At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Manchester was a small rural town little more than a village, with many fields and timber framed houses; A large cornfield named Acres Field became the site for St Ann's church, which is now St Ann's Square. The church was the second only to the collegiate chuch (now the Cathedral) in the city centre, and must have looked very impressive - as indeed it still does today. It is a neo-classical building, constructed from local pink sandstone. It is believed that Sir Christopher Wren was involved in its design. At the time of its construction the interior was all extremely simple, with plain glass windows; however in the nineteenth century, many changes were made to the interior, incluing the installation of stained glass windows. Some of these were bespoke and others were adapted from other chuches. One such window, on the north side of the church, was designed and made by the famous William Peckitt of York. Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture. ... Christopher Wren by Godfrey Kneller, 1711. ...

The Mosleys were the lords of the manor of Manchester and in 1693 the manor fell to Lady Anne Bland, daughter of Sir Edward Mosley. Lady Bland was a leader of fashion in Manchester, stauch in her religious and political views a member of the Low Church party. Lady Bland herself at first worshipped at the Presbyterian Church in the centre of the town; however, in 1695 Henry Newcome, the incumbent, died and Lady Bland decided to found a church of her own. In 1708 Parliament was petitioned to seek permission to build a new church, as the population of Manchester was fast increasing. On May 18th, 1709, Lady Bland laid the foundation stone of a new church at one end Acres Field. On July 17th, 1712, the Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Chester and was dedicated to St. Ann — the Virgin Mary's Mother, which was a compliment both to the founder and to the reigning Queen.

As a result of the fact that St Ann's had been built in proximity to the Collegiate church, there was a time when it was the done thing to attend " the old Church " in the morning and " the new Church" in the afternoon or vice-versa. One of those who did so was John Byrom, author of "Christians Awake", who played quite a prominent part at St. Ann's under the first two Rectors, despite his Jacobite sympathies.

Streets had by now fast become more numerous in the St. Ann's district; by 1720 St. Ann's Square had been laid out and planted with trees in imitation of the fashionable squares of London and Bath. in 1729 Sir Oswald Mosley built an Exchange, not far from the site of the present Exchange; by 1735 buildings had begun to rise on the south side of Acres Field, and King Street and Ridgefield came into being. There was now no longer the simple distinction between " the old Church" and " the new Church". The rapid growth of Manchester as a result of the Industrial Revolution led to the building of other churches.

St. Ann's has always been closely associated with the civic life, and its rectors have from time to time acted as Chaplain to the Lord Mayor, the County Council Chairmen and the Police. In 1975 the Friends of St. Ann's Church was formed from the business houses in the parish, to maintain the fabric of this historic building.

Reference:

• St Ann's Church website