St Austin's Church 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 building A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, England. It is situated where Northgate Road meets Marsh Way close to the city centre. It was founded in 1827 by the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and is a Grade II listed building.British listed buildings
retrieved 16 December 2013

Foundation

In 1824, plans were put into motion by the architect

Joseph Ireland Joseph Ireland (c.1780–1841) was an English architect who designed Roman Catholic Church buildings in the early nineteenth century. He specialized in Romanesque revival architecture and worked with Joseph John Scoles. Life Ireland was born i ...

creating designs for the church. He was previously the architect for the chapel at

Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the ''de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walp ...

and worked with

Joseph John Scoles Joseph John Scoles (1798–1863) was an English Gothic Revival architect, who designed many Roman Catholic churches. Early life and education Scoles was born in London on 27 June 1798, the son of Roman Catholic parents Matthew Scoles, a joiner, ...

. Two years later, a Jesuit priest, Fr John George Morris SJ, came to the parish to start a mission there. Construction of the church began the next year and on 4 March 1828 by the Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District, Thomas Smith.Parfish History
from StMartinsWakefield.org, retrieved 20 October 2013

Expansion

St Ignatius Catholic Church - Storrs Hill Road - geograph

Extension

In 1852, the Catholic population had increased to such an extent that the church needed to be extended and a school built to cope with larger congregation. The length of the church was increased and a balcony was added. In 1859, foundations for the school were laid. In the 1860s and 1870s the local Catholic population continued to rise and the church was again extended. The presbytery was moved to a separate house so that the church could be extended into the previous one. In 1878, a lady chapel, designed by

Joseph Hansom Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal, '' The Builder'', in 1843. Career ...

was added to St Austin's.

Daughter Church

In December 1877, the parish need to expand, because numbers were increasing and it was too spread out geographically. It was decided that the Jesuits would build a new chapel, in

South Ossett South Ossett is the south part of the town of Ossett, in West Yorkshire, England. The north part is known as 'Ossett and Gawthorpe'. South Ossett is just north of Horbury with the main road of Storrs Hill Road. It is historically the least indus ...

so the Catholics there would not have to travel to Wakefield for Mass every Sunday. The church was St Ignatius and was dedicated to

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...

. It became a church and a parish in 1910 when it was handed over the Diocese of Leeds. The church that replaced the chapel was built in 1933 and it still remains as a parish. In 1931, the Jesuits handed over St Austin's parish to the Diocese of Leeds who continue to serve the church.

Parish

In 2008, the parish of English Martyrs (created in 1932) merged with St Austin's to form the parish of St Martin de Porres, which was subsequently renamed St Austin's and English Martyrs Parish. St Austin's Church has four Sunday Masses, one on Saturday evening at 6:15pm, 8:15am and 11:00am on Sunday morning at another at 6:00pm on Sunday evening. English Martyrs Church has one Sunday Mass at 9:30am. The two nearby school, St Austin's Catholic Primary School and English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, have a relationship with the parish and both state that they offer "a Catholic education within a Christian community".English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Wakefield
retrieved 5 February 2014

References

External links

St Austin's and English Martyrs Parish site

St Ignatius Parish site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Austin's Church, Wakefield St Austin's Church Grade II listed churches in West Yorkshire Roman Catholic churches in West Yorkshire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1828 Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England 1828 establishments in England Romanesque Revival church buildings in England Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom