St. Mary's Church Chorley is often
described as the 'gem' of the Archdiocese of Liverpool. However,
in Kelly's Lancashire Directory it is a mere prosaic
description. it reads ;-
An edifice in the early English Style, consisting of a basidial
chancel, nave, transept, north porch, lady chapel, a chapel of
St. Joseph, an embattled western tower, added in 1894 and
containing 8 bells, and there are sittings for 750 persons.
The story of St. Mary's Parish Church begins, in fact, at St.
Gregory's, Weldbank, where in 1842 Father Lawrence O'Toole, of
the Salford Chapter, was appointed parish priest. In those days
the hierarchy had yet to be created. Vicars Apostolic ruled the
flock and Catholics were barely tolerated in the land. Father
O'Toole was touched with compassion for the many Catholics in
Chorley, who had to tramp to Euxton, South Hill, or Weldbank for
Mass, and he strove with great enthusiasm for the beginning of a
mission in the town. But before he could proceed with this work,
he was moved to Manchester and then to Salford Diocese.
In 1846 the Rev. George Gibson was appointed to St. Gregory's,
and Assistant Priest with instructions to establish an
independent mission in the neighbouring town of Chorley. In
those days St. Gregory's was situated in a country area outside
Chorley town bounds.
The beginning of a mission makes great demand upon a priest and
in Chorley there existed conditions which intensified the
demands. The new parish would draw its congregation from the
enormous parish of St. Gregory's. In those days St. Gregory's
covered the areas now shared by St. Mary's, Sacred Heart and St.
Joseph's, as well as parts of Brinscall, Coppull and Adlington.
In 1846, Rev. Gibson, leased a building (from Richard Smethurst
local cotton mfg.) in Chapel Street, formerly a Wesleyan Chapel.
The first Divine Service was held on Sunday 3rd January 1847.
The Rev. Richard Gillow, the 2nd Rector of St. Mary's, moved to
Chorley in 1851 and bought the estate known as Mount Pleasant
(priests house) for £2850. The name may have arisen because from
the windows of the house you had an uninterrupted view of the
eastern hills.
In 1853 to the west of the new presbytery, there arose a church,
described by John Hansom ( of Hansom Cab fame). It was to serve
dual purpose as church and school. Extra floors were inserted,
infants on one level, boys and girls on another and the
congregation on the lowest level. The new church was opened on
the 12th June 1853. The property in Chapel Street was
relinquished.
In 1855 separate schools were built as more room was needed, so
the church could become just a place for worship. The east end
of the church was pulled down, spacious transepts added to the
North and South sides and the Apse made its appearance. All this
greatly increased the space for the congregation and provided
more room on the Altar. The organ, also, probably dates from
this time.
In Set. 1888 a set back occurred when a fire broke out.
Considerable renovation of the church was necessary. There was a
solemn re-opening in January 1889. Even now the parishioners
were not satisfied. The Rev. Gordon put it to a meeting, called
in May 1890, that a tower and spire was the wish of the people.
A fair held for 3 days, in October raised £ 962 to pay for this
addition.
On a Sunday in October 1894, was also special, for at the
opening of the tower there was an official visit by the Mayor of
Chorley, Alderman James Lawrence J.P., a non conformist. Four of
the bell ringers on that happy first peal were Messrs. Marsden,
Hewitt, Lucas and Lofthouse, all bellringers from St. Laurence's
Church.
The work was carried out by Charles Walker of Preston under the
Architects Pugin and Pugin of London. The final cost of the
tower was £2566.
However, the parish population increased so on Sunday May 9th
1909 Canon Crank announced that work on enlarging the church was
to commence at once. Within 2 weeks there had been offered, by
the congregation, 17 stained glass windows, marble altar rails,
14 stations of the cross, a silver sanctuary lamp, a statue of
Our Lady, and so the list goes on.
In 1910 St. Mary's Arch way was dedicated and opened on Sunday
June 22nd to commemorate Canon Franks 25 years in priesthood and
also to the generosity and piety of St. Mary's people.
On 4th Sept. 1913, the Shrine of St. Agnes was unveiled and
dedicated.
17th May 1914 a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes was solemnly
blessed, and in 1921 the body of the church was lit by
electricity, and the statue of St. Francis of Assissi arrived at
the church, purchased by Mr. Esther Carter, and the statue of
St. George was also presented to the Parish by Mr. Arthur Leach,
and each year on the feast of St. George, a single red rose was
placed, by a member of the Leach family. (After the re-ordering
of the church in 1990 St. George's statue was removed to the
Baptistry for a short time. Then due to the generosity of the
present Leach family, the state was removed and is now in St.
George's Anglican Church in Preston.
1926. It was decided to put the bells from the tower into two
chambers and make a new frame. Also in 1926 the English Martyrs
Windows were installed in the North wall of the church.
1927. The Baptistry was completed and had been built as a War
Memorial. The oak dado around the walls contains a panel listing
the names of parishioners killed in the Great War 1914-1918. In
1927 also, the first children were baptize, one of them being
Leonard, son of John and Elizabeth Green. Leonard Green's
baptism was also noteworthy, because he is believed to have been
the only child to be baptized in St. Mary's on the day of his
birth !!
1947 was the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Parish,
and the major feature on that occasion was the North Window. The
cost of that being £ 880.
1985. A number of major changes to the Mount Pleasant Estate had
taken place : the senior school had moved, the boys to St.
Augustine's in 1959 and the girls to St. Hilda's in 1963. Both
theses schools were built on Weldbank land and eventually became
Holy Cross School.
So here we are back to the beginning "WHEN ST. MARY'S AROSE FROM
WELDBANK"
Information gathered from A Brief History of St. Mary's ( 150th
Anniversary Book) and George Birtill's notes.
Joan Dickinson 2010 |
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