The church is dedicated to the saint Benedict of Nursia, was designed by J. S. Crowther for a Manchester merchant John Marsland Bennett, and built in 1880.

John Marsland Bennett (1817–1889) was a prosperous stone merchant who served two terms as Mayor of Manchester between 1863 and 1865.

[3] He also selected J. S. Crowther as architect, acted as project manager and took a keen interest in the church liturgy.

Its potential as an indoor climbing centre was identified by a British climber, John Dunne, who had been looking for a suitable building in which to establish a club in North West England.

[3] Crowther obliged; St Benedict's is "remarkably large", built of red brick with stone and terracotta dressings.