Enjoying retirement
In The Red Rose County
As part of the terrific Heritage Open Days which see the opening to the public of many buildings usually not available to access we visited the Moravian Settlement in Manchester. Leaving our car in the Girls' High (which had been founded by the Moravians) we walked down what had obviously been a narrow country lane and sat in the church for a short introduction to the Movement. I was afraid that there would be a preaching element. I was wrong. We were taught about the origins of the Moravians and how they came to be here in an unprepossessing suburb of Manchester. And very interesting it was too. The name Moravian identifies the fact that this historic church had its origin in ancient Bohemia and Moravia in what became the Czech Republic. In the mid-ninth century these countries converted to Christianity chiefly through the influence of two Greek Orthodox missionaries, Cyril and Methodius. They translated the Bible into the common language and introduced a national church ritual. In the centuries that followed, Bohemia and Moravia gradually fell under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Rome, but not all of the Czech people conformed.The foremost of Czech reformers, John Hus (1369-1415) was a professor of philosophy and rector of the University in Prague. The Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where Hus preached, became a rallying place for the Czech reformation. Gaining support from students and the common people, he led a protest movement against many practices of the Roman Catholic clergy and hierarchy (which later on would become the battle ground for Luther). Hus was called to Rome with a promised safe-passage, but there accused of heresy, and undergoing a long trial at the Council of Constance, was burned at the stake on July 6, 1415. The reformation spirit did not die with Hus, and the church began to grow. By 1517 the Unity of Brethren numbered at least 200,000 with over 400 parishes. Using a hymnal and catechism of its own, the church promoted the Scriptures through its two printing presses and provided the people of Bohemia and Moravia with the Bible in their own language. A bitter persecution, which broke out in 1547, led to the spread of the Brethren’s Church to Poland where it grew rapidly. By 1557 there were three provinces of the church: Bohemia, Moravia and Poland. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) brought further persecution to the Brethren’s Church, and the Protestants of Bohemia were severely defeated at the battle of White Mountain in 1620. Again the spirit lived on. The eighteenth century saw the renewal of the Moravian Church through the patronage of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf, a pietist nobleman in Saxony. Some Moravian families fleeing persecution in Bohemia and Moravia found refuge on Zinzendorf’s estate in 1722 and built the community of Herrnhut. The new community became the haven for many more Moravian refugees. And from there missionaries spread the word, coming to England and thence to Manchester. The Fairfield Moravian Settlement opened in 1785. It was planned and built by Moravians and it functioned as a self-contained village with its own inn, shop, bakery, farm, laundry, fire-engine, night-watchman and it's own doctor. There were separate houses for sisters and brethren. The single men (Brothers) operated a bakehouse and the single Sisters had a farm, a laundry, and did beautiful needlework. Education was always important to the Moravian culture and in 1793 Day Schools were opened alongside Sunday schools and the pupils included non-Moravian children. All of this led eventually to the extremely successful Girls' High where we had parked. After the talk we had a look round the community. Here is the entrance to the church with the Single Sisters' house to the right. This is where the unmarried female members of the community lived with similar accommodation for men on the left hand side of the church. Opposite the church is the burial ground. Every grave is the same size and form, and they are numbered........... .........indeed here is the very first The Georgian houses stand on cobbled streets and provide an altogether surprising ocean of tranquillity. The cobbles were all found in the bottom of the nearby canal and barrowed here....... The house with the Blue Plaque was that of Benjamin Latrobe one of the founders of Fairfield. His son, also Benjamin, emigrated to America, became an architect, and went on to design Washington's Capitol and the porticos of the White House. Before he left England he had planned and laid out the settlement here. Here is the street which leads to the canal and, on the right, the last commercial property (the Dairy) to be converted to housing. The museum was more interesting than most. First of all a display relating to Fairfield's role in various films and TV series. Here a mock-up of a Single Sisters' room with home-made bedspread covers which both F and I remembered us having exactly like these ourselves. I particularly liked this ladder which had been used in the Dairy to gain access to the hayloft. Here carved ivory toys brought back from the Moravian settlement in Alaska. Incredibly, this Hotpoint washing machine was electric and only ceased use in 1958! All in all an unexpected surprise of a visit...........
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