St Benedict's Church is an active Roman Catholic church in the Orford suburb of Warrington,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, 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 10 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 8 March 1902 St. Benedict's became a separate parish from

St Mary's Church, Warrington St Mary's Church, or St Mary's Priory, is in the town centre of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, and is an active Catholic church. The parish ...

and it became the third Benedictine parish in Warrington: the others being

St Alban's Church, Warrington St Alban's Church is in Bewsey Street near to the centre of the town of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is an active Roman Catholic church in the Archdiocese of Liverpool. The church forms part of the parish of Sacred Heart and Saint Alban. ...

(1755) and

(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 19 June 1904.Toole, Dr Janet (2002) ''The Parish is Really a Beehive'',Gemini Print, Wigan Fr Oswald Swarbreck OSB became the Rector in 1907 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 Francis Alphonsus Bourne (1861–1935) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the fourth Archbishop of Westminster from 1903 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911. Biography Early life Francis Bo ...

, the

Archbishop of Westminster The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

. The High Altar was consecrated on 27 February 1927 by Archbishop

Frederick Keating Frederick William Keating (13 June 1859 – 7 February 1928) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served first as Bishop of Northampton from 1908 to 1921, then Archbishop of Liverpool from 1921 to 1928. Biography Born in Birm ...

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. 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. A new school building was built in 1991 and the former school and Bell Hall had been demolished by 1993. On 1 May 2018, St.Benedict's became part of one new combined parish called Blessed James Bell which also incorporates the former parishes of St Mary's and St Oswald's in Warrington.http://blessedjamesbell.co.uk/

References

External links

* http://taking-stock.org.uk/Home/Dioceses/Archdiocese-of-Liverpool/Warrington-St-Benedict {{DEFAULTSORT:Warrington, Saint Benedict Roman Catholic churches in Cheshire

Saint Benedict Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

Roman Catholic churches completed in 1915 Christian organizations established in 1902 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom