St Begh's Church or St Begh's Priory 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 ...

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

, Cumbria, England. It was built from 1865 to 1868 and designed by E. W. Pugin in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

. It was founded and is still administered by the

Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

from

Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire Belmont Abbey, in Herefordshire, England, is a Catholic Benedictine monastery that forms part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It stands on a small hill overlooking the city of Hereford to the east, with views across to the Black Mounta ...

. It is located on the Coach Road in the

Corkickle Corkickle is a suburb of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England. It is served by Corkickle railway station Corkickle railway station is a railway station serving the suburb of Corkickle near Whitehaven in Cumbria, England. It is on the Cumbrian C ...

part of Whitehaven. It is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

History

Foundation

In 1706,

from

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

in France came to Whitehaven and started a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

serving the local Catholic population in Whitehaven. The founder of the mission was Dom Francis Rich. In 1785, a chapel was built, it was located probably close to Catherine Street in the town centre. In 1824, with the Catholic population of the town increasing and the patronage of the local

Lowther family This article summarises the relationships between various members of the family of Lowther baronets. *Sir Christopher Lowther **Sir John Lowther, of Lowther (d. 1637) ***Sir John Lowther, 1st Baronet, of Lowther, Sir John Lowther, 1st Baronet (160 ...

baronets A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 1 ...

, the chapel was expanded.

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 ...

Whitehaven - St Begh
''Taking Stock'', retrieved 30 April 2022

Construction

In 1834, the site of the current church was given to the Benedictines by

William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, KG (29 December 175719 March 1844), also known as Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Little Preston, from 1788 to 1802, and William Lowther, 2nd Viscount Lowther, from 1802 to 1807, was a British Tory pol ...

. That year, a chapel was built on the site. In 1865, the foundation stone of the current church was laid. The church was designed by E. W. Pugin, who also designed

Killarney Cathedral St. Mary's Cathedral, Killarney, is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Kerry situated to the west of Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. Architecture St. Mary's Cathedral was designed by the renowned English architect Augustus Welby Pugin, ...

and

Shrewsbury Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Our Lady Help of Christians and Saint Peter of Alcantara, commonly known as Shrewsbury Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Shrewsbury, England. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury and moth ...

. The construction was done by a Mr Cousins of Whitehaven and the stoen carving was done by Mr Pickering of Carlisle. In 1868, the church was opened and the total cost was £6,000. As St Begh's Church was the first Roman Catholic church in Whitehaven since the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, it became a centre from where other missions were started from. Some of these missions grew and new churches were built, such as St Gregory and St Patrick Church on Quay Street in Whitehaven, which was built in 1889.

Whitehaven - St Gregory and St Patrick
''Taking Stock'', retrieved 30 April 2022

Parish

St Begh's Church is the

and in the same

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 ...

is St Gregory and St Patrick's Church, which is also served by Benedictine priests from Belmont Abbey. St Begh's Church has two Sunday Masses at 4:45pm on Saturday and 10:00am on Sunday. St Gregory and St Patrick's Church on Quay Street has one Sunday Mass at 8:30am. File:St Gregory and St Patrick Church, Whitehaven by JThomas Geograph 3215709.jpg, St Gregory and St Patrick's Church, in the same parish as St Begh's Church

References

External links