St Bartholomew's Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Rainhill Rainhill is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2011 census was 10,853. Historically part of Lancashire, Rainhill was a township in the ecclesiastical parish of Prescot ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

. It was built in 1838-40 in the style of the Church of San Bartholomew on the Island in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Grade II listed, it is situated on the A57 Warrington Road, opposite

Rainhill Hall Rainhill Hall or Loyola Hall is a Grade II listed country house built in the 19th century in Rainhill, Merseyside, England, by Bartholomew Bretherton. It is situated on the Warrington Road, next to St Bartholomew's Church. From 1923 to 2014, ...

and was described by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

as 'The noblest Catholic church in

South Lancashire South Lancashire is a geographical county area, used to indicate the southern part of the historic county of Lancashire, today without any administrative purpose. The county region has no exact boundaries but generally includes areas that form t ...

History

Origin

The church was founded by

Bartholomew Bretherton Bartholomew Bretherton (c.17751857) was a coach proprietor and landowner who lived in Rainhill, near Liverpool. He founded St Bartholomew's Church, Rainhill and owned Rainhill House, which became Loyola Hall. Biography He was born at Stonyhu ...

(d. 1857) who was the owner of the family coaching business and main landowner in Rainhill.British History Online
retrieved 1 September 2013 He lived at Rainhill Hall (opposite the church and known as

Loyola Hall Rainhill Hall or Loyola Hall is a Grade II listed country house built in the 19th century in Rainhill, Merseyside, England, by Bartholomew Bretherton. It is situated on the Warrington Road, next to St Bartholomew's Church. From 1923 to 2014, i ...

from 1923 until 2014 when occupied by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

). As well as being a business and landowner, he was also uncle of

(1812-1866) a winner of the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

in 1840. Before it was built, the Catholics in Rainhill had to travel to the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

church in

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the civil parish population was 11,184 (5,265 males, 5,919 femal ...

, Our Lady Help of Christians Church or St Bede's Church in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

Construction

Bartholomew Bretherton chose the location where the church would be built, on the Warrington Road, in direct sight of anyone travelling down the main road through the village. He also chose the design for the church and wanted it to be dedicated to his own patron saint,

Saint Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

. The design he chose was by a local architect, Joshua Dawson. The architect went to

to look at the Church of San Bartolomeo all'Isola there. In 1838, building started and the stones were taken from a local quarry that the Bretherton family owned. The foundation stone was laid by Bartholomew Bretherton's daughter, Mrs Mary Gerard in April 1838. The building was completed two years later. The total cost was £8,000 and it was formally opened and consecrated on 24 August by the

Vicar Apostolic of the Lancashire District The Apostolic Vicariate of the Lancashire District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in England. It was led by a vicar apostolic who was a titular bishop. The apostolic vicariate was created in 1840 and was replaced by t ...

George Hilary Brown George Hilary Brown (1784 – 1856) was an English prelate who served as the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Liverpool from 1850 to 1856. Early life George Hilary Brown was born in Clifton, Lancashire on 15 January 1784, the son of William Br ...

. Nine years later, in 1849, an Italian-style

Bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

was added to the side of the church. Bartholomew's daughter, Mary, added a lady chapel or chantry in 1845 in memory of her first husband, William Gerard of New Hall, Ashton-in-Makerfield. Other additions were also made in later years, notably, the imposing sandstone gateway to the grounds and the surrounding walls. Mary, her parents and Mary's two husbands are all interred in the church.

Parish

Surrounding the church is a cemetery. Buried there are the members of the Stapleton-Bretherton family who owned the surrounding land and

. They include

Evelyn, Princess Blücher Evelyn Fürstin Blücher von Wahlstatt (10 September 1876 – 20 January 1960) was an English people, English diarist and memoirist, who wrote a standard account of life as a civilian aristocrat in Germany during World War I. Early life Prince ...

(1876-1960) and her husband Prince Gebhard Blücher von Wahlstatt (1865-1931), a descendant of General-Field-Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742–1819) who commanded the Prussian Army at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

in 1815.Dyckhoff SJ, Christopher (1994). ''A Quiet Place: A History of Loyola Hall'' St. Helens, p.7 Also buried in the church cemetery is

Kenneth Dewar Vice-Admiral Kenneth Gilbert Balmain Dewar, Order of the British Empire, CBE (21 September 1879 – 8 September 1964) was an officer of the Royal Navy. After specialising as a gunnery officer, Dewar became a staff officer and a controversial st ...

(1879–1964) who was a

vice-admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and was in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...

. He was married to Gertrude Stapleton-Bretherton, Evelyn's sister. The church shares a priest with the nearby St Theresa of the Child Jesus Church in Sutton Manor. St Bartholomew's has Sunday Mass at 5:15 pm on Saturday and at 9:30 am on Sunday. It also has Masses at 10:00 am on Tuesday and Thursday. Accordingly, St Theresa's Mass times do not conflict. They are on Sundays at 11:00 am and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12 pm. The church featured episodes of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

''. There was a marriage ceremony and a funeral filmed there.

Exterior and grounds

File:Gate to St Bartholomew's Church, Rainhill.JPG, Gate File:St. Bartholomew's Roman Catholic Church, Rainhill - geograph.org.uk - 28216.jpg, View from Warrington Road File:St Bartholomews on a frosty New Year's day - geograph.org.uk - 1118843.jpg, View from St Bartholomew's Primary School playing field

References

External links

St Bartholomew's Parish siteArchitectural heritage details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Bartholomew's Church, Rainhill Grade II listed churches in Merseyside Roman Catholic churches in Merseyside Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1840 1840 establishments in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool Neoclassical church buildings in England