The Manchester Cathedral Ritualism Controversy, c.1873–c.1906

Abstract

This article looks at a long running controversy over ritual that happened at Manchester Cathedral at the end of the Victorian era. In doing so it advances the historiography by looking at anti-ritualism in both a Northern and a cathedral context. Manchester was a low church diocese that spawned many ‘Protestant’ elements who sought to use the unique governance structures of the cathedral to attack the innovations of the High Church clergy. These ‘Protestants’ believed in a reformed Church created during the Early Modern period, and saw developments at the cathedral as indicative of Catholic threats to it. This belief was further fuelled by sectarian tension between Catholics and Protestants in Manchester. The dispute only ended when the Government imposed both a bishop and a dean who were from the Evangelical party of the Church, showing the impact that individuals could have on disputes over ritual.