Planning Case Study 34
King St Chapel, Salford
Planning scenario(s)
Heritage assets affected
Non-designated heritage assets of archaeological and historic interest
Type of application & broad category
Local planning authority
Authority: Salford City Council
References: N/A
Development proposal
New multi-story car park part of Salford Greengate Redevelopment.
Archaeological information known about the site before the planning application was made, or before the development commenced, as appropriate
Very large graveyard on the site, known from the HER.
Archaeological/planning processes
One of the major developers for the Greengate regeneration scheme in the historic core of Salford consulted the archaeological advisors to the LPA on the cusp of purchasing a car park on King Street for redevelopment as a multi- storey car park development. The archaeological advisors were able to recommend (using the HER and a previous desk based assessment for the wider regeneration area) that the car park covered a former graveyard for ‘Christ Church’ a Swedenborgian chapel, built in 1800.
Christ Church was the meeting place of the Bible Christians, a branch of the Swedenborgians founded by the Reverend William Cowherd. In 1800 he established a new church on King Street with himself as minister. In 1809 he adopted the title of Bible Christian for his own branch of Swedenborgian belief, which included vegetarianism among its doctrines. The church offered free burial for the poor, and as a consequence, there are known to be a large number of people buried within the graveyard who were not members of the congregation. Estimates suggest up to 30,000 burials in total.
Outcomes: archaeological
The scheme was re-considered and replaced with a proposal for a pocket park with minimal disturbance of existing ground levels.
The advice to the would-be developer therefore served to protect the graveyard from disturbance and saved the developer from the substantial financial commitment of archaeological investigation of the graveyard and to meet legal obligations for a large graveyard clearance and re-internment.
References and links/bibliography
- Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit 2006, Public Realm Works, Exchange Greengate Redevelopment, Salford: An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment. Unpublished report.
