St Benedict's Church, Warrington
| St. Benedict's Church, Warrington | |
|---|---|
| St. Benedict's Church , Orford, Warrington | |
  St. Benedict's Church, Warrington Location in Cheshire | |
| Coordinates: 53°23′55″N 2°35′14″W / 53.3986°N 2.5871°W | |
| Location | Warrington, Cheshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| History | |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Founder(s) | Ampleforth Abbey |
| Dedication | St Benedict |
| Relics held | St.Purpuratus & St.Speciosa (High Altar) |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | Matthew Honan |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Neo-Byzantine |
| Completed | 1915 |
| Construction cost | £6000 |
| Administration | |
| Deanery | St.Gregory's, Warrington |
| Diocese | Liverpool |
| Clergy | |
| Priest(s) | Fr David Heywood |
St Benedict's Church is an active Roman Catholic church in the Orford suburb of Warrington, Cheshire, England. The parish was founded by Benedictine monks from Ampleforth Abbey. However, it is now served by clergy from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool.
History
A school was established on the 10th January 1881 and Mass was said in the school building. Fr. Wilfred Baines O.S.B was given charge of the district 1986 but lived at St Mary's . However, on the 8th March 1902 St. Benedict's became a separate parish from St Mary's Church, Warrington and it became the third Benedictine parish in Warrington: the others being St Alban's Church, Warrington (1755) and St Mary's Church, Warrington (1877). Fr Baines moved to a cottage next to the school in 1902. In 1904 a tin mission church was built in the school playground and was opened on the 19th June 1904.[1]
Fr Oswald Swarbreck OSB became the Rector in 1907 [2] following the departure of Fr Baines. During his tenure a new priory (presbytery) was built on Rhodes Street which was completed on 11 January 1912 at a cost of £1,557. This was then followed by a new church which was formally opened on 11 July 1915 by Cardinal Bourne, the Archbishop of Westminster.[1]
The High Altar was consecrated on the 27th February 1927 by Archbishop Frederick Keating and had been built by Italian workmen. A new building for social purposes, the Bell Hall, named after the local Warrington martyr, Blessed James Bell was built in 1931 adjacent to the school. In 1943 the church was consecrated after the parish had managed to clear its debt. In 1965 a social club was built adjacent to the church.[1]
The last Benedictine Parish Priest was Fr Augustine Measures O.S.B as the Abbot of Ampleforth Abbey surrendered the parish to the Archbishop of Liverpool in Easter 1986.[1]
A new school building was built in 1991 and the former school and Bell Hall had been demolished by 1993.[1]
Architecture
Matthew Honan was employed as architect and James Pilkington contractor. The new church, labelled ‘a miniature Westminster Cathedral’ by its worshippers, cost £6,000. It seated 342 in the nave, 92 in each chapel, and 40 in the choir.[3]
Church and presbytery built of St Helen’s brick with stone banding, in neo-Byzantine style. The walls are built in common bond with each tenth course consisting of headers. The roof is slate covered. The church is entered through a narthex, and via two internal porches leading into the aisles, or directly into the rectangular nave of six bays. Flanking the sanctuary is the Lady Chapel to the south, and two small rooms. To the north is the Chapel of Blessed Sacrament, of matching size. A door leads to the Sacristy areas; these are set behind the presbytery, completing the rectangular site. Attached to the north of the west front is a five-stage campanile. The presbytery repeats the brick and stonework of the church’s exterior, and is in a simplified neo-Georgian style, with sash windows.[3]
The west facades of the main church and Lady Chapel feature diagonally-set brick faces, set above semicircular-arch window openings. The entrance bay has three openings and an internal porch with stone and brick doorways in a Mannerist style. The south façade has four tall round-headed windows to four bays. The Lady Chapel has three upper semicircular and three lower small round-headed windows to three bays, the fourth bay is blind. A twin series of small semicircular stepped arches run around the top of the walls of the main body of the church, and a single series to the chapels’.[3]
The interior has arched vaults, which are cut away around pairs of windows with dropped apron sills. On the lower level are small pairs of contemporary stained glass windows. The east end is marked by an additional structural band ringing the sanctuary. The walls of the nave were originally plastered and painted white, except for the lower level which was of exposed (or rendered as) stone. The present interior is painted in a range of bright colours: the nave in pink, sanctuary in yellow, and the side chapels in purple and blue. The east wall has a Venetian glass[1] mosaic of the crucified Christ in a shallow recessed arch. This mosaic panel also contains the figures of St. Augustine and St. Patrick with the Arma Christi at the top of the border.[1]
Below is the High Altar and reredos made in Italy from white and coloured carrara marble with a facing carving of The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci) both were consecrated on 27 February 1927.[1] The Lady Chapel also has mosaic decoration to the east wall (1931), and stained glass windows.[3] (1930).[1]
References
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