The history of the parish started in the camps of the so-called "displaced persons" (DP) in Austria, after the end of the second world war. Simply speaking, the DP's were Russians who were brought by various circumstances to the Central Europe during the war and who did not wish to return under the Soviet regime. Stalin's western allies promised to him to forcefully repatriate all former residents of the territories of the pre-war Soviet Union. The tragic events of that time were very little known at the West (as well as in Russia) until Solzhenitsyn's The GULAG Archipelago and later publications, notably Victims of Yalta, by Count Nikolai Tolstoy-Miloslavsky.
A group of DP that formed the core of the Pokrov parish was lucky to find refuge in England. The parish was founded in Manchester in 1952 and is one of the oldest Russian Orthodox parishes in Great Britain. The first rector of the parish was Fr. Nikolai Popov. The church was registered with the authorities on 22 June 1953. The plot of land and the church building (part of a terrace house, converted to a church, the rest being the priest's flat) at 64 Clarence Road have been the property of the parish since 1953.
In recent years, many new people joined the parish. In particular, with the blessing of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh the community of St. Xenia (which had existed in the Sourozh Diocese since 1974) joined the parish in 1993. Among those who joined the parish in recent years are young professional Russians that either study or work in Manchester.
From the time of its foundation until 1993 our parish had belonged to the jurisdiction of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. In 1993 because the Diocese of Germany and Great Britain of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, to which the parish belonged, found it impossible to send a priest, the parish council approached Metropolitan Anthony, the ruling archbishop of the Diocese of Sourozh of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the British Isles, asking him to send a priest to celebrate the divine services. Metropolitan Anthony blessed his suffragan bishop, Archbishop Anatoly of Kerch, to celebrate divine services in the Manchester parish. From 1993 on, Archbishop Anatoly came to Manchester approximately once a month, for which the parish was extremely grateful. From then on the parish entered into canonical communion with the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Since January 2002, His Eminence Archbishop Anatoly received the blessing from the Patriarch and the Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate to continue his pastoral care for the Manchester parish, in particular, helping us with the rebuilding of the church, and to be our our provisional Rector. May God grant him many years!
Though fully aware of problems between various jurisdictions (sometimes by our human weakness and with the interference of the enemy of men even producing sharp conflicts), we wish to think of them as temporary and temporal. May Lord our God grant us love and unity in One, never-divided, Holy and Catholic Orthodox Church. And to us, Russians, unity in our undivided Mother, the Russian Church, as part of the universal Orthodox Church.
In 1998, through no fault of the parish, but owing to the irresponsible attitude of the owner of the next-door house, the original church building at 64 Clarence Road, had fallen into a ruinous condition. The city authorities decided that it had to be demolished. The icons and other church furnishings were saved by the parishioners. After the loss of the church, parish services were held in temporary accommodation, found through the efforts of parishioners. On the initiative of the parish council a charity was founded for the rebuilding of the church of the Pokrov in Manchester, under the name "The Manchester Russian Orthodox Church Building Trust". The creation of a Building Trust received the blessing of Metropolitan Anthony. Archbishop Anatoly of Kerch was accorded the honorary position of Patron of the Trust.
From the resources of parishioners themselves (often quite poor people), from charity concerts and other donations, during the period 1998-2002 around £60,000 was collected. The Building Trust obtained planning permission from the City Council for the first building plans. In late 2001, the Building Trust received a very generous donation from a well-known industrialist from Russia. This donation together with others and the resources already collected by the Building Trust made it possible to start building the new Pokrov church on the land belonging to the parish. The re-building started in December 2002 and was mainly finished by October 2003.
Starting from 3/19 October 2003, the services are again held in the re-built Pokrov church at the old site at 64 Clarence Road, which has belonged to the parish since 1953. Lots remains to be done, and we still need donations. See the main page for details.
Webmaster. 8/21 September 2004