St John the Baptist 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 let ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, Greater Manchester, England. It was founded in 1830, and built in 1927. It is situated on the corner of Maclure Road and Dowling Street, opposite the Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum in the centre of the town. It was built in the Byzantine Revival style and is a Grade II* listed building.

History

Foundation

From 1824, a Catholic priest resided in Rochdale. He was Fr William Turner, who later became Bishop of Salford. Originally,

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

was said in a room of a warehouse on Clegg Street. In 1829, St John's Church church was built and opened on Ann Street in Rochdale. Fr Turner was priest until 1835, when he became the priest at St Chad's Church in Cheetham Hill. He was replaced by a Fr Dowling. In 1860, this church was replaced by one made of brick. In 1871, Fr Dowling died and was replaced by a

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

, Fr O'Neill. In the late 1800s, as the towns were increasing in population, further Catholic missions were started in the surrounding area. From 1898 to 1937, the priest at St John the Baptist Church was Canon Henry Chipp.Rochdale - St John the Baptist
from Taking Stock, retrieved 11 February 2016

Construction

St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church interior, Rochdale by Mike Berrell

Canon Chipp sought the construction of a new, larger church to replace the one made of brick. He wanted a church to resemble the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

in Istanbul. The architect of St John the Baptist Church was Henry Oswald Hill. He was the cousin of Charles Joseph Gadd the

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

of the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

. The design of the church was influenced by

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

and

John Francis Bentley John Francis Bentley (30 January 1839 – 2 March 1902) was an English ecclesiastical architect whose most famous work is the Westminster Cathedral in London, England, built in a style heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture. Life Bentle ...

. On 21 October 1917, after making the designs for the church, Hill was killed in action during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

flying as a captain in the

Royal Flying Corp "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, serving in what later became No. 52 Squadron RAF. He also designed St Teresa's Church in

Irlam Irlam is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, it had a population of 19,933. It lies on flat ground on the south side of the M62 motorway and the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Salfo ...

in 1900, St Brigid's Church in Bradford in 1901, St Alphonsus in Old Trafford in 1903, Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church in

Urmston Urmston is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, which had a population of 41,825 at the 2011 Census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is southwest of Manchester city centre. The southern boundary is the ...

in 1911, and St Joseph's Church in Heywood in 1913. In 1918, Henry Thomas Sandy bought Hill's architectural firm. In 1920, Ernest Bower Norris joined the practice. In 1922, Sandy died and Norris ran the firm, which became known as Hill, Sandy & Norris, which ceased operations in 1969. St John's Church was the first time Norris had built a Byzantine-style church. From 1962 to 1964, he designed a similar church, St John Fisher Church, in

West Heath, West Midlands West Heath is a residential area of Birmingham, England on the boundary with Worcestershire. Forming the larger part of the ward of Longbridge And West Heath it is situated between Kings Norton, Northfield, Longbridge and Cofton Hackett and lies on ...

. The church was built from 1925 to 1927. The original design for the church had a bell tower, which was never built. From 1930 to 1933, the mosaic in the

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 sa ...

was made. The theme of the mosaic is eternal life. It was designed by Eric Newton of Ludwig Oppenheimer Ltd, cost £4000 and was made by craftspeople in Manchester. In 1966, a presbytery was built, attached to the north side of the church. The architects for it were Desmond Williams & Associates. In 1998, a residence was added to the side of the church. This was done by demolishing the presbytery and a section of the east

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 wi ...

Parish

St Gabriel and the Angels Church entrance, Castleton

St John the Baptist Church together with St Gabriel and the Angels Church in

Castleton, Greater Manchester Castleton is an area of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, south-southwest of Rochdale town centre and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Historically a part of Lancashire, Castleton's early history is marked by its status as a tow ...

, are part of the same

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

called the Parish of St Gabriel and the Angels and St John the Baptist. In 1879, St Gabriel and the Angels Church started as a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

from St John the Baptist Church. In 1884, a building housing a chapel and school was built. In 1894, a presbytery was added. In 1951, with the increasing Catholic

congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

in the area, the former Princess Cinema in Smalley Street (built in 1900) was bought and adapted to replace the old chapel and became the present St Gabriel and the Angels Church. St John the Baptist Church has a Sunday

at 9:30am. St Gabriel and the Angels Church has one Sunday Mass at 11:00am.St Gabriel's, Rochdale
from

Diocese of Salford The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford is centred on the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. The diocese was founded in 1852 as one of the first post-Reformation Catholic dioceses in Great Britain. Since 1911 it has formed part of th ...

, retrieved 11 February 2016

References

External links