History in Structure

Roman Catholic Church of St Marie

A Grade II Listed Building in Widnes, Halton

We don't have any photos of this building yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

Coordinates

Latitude: 53.3624 / 53°21'44"N

Longitude: -2.727 / 2°43'37"W

OS Eastings: 351716

OS Northings: 385299

OS Grid: SJ517852

Mapcode National: GBR 9YDK.DD

Mapcode Global: WH87K.2RP6

Plus Code: 9C5V976F+W6

Entry Name: Roman Catholic Church of St Marie

Listing Date: 22 December 2006

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1391829

English Heritage Legacy ID: 502638

ID on this website: 101391829

Location: St Marie's Roman Catholic Church, Simm's Cross, Halton, Cheshire, WA8

County: Halton

Electoral Ward/Division: Riverside

Parish: Non Civil Parish

Built-Up Area: Widnes

Traditional County: Lancashire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cheshire

Church of England Parish: Widnes St Paul

Church of England Diocese: Liverpool

Tagged with: Church building Gothic Revival

Find accommodation in
Widnes

Description



36/0/10012 LUGSDALE ROAD
22-DEC-06 St Marie's Roman Catholic Church

II
Roman Catholic church. 1864, by E.W. Pugin, architect. Red brick with sandstone dressings and blue brick banding beneath a Welsh slate roof covering.
PLAN: Linear single cell plan with nave and apse beneath a single roof structure and lean-to aisles with steeply-pitched monopitch roofs terminating just below the eaves line of the nave.
EXTERIOR: Liturgical west front with 3 stepped lancets to coped nave gable, set above paired doorways with shouldered sandstone lintols. At gable apex an open bellcote with cross finial, supported on corbelled stonework and miniature columns. Flanking 7-bay aisles with shallow stepped buttresses separating paired aisle lancets with hood moulds. North aisle with gabled doorway to west end bay, with gable copings above wide moulded stone pointed arch. Within arch head, a mosaic tympanum with the inscription 'I am the Immaculate Conception', added in 1931. Below the tympanum, paired doorways separated by a shallow stone column. East end gables to aisles incorporate large circular openings with hood moulds below cross finials. Canted sanctuary, with paired lancets with trefoil heads to each facet rising from moulded string course.
INTERIOR: Spacious and lofty interior with arched open roof trusses incorporating thin metal tie rods. The roof is underdrawn with wooden boarding, that to the apse with painted and stencilled decoration. Aisle arcades with tall slender ashlar columns with plainly-shaped and painted capitals supporting tall pointed arcade arches. Arched heads to lancet windows to both aisles and apse are carried on slender attached columns. West end with glazed entrance screen below wide shallow arch which carries the galleried front to the organ loft. Wooden altars terminate the aisles, which, together with the nave retain original benches throughout. The apse incorporates a richly decorated and inscribed alabaster reredos with painted scenes depicting The Nativity, The Annunciation (made up of separate illustrations of the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary) and the Assumption, set on gold backgrounds. These are attributed to J.A. Pippet (1841-1903) of Hardman and Co, Birmingham. A richly-carved altar and benediction throne is set below an elaborate canopy to the centre of the reredos. There are marble rails to the main altar and side altars.
HISTORY: Edward Welby Pugin (1834-1875)was trained by his father A.W.N. Pugin, and became the foremost Catholic church architect of his generation. St Marie's Church is an example of Pugin's 'industrial' designs, which were intended to provide capacious and well-finished places of worship for expanding communities such as Widnes, where a rapidly developing chemicals industry provided employment for, amongst others, Irish immigrants. The construction of the church was funded by congregation members, and the church remains closely associated with the nearby St Gerard's school, formerly St Marie's Junior School, although the surrounding terraced housing has now been demolished.

SOURCES: Roderick O'Donnell 'Pugin, Edward Welby' The Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004-6.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: St Marie's Church, Widnes is of special architectural interest as a mid-C19 Catholic church designed by E.W. Pugin, the most notable Catholic church architect of the mid-late C19, and built during his most significant period of church commissions. Although modelled with restraint and simplicity externally, this spacious and lofty church survives in almost complete condition with Pugin's interior design clearly readable throughout, the focal point of which is a richly decorated example of an altar and reredos ensemble which dominates the apse of the building. The church is little-altered, and retains most of the original fixtures and fittings designed by Pugin. It thus fully meets the criteria for listing.

External Links

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

Other nearby listed buildings

BritishListedBuildings.co.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact BritishListedBuildings.co.uk for any queries related to any individual listed building, planning permission related to listed buildings or the listing process itself.

British Listed Buildings is a Good Stuff website.