St. Mary of the Angels is a former

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 in

Everton, Liverpool Everton is a district in Liverpool, in Merseyside, England, in the Liverpool City Council ward of Everton. It is part of the Liverpool Walton Parliamentary constituency. Historically in Lancashire, at the 2001 Census the population was record ...

, built in 1907. It has magnificent interiors of marble, imported to bring Rome to Liverpool. The building of the church was funded by Amy Elizabeth Imrie, a Catholic convert and nun, who became an abbess of the Poor Clare Sisters. She was the heiress to the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...

shipping fortune when her uncle, William Imrie, died in 1906. The church is 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 ...

; its interiors are also listed. The

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool The Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool ( la, Archidioecesis Liverpolitana) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the Isle of Man and part of North West England. The episcopal see is Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The archdiocese ...

shut the church in Fox Street in 2001 and has stated that the church will never be reopened. The Archdiocese was prevented by

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...

in 2002 from stripping the church's

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...

-style interior fixtures and fittings. The Church was rented out to the Whitechapel Centre (a charity supporting the homeless in Liverpool) until 2005 and since 2006 has become a rehearsal space for the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

orchestra, which rebranded the building as "The Friary". It is not accessible to the public.

External links

Information on church regeneration project

BBC news article about campaign to save St Mary's

Picture of the church's exterior

References

Church of St Mary of the Angels Liverpool, Church of St Mary of the Angels Roman Catholic churches in Liverpool {{UK-listed-building-stub