St Mary's Church is in Fernyhalgh Lane, Broughton,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located near the shrine at Ladyewell House. The church was built in 1792–94 to provide services for pilgrims when the chapel at the house became too small for the numbers attending. Attached to the east of the church is the presbytery, and both are built in red brick with

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

dressings with

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roofs. Near the church is a school built in 1836, and later used for other purposes. Ladyewell House contains a 16th-century altar,

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s and memorabilia, and in garden are a chapel and a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

. The church and house are in active use for church services, pilgrimages, and visitors.

History

Fernyhalgh (pronounced ) has been a place of Christian devotion since the 11th century, and this developed further following the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. The house containing the shrine was rebuilt in 1685, from which time the name Ladyewell has been used for it. "Dame Alice" ran a Dame school nearby with over a 100 pupils who would visit the shrine and church daily. The church accepted pupils of any denomination but it was essentially a Catholic school. Toward the end of the 18th century the chapel had become too small for the number of pilgrims visiting it, and it was decided to build a larger church. The nearest available land was about from the house, and this was purchased. The church and attached presbytery were built in 1792–94, shortly after the passing of the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 (31 George III, c. 32) is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1791 relieving Roman Catholics of certain political, educational, and economic disabilities. It admitted Catholics to the practice ...

. In about 1844–47 the interior of the church was lavishly painted, stencilled and gilded by Andrew Carter of Preston, and stained glass windows were installed.

Church

Exterior

The church is built in red brick with a sandstone

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

and dressings, and it has a slate roof with stone

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

copings. It has a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

plan, with five bays, and north and south two-bay

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

s. Each bay contains a large round-headed window with a sandstone

archivolt An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...

; in the west bay the window is divided into two parts because of the gallery. The west front of the church is rendered, and has a

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

on the gable, and a semicircular Tuscan porch.

Interior

Inside the church is a west gallery carried on

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

columns. The two-bay transept arcades have round-headed arches with painted

soffit A soffit is an exterior or interior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of any construction element. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of beams, is the underside of eaves (to ...

s. The ceiling is flat, and there is an elliptical

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

arch. The

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

has a blind arcade with four

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

columns which is lavishly painted and gilded, including roundels, and a central lozenge containing the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

. Above the reredos is a painted dome in deep blue with gold stars and containing a dove. The altar rail is in

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

, and dates probably from the late 19th century, and the statues are by

Mayer of Munich Franz Mayer of Munich is a German stained glass design and manufacturing company, based in Munich, Germany and a major exponent of the Munich style of stained glass, that has been active throughout most of the world for over 170 years. The fir ...

. The stained glass dates from 1854, and is by Andrew Carter. The monuments include one to Catharine Hesketh, who died in 1809, and was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nun who became abbess of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

. In the floor are

memorial brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the paveme ...

es to 19th-century incumbents of the church.

Presbytery

The presbytery is attached to the east end of the church. It is also in red brick with sandstone dressings and a slate roof, and has two storeys and two bays. In the second bay is a later canted

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...

, and a re-set doorway in a 20th-century lean-to extension. Inside some original features have been retained.

School

The school is located to the west of the church., and was paid for by Fr Richard Gillow, the incumbent. It was built in 1836, and constructed in sandstone with slate roofs. The school is symmetrical with an H-shaped plan, consisting of a main three-bay two-storey range and three-bay single-storey gabled cross wings. The central doorway has a moulded

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

and a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, and the windows are rectangular with altered glazing. At the top of the main range is a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

with a central

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

containing the date of construction in

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

. In the pediments of the wings are tablets inscribed respectively "GIRLS" and "BOYS".

Shrine

Inside Ladyewell House is the Burgess altar and a number of

s and memorabilia of

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s. The altar was made in 1560 by a Mr Burgess. The most important relics are those of

Thomas à Beckett Sir Thomas à Beckett (31 August 1836 – 21 June 1919) was an Australian solicitor and judge. Personal Thomas à Beckett was born in London, England. He was the eldest son of Thomas Turner à Beckett and arrived in Australia with his fathe ...

, which have been authenticated. In the garden is the English Martyrs Chapel and a holy well, and in the woods are the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

Appraisal

St Mary's Church was designated as a Grade II

listed building 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 ...

on 11 November 1966, and the school was designated at the same grade on 13 January 1986. Grade II is the lowest of the three grades of listing and is applied to buildings "of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them".

Present day

St Mary's is an active church in the

diocese of Lancaster The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese centred on Lancaster Cathedral in the city of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. History The diocese was erected in 1924, taking areas and parishes from the Archd ...

. Mass is said in the church and in Ladyewell House, and the house is open for visitors during the week, all at advertised times. Pilgrimages to the church and house frequently take place. The school has been converted into use as a nursery and a parish centre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernyhalgh, Saint Mary Roman Catholic churches in Lancashire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1794 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster Roman Catholic churches in the City of Preston Roman Catholic shrines in the United Kingdom Grade II listed churches in Lancashire Holy wells of St Mary Holy wells in England 1794 establishments in England St Mary's Church