A Walk Along the Cornbrook Part 4: The Cornerstone Centre
Original content by Dr John Piprani. Edited by Grant Collier.
The Cornbrook flows past The Cornerstone Centre, in a building which dates back to at least 1850. Previously known as ‘The Villas’, the property retains many original features from its days as two suburban villas such as expansive bay windows and a large cellar larder. Along Denmark Road to the south, the stone garden wall from its days as a villa has been extended in brick to enclose the grounds.
The Cornerstone centre opened in 2001, developing from existing work by the parish priest of All Saints that had begun in 1991. Staff and volunteers here provide hot food, counselling and other advice and support to people in need. The neighbouring Morning Star Hostel provides accommodation for transient men with connections to the Manchester area. Just outside The Cornerstone, the boundary between the districts of Greenheys and Hulme still follows the route of the Cornbrook even though the river itself has been covered over and built upon.
Find out more about the activities of the Cornerstone.
Discussion points:
- How has the use of the building that now houses the Cornerstone changed since it was constructed in the early nineteenth century?
- To what extent is homelessness a twenty-first-century challenge?
