St Marie's Church is the main Roman Catholic church in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, located to the south of the town centre on Dunchurch Road, one of the main roads into the town. It is one of the town's most well-known landmarks as it is quite dominant on the skyline. The church came about because Captain Washington Hibbert of Bilton Grange, married Julia Tichborne, a Catholic woman in 1839. As there was no provision for Catholics in Rugby, Hibbert bought a plot of land off Dunchurch Road and commissioned Augustus Pugin to design a church. It was first opened in 1847, designed in the

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. It was enlarged in 1864 by Pugin's son Edward Welby Pugin, and in 1872 the current tall and slender spire was added, designed by Bernard Whelan, which is nearly 200 feet (61 metres) tall. The church has been

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 1949. The church is part of the

Rugby Deanery The Rugby Deanery is a Roman Catholic Deanery in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham. Comprising eight parishes (10 churches) in north and mid-Warwickshire, it is part of the Southern pastoral area. Key personnel As of 2015, the area bis ...

in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshire ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby, Saint Marie Saint Marie Grade II* listed churches in Warwickshire Roman Catholic churches in Warwickshire 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Gothic Revival church buildings in England Augustus Pugin buildings