Didsbury the location of a Methodist training college, the Wesleyan Theological Institution; the Grade II*-listed building is now the Didsbury School of Education, part of Manchester Metropolitan University. Didsbury is in the Church of England Diocese of Manchester, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. It is not as religiously diverse as some other areas of Manchester, but it has the second largest Jewish population in the borough and two synagogues: the Shaare Hayim Synagogue and the Sha'are Sedek Synagogue. Didsbury has a medium-sized Muslim population in comparison with areas such as Rusholme, Longsight and Levenshulme; a converted church in West
New Moston Road and Nuthurst Park. The archaic district of Theale Moor, lying partly in Chadderton, was also in this area. During the Middle Ages Theale Moor was the location of a violent land dispute that was only resolved when boundary stakes were set up on the common moorland. The name 'New Moston' originated in 1850 when the name was chosen by a building society which formed, purchased and laid out 57 acres of land to create a residential hamlet. It initially occupied an area on the eastern border of the historic township of Moston, bordering the Whitegate area of Chadderton and