English Martyrs Church or its full name The Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and the English Martyrs 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, ...

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

. It was designed by

Edward Welby Pugin Edward Welby Pugin (11 March 1834 – 5 June 1875) was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton and part of the Pugin & Pugin family of church architects. His father was an architect an ...

and is under the administration of 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 ...

. It is near to Preston city centre and stands on the corner of the A6, between Aqueduct Street and St George's Road. Since 2017, it has been in the care of priests from the

Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP; la, Institutum Christi Regis Summi Sacerdotis []; french: Institut du Christ Roi Souverain Prêtre []) is a Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right in communion with ...

History

Gallow's Hill

English Martyrs Church is built on the site of an area that used to be called Gallows Hill. It received that name after the Battle of Preston of the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts. At Braemar, Aberdeenshire ...

. After the government overcame the rebel army, it was on Gallows Hill that the rebel prisoners were executed. On 5 January 1715, it was recorded that sixteen rebels 'were hanged upon Gallows Hill, for high treason and conspiracy.'Preston
from Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks, accessed 2 February 2013 In May 1817, evidence of this was found when the area was dug up to improve the road heading north ( the A6 road), and two coffins were found containing the remains of two headless bodies. A brass hand axe was also unearthed, with portions of timber which were assumed to be part of the gallows.History
from EnglishMartyrsPreston.org, accessed 2 February 2013

Wren's Cottage

In 1864, when the English Martyrs mission was founded, the

did not yet exist. Instead, it was the then

Bishop of Liverpool The Bishop of Liverpool is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool in the Province of York.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The diocese stretches from Southport in the n ...

who served the Catholic churches in Preston. In 1864, Bishop Alexander Goss sent Fr James Taylor to a house called Wren's Cottage. The cottage was a quarter of mile north of the present church. The house was made available for the priest and the stable was converted into a chapel. The first Mass was said there on 25 December 1864 and it was officially opened on 22 January 1865.

Building

As the chapel was only temporary and could fit 145 people, plans were drawn up to build a church that could accommodate a larger congregation. It was agreed when Wren's Cottage was bought that a church would not be built on the site, so the Corporation of Preston sold the land around Gallows Hill for the construction of the church. On 26 May 1866, Bishop Goss laid the foundation stone for the church. It was designed by

, the eldest son of

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

. The church was initially meant to have a spire, but a lack of funds prevented it from being built. On 1 December 1867, the church was officially opened by Bishop Goss with the assistance of the Bishop of Nottingham,

Richard Roskell Richard Butler Roskell (15 August 1817 – 27 January 1883) was the second Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham. Richard Butler Roskell was born in Gateacre, near Liverpool 15 August 1817. On 20 July 1825 he was placed at St. Cuthb ...

Enlargement

In 1874, Fr James Taylor left and was replaced by Fr Joseph A. Pyke. In 1886, he became rector of the church and immediately sought a solution to accommodating the increasing church congregation. He decided that the church needed to be enlarged so he brought in

again to design an extension to the church. The new plans added two new bays to the nave and aisles, a new chancel, two transepts, chapels, two additional confessionals, sacristies, and a room for meetings. An entrance was to be provided from St. George's Road to the south transept by a porch. The nave was to be divided from the chancel by an arch. The estimated cost of the extension was about £8,000. The foundation stone of the new buildings was laid by the Bishop of Liverpool Bernard O'Reilly in 1887, and building work was finished in 1888. On 8 February 1888, there was a solemn re-opening of the church. There were many church dignitaries present at the ceremony such as Bishop O'Reilly, Auxiliary Bishop Donnelly of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Bishop MacDonald of Argyll and the Isles, Bishop Hedley of Newport and Menevia, Bishop Knight of Shrewsbury, Bishop Vaughan of

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

and Bishop Lacy of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. In 1902, Fr Pyke and was succeeded by his nephew, Fr Edward J. Pyke. During his time at the church, he worked to remove the debts that the church had accumulated from its construction and extension. Furthermore, he oversaw the handling of the parish, the nearby Catholic schools and the consecration of the church. On 14 September 1921, the church was consecrated in a ceremony presided over by the Archbishop of Liverpool, Frederick Keating, with assistance from Bishop Casartelli of

, Bishop Cowgill of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, Bishop Singleton of Shrewsbury and Auxiliary Bishop Vaughan of

21st century

In 2012, the presbytery adjacent to the church was sold to

L'Arche L'Arche is an international federation of non-profits working to create networks of community where people with and without intellectual disabilities live and work together. Founded in 1964 by Jean Vanier, Raphaël Simi, and Philip Seux, L'Ar ...

a nearby charity that houses communities for those with learning disabilities. The furniture and paintings in the house were auctioned off, including

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths ** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken ...

furniture from the time of the church's construction in the 1860s and 1880s. The auction also featured a selection of oil paintings on canvas depicting martyrs, saints and other religious scenes, six watercolour scenes by Preston artist Edwin Beattie, brass candlesticks and ornamental crucifixes. On 11 July 2017, the Bishop of Lancaster,

Michael Campbell Michael Shane Campbell (born 23 February 1969) is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the ...

announced that the church and parish would be entrusted to the care of the

. The Institute have also been administering St Walburge's Church in Preston since 2014.

Parish

Near to the church is English Martyrs Catholic Primary School. The school's mission statement says that it is 'based on the values in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ.' The school has links with the parish and attends regular Masses in the church. Since the creation of the new parish of St John XXIII, Latin Low Mass is held in the church every day at midday, with rosary and devotions to the English Martyrs every Friday after Mass. Every Saturday at 10:00am there is eucharistic adoration with confessions followed by Low Mass. Every Sunday there is a Latin Low Mass is at 09:00am followed by refreshments and socialising.Schedule of English Martyrs
retrieved 15 April 2018

References

External links

Shrine churches of St Walburge and the English Martyrs site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church of Saint Thomas of Canterbury and the English Martyrs, Preston Roman Catholic churches in Preston Roman Catholic churches in Lancashire Grade II listed churches in Lancashire Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Lancashire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1888 1865 establishments in England E. W. Pugin church buildings 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom