Our Lady and the Apostles 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 ...

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, ...

in the

Edgeley Edgeley is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Edgeley is characterised largely by Victorian terraced housing around Alexandra Park. The population in 2011 was 14,176. Edgeley Park is home to Stockport County F.C. History R ...

area of

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

, Greater Manchester, England. It was built from 1903 to 1905 and replaced St Philip and St James Church, built in 1803, which was the first permanent Catholic church to be built in Stockport after the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

. It is situated on the corner of Shaw Heath and Greek Street, south west of

Stockport College Stockport College is a medium-sized educational institute in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, providing further education and higher education to those aged 16 and over. It provides educational opportunities for the community including; s ...

and south of

Stockport railway station Stockport railway station in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, is 8 miles south-east of Manchester Piccadilly on the West Coast Main Line to London Euston. History The Manchester and Birmingham Railway opened in stages from Manchester an ...

. It was built in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

by the architect

Edmund Kirby Edmund Kirby (8 April 1838 – 24 April 1920) was an English architect. He was born in Liverpool, and educated at Oscott College in Birmingham. He was articled to E. W. Pugin in London, then became an assistant to John Douglas in Chest ...

and is a Grade II listed building.Stockport - Our Lady and the Apostles
from

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, retrieved 4 February 2016

History

Foundation

In 1776, St Chad's Chapel was opened on Rock Street in Manchester. The priest would travel from Manchester to

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

to serve the Catholic congregations in Macclesfield and Stockport. In 1794, St Mary's Church, Mulberry Street was opened in Manchester and it became the centre from which priests would serve the Catholics in and around the city. Funds were collected to start 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 ...

in Stockport by the priests at St Mary's Church. On 1 May 1798, a house was rented on Windmill Street in Stockport. It was opened for the saying of Mass on 22 July 1798. From 1801, the priest of the mission, a Fr James Blundell started to raise money for a permanent church to be built.Beginnings
from OurLadyandtheApostles.co.uk, retrieved 4 February 2016

St Philip and St James Church

In 1802, the foundation stone of St Philip and St James Church was laid by Fr Richard Thompson, the

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

of St Mary's Church, Mulberry Street. On 1 May 1803, the church was opened and

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 elementar ...

was said by Fr Rowland Broomhead, the

parish priest 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 or m ...

of St Mary's Church. The bricks used in its construction were made on site. In the 1830s, with the increasing size of the

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 administra ...

, the church was enlarged. A tower, side galleries and a larger

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

were added. On 23 September 1832, the church was reopened. From 1845, priests from St Philip and St James Church started a

in the centre of the town, which became St Joseph's Church.

Construction

With the increasing Catholic population a larger church was needed. Our Lady of the Apostles Church replaced St Philip and St James Church. In 1905, the church was built. It was designed by

. The front of the church is similar to Sacred Heart Church in

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

which Kirby designed in 1894. The stained-glass windows in the church was attributed to

Margaret Agnes Rope Margaret Agnes Rope (20 June 18826 December 1953) was a British stained glass artist in the Arts and Crafts movement tradition active in the first four decades of the 20th century. Her work is notable for the intensity and skill of the paintin ...

. In 1925, 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 saf ...

was redesigned to become a

First World War 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 ...

memorial. The sanctuary was re-ordered in 1989 to bring it into line with post Vatican-Two requirements.

Organ

The church contains a 3 manual pipe organ with 49 speaking stops and 2088 pipes. The organ was originally built by the local organ builders Hardy & Son as a 2 manual instrument. The organ was rebuilt and considerably enlarged by the Manchester company of Jardine & Co in 1955. In 1985 George Sixsmith, organ builders, carried out further changes including the rebuild of the choir organ as well as adding new pipes and other minor changes. Apart from the changes to the choir section, the instrument remains largely similar to the rebuild of 1955.

Parish

Mass times are (usually) 7pm Monday, 12:15pm other weekdays. Our Lady and the Apostles Church has two Sunday Masses, they are at 7:00pm on Saturday and at 10:00am on Sunday.Newsletters
from OurLadyandtheApostles.co.uk, retrieved 4 February 2016

References

External links

Our Lady and the Apostles Parish site

Our Lady and the Apostles Church
from

Diocese of Shrewsbury The Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Province of Birmingham which encompasses the pre-1974 counties of Shropshire and Cheshire in the North West and West Midlands of England. The diocese includes rural are ...

{{Diocese of Shrewsbury Roman Catholic churches in Greater Manchester Our Lady and the Apostles Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Gothic Revival church buildings in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in 1905 1803 establishments in England Gothic Revival architecture in Greater Manchester Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury