslaughter but released on bail.
At his trial, Caldwell was described as a man “much addicted to drink”, with a witness claiming that he would “drink anything he saw in a jug” and had lived a “dissipated life for some time”. In his defence, Boothman alleged that he, and the landlord had offered the jug to Caldwell as a joke.
He had no reason to know what was in the jug but only that he knew the “contents were disagreeable to the taste and caustic in their nature”. On November 30 1867, at Manchester Assizes, the jury immediately found Benjamin Boothman not guilty of the manslaughter of John Cardwell.
Other "residents" in the graveyard are related to Henry Watkins, a former Liverpool based cotton broker, who was declared bankrupt in 1829. Five years later, in 1834, Henry reappeared in Pendleton, this time in business as a wine merchant, brewer, porter-dealer and spirit merchant.
By 1835, Henry once again declared bankrupt. An arrest warrant was issued for him on knowingly using forged bank notes with a £100 reward offered for his capture - the equivalent of £14,000 today. He had also absconded with a the then huge sum of £200 from a Liverpool based hare coursing club.
There was no trace of the fugitive Henry after this. However, in 1861, some 26 years later, his wife Mary is described as an annuitant, in receipt of regular payments from a large sum of money and still living with a servant. Mary was buried at St Thomas' in 1866 along with their children, Charles aged 16, Harriet 27, Mary 21, Henry 33, Frederick 28.
The Valentines were a notable Pendleton family. Thomas Valentine, a bricklayer, and his wife, Ann, lived on Ford Lane with three sons - William, Thomas, and David. By 1861, Thomas senior was calling himself a Master Brickmaker and his sons were working with him. The original St Thomas' school building was replaced in 1854 and the brickwork undertaken by Thomas Valentine.
In 1859, Thomas also built a new wall at John Parry’s rope factory in Brindle Heath. In August 1860 a section of the wall had collapsed and 14 employees were trapped under the rubble. Among the rescuers was the Reverend Edward Waldy, described in reports as the "esteemed curate of St Thomas". He directed the rescue attempts and took off his white neckerchief to staunch the bleeding on an injured forehead.
An inquest, held at the Church Inn public house, opposite St. Thomas’s church, heard that three “men” aged 25, 14 and 12 years old were killed, and four were taken to hospital with fractures. In his defence, Thomas Valentine claimed that he had been contracted only for his labour, being paid by the yard, and he built the wall to the plan provided, a plan which contained no foundations. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
Thomas died in 1864, aged 54 and was buried at St Thomas' with his wife Ann, three young children, an adult son and a grandchild. One surviving son was Thomas, continued living and working in Pendleton and followed in his father's footsteps in the building trade.
A desperate housing shortage in Pendleton provided opportunities for local builders, with many houses built on new streets between 1861 and 1871. One of these, built about 1865, was Valentine Street, which comprised sixteen houses. Built and named by Thomas Valentine.
In 1873, Thomas Valentine junior was prosecuted by Salford Corporation for permitting the occupation of two houses before they had been certified fit for habitation in Strawberry Hill and Lissadel Street. He was fined 20 shillings.
In 1875, he was summoned to the Salford Borough Court for infringement of building regulations. The roof slates on houses in Bury Street, Pendleton had only a 2.5-inch overlap, instead of the required 3 inches. Despite claiming it was the fault of the slater, Valentine was fined £10 plus costs.
In 1875 Thomas Valentine applied for a license to sell spirits from his house, “The Queen’s Hotel”, in Tanner’s Lane, Pendleton. In his favour, it was argued he had spent £2,000 on the house, was a large property owner in the neighbourhood, and the nearest licensed victualler’s house was 288 yards away.
His wife Alice Valentine died in 1892 aged 55 years and was buried at St. Thomas. the burial register contains the following annotation: “Nonconformist funeral given by Thomas Valentine 41 Kersal View, person in charge of it”. Thomas Valentine died in 1902, aged 64 years and was also buried at St Thomas’.
The first burial at St Thomas' was Jacob Chatterton, in November 1831 who was the landlord of the Woolpack Inn. Benjamin Barlow, a miner, and his son, Thomas died on the same day. The burial register annotation read: "Interred in one grave being father and son miners and perished by the black damp".
But within 15 years of opening the church was soon experiencing an issue which was of national concern - the overcrowding of church graveyards.
A letter to the Manchester Times of October 30th 1846 is headlined "Extraordinary accident in churchyard".
It says that at the end of morning worship at St Thomas' at about 1pm the congregation were leaving the church when there attention was diverted to an "accident" in the graveyard.
The letter says: "It appears the gravedigger had been opening a new tenement for one of the departed parishioners, when, unfortunately, trenching too much upon the grave, the earthwork gave way carrying with it a portion of an old coffin and a quantity of decomposed fluid matter...into the new grave."
A warehouseman who was looking on "almost immediately fell into a state of insensibility" due to the stench and "had to be carried home". The gravedigger who had to re-open the grave was also affected an made ill for days.
Transport pioneer, John Greenwood, is also buried at St Thomas'. Keeper of the Pendleton toll-gate, he began the world’s first bus service, which evolved into Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company. In 1886 it was taken over by Salford Council.
John and George Hankinson were corn and flour dealers based on Broad Street. Hankinson Street was named after them and they were the origins of the name “Hanky Park” an area of Salford found in Pendleton between the borders of Broad street, Cross Lane and Fitzwarren street. It was once covered by seven acres of terraced housing in which 7,500 people lived. It was bulldozed in the 1960s to make way for high-rise flats.
Exhumation of graves along north side of church yard was required for the widening of Ford Lane by Salford Corporation and the work was completed in 1899. The Manchester Evening News reported the agreed purchase price of the required churchyard land was £725, as “compensation for disturbance of the churchyard.
In October 1898, the parish magazine was forced to publish that: “The work of disinterring and reinterring is being carried out with every possible care and with due reverence for the remains of the departed. In every case remains are reinterred, as far as possible, under the personal supervision of the Vicar and always in our own God’s acre.”
Whilst the Salford Corporation Medical Officer stated on April 22 1898, that only four burials had taken place in the portion of the churchyard proposed to be disturbed, the report of a Government Inspector details a total of ninety persons buried in 76 graves. The reinternment location of those 90 individuals, no longer exist.
The Reverend Canon Daniel Burton, Salford All Saints Team Rector, said: “The grant from Historic England to the Friends of St Thomas Pendleton is wonderful news. We are now looking forward to delivering this exciting project.
"The vision is to celebrate forgotten histories of Pendleton people and we hope to engage local institutions and individuals in working towards this common goal. In doing so, we hope that the project will become a source of community pride and celebration for the future."
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