Gorton Monastery is owned by The Monastery of St Francis & Gorton Trust Limited, a Building Preservation Trust and registered charity established in 1996 to acquire, restore and maintain the once-derelict former Church and Friary of St Francis in the Gorton district of east Manchester.
The church, known locally as Gorton Monastery, was designed in the Gothic Revival style by architect Edward Welby Pugin and completed and consecrated in 1872. It closed as a place of worship in 1989 and was acquired by a property developer whose plans for conversion into residential apartments were later abandoned. As it stood empty, the church was vandalised and looted and fell into a state of dereliction.
The Trust purchased the property in 1997 and embarked on a 10-year programme of restoration before it reopened to the public as a secular multi-use space for community events, weddings, music performances, and simply a place for reflection and contemplation.
