Church Of St Mary |
| Hob Uid: 1488535 | |
Location :
Wigan
Non Civil Parish
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| Grid Ref : SD5851406147 |
| Summary : This Roman Catholic Church was built in 1818 and was designed by an unknown architect. A presbytery was added to the church in 1882 and was designed by the architect James O'Byrne of Liverpool. The exterior of the church is made up of sandstone ashlar with coursed square sandstone and a slate covered roof. The church was built in the Gothic style and has a rectangular plan with a nathex, nave and chancel. There are pilaster buttresses and a parapet with a bellcote at the top of the gable.The interior of the church features quatrefoil piers in the nave arcades which are part iron and timber. There are galleries with Gothic tracery on front panelling. The ceiling is shallow pitched and has moulded ribs and foliated bosses. There is a glazed screen below the west gallery which features Gothic tracery and leaded glazing. The church has a polychrome paint scheme and the original seating survives in the galleries.In 2007 the church was in use as a place of worship. |
More information : The present Roman Catholic Church of St Mary was built in 1818 in Standishgate, Wigan and was designed by an unknown architect. Wigan was a centre of Jacobitism in 1715 and 1745 and the area was chosen as one of the earliest English Jesuit Missions. The Roman Catholic Church of St John’s in Standishgate was established in 1723 and the present church was built in 1819. St Mary’s was a secular rival of this church and was built very close by. The building of the church was financed partly by the Greenhaulgh family. A presbytery was added to the church in 1882 and was designed by the architect James O’Byrne of Liverpool.
The exterior of the church is made up of sandstone ashlar with coursed square sandstone and a slate covered roof. The church was built in the Gothic style and has a rectangular plan with a nathex, nave and chancel. There are pilaster buttresses and a parapet with a bellcote at the top of the gable. The church features a Tudor-arched doorway and windows with small paned stained glass. The building also features Perpendicular tracery.
The interior of the church features quatrefoil piers in the nave arcades which are part iron and timber. There are galleries with Gothic tracery on front panelling. The ceiling is shallow pitched and has moulded ribs and foliated bosses. There is a glazed screen below the west gallery which features Gothic tracery and leaded glazing. The church has a polychrome paint scheme and the original seating survives in the galleries. The church has an organ that dates to 1861 and there is a High Altar with a tall Gothic canopy to the tabernacle throne. There are relief figures depicting saints and prophets along the sanctuary walls which were designed by T. M. Crook in 1904. The stained glass in the windows is by William Gardner of St Helens and was completed in 1877. There are two early 20th century marble shrines in the nave with the figures of St Anthony and St Teresa of Lisieux in mosaic niches.
The building is a good example of an early 19th century Catholic Church and its Gothic style is of architectural significance. The building is grade II* listed accordingly. In 2007 the church was in use as a place of worship. (1)
The National Grid Reference for the building is: SD5851406147 (2)
The Roman Catholic Church of St Mary is a grade II* listed building. For further details on the designation see the statutory data. (3)
At the time of compiling this record in 2012, access to information on the designation noted in source 3 above is available via the National Heritage List for England. (4)
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