Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Church or Our Lady's Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in Great Billing, Northamptonshire, England. It was built in 1878 and founded by the descendants of John Elwes at Billing Hall in the

Romanesque Revival style Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a Architectural style, style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Reviv ...

. It is located on the High Street in Billing. Since 2006, it has been the

Diocesan 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 associated ...

Shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Our Mother of Perpetual Succour (), colloquially known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine art, Byzantine ico ...

History

Foundation

In 1795, Robert Cary Elwes, a family member of John Elwes, bought Billing Hall. In 1866, his grandson, Valentine Cary Elwes inherited the hall. He was the father of Gervase Elwes and Dudley Cary-Elwes, who was later the Catholic Bishop of Northampton. In 1874, the family converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Shortly afterwards, a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

was built in Billing Hall.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

Greta Billing - Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
''Taking Stock'', retrieved 18 May 2022

Construction

In 1878, Our Lady of Perpetual Help was built. It replaced the chapel in the hall and was paid for by Valentine Cary Elwes. It was built in the

and has a handcrafted copy of the icon of

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Our Mother of Perpetual Succour (), colloquially known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine art, Byzantine ico ...

installed above the altar. In 1926, the

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s were added. In 1994, an

aedicula In religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, an ''aedicula'' (: ''aediculae'') is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a Niche (architecture), niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns an ...

was added to the

Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

. It was built by Ormsby of Scarisbrick who also did work on Our Lady of Sorrows Church in

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), also known as Bognor, is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns include Littleham ...

. On 8 September 2006, Peter Doyle the Bishop of Northampton made the church the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. Buried in the church cemetery are Valentine Cary Elwes, Gervase Elwes, Bishop Dudley Cary-Elwes and Gervase's son and parish priest of Our Lady's Church, Monsignor Valentine Elwes.Our History
from SacredHeartNorthampton.org.uk, retrieved 18 May 2022

Parish

The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour is in a partnership with the parish of Sacred Heart Church in

Weston Favell Weston Favell is an area and former civil parish near the eastern end of Northampton, now in the parish of Northampton, in the West Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England. Location Since the Industrial ...

. Our Lady's Church has one Sunday

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

at 9:15am. Sacred Heart Church has two Sunday Masses at 5:30pm on Saturday and at 10:30am.

References

External links

* {{Diocese of Northampton Churches in Northampton Roman Catholic churches in Northamptonshire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1878 Romanesque Revival church buildings in England 1878 establishments in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Shrines to the Virgin Mary Roman Catholic shrines in the United Kingdom