The Syro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa is a

Catholic 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 ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

of the

Syro-Malabar The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a '' sui iuris'' (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Cathol ...

rite in Preston, Lancashire. It is the cathedral of the

Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Great Britain The Eparchy of Great Britain is the sole Syro-Malabar Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Great Britain. Its cathedral is Syro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa in the episcopal see of Preston, Lancashire ...

, and was previously St Ignatius Church under the

Diocese of Lancaster The 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 Archdiocese of Liv ...

. It is situated close to the Preston city centre, with the entrance on Meadow Street. The building was opened in 1836 and was the first church in Preston to have a spire.Preston
from

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universit ...

, Retrieved 28 February 2013 Since January 2015, the church has been used as a cathedral for the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.Lancaster: Bishop saves historic church for Indian Catholics
from ''Independent Catholic News'', 12 January 2015, retrieved 13 January 2015 In 2016

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

raised the status of the church to that of cathedral and appointed Monsignor Joseph (Benny Mathew) Srampickal as the first bishop.Pope Erects Eparchy of Great Britain of Syro-Malabar with a new Bishop
from ''Vatican Radio News'' retrieved 28 July 2016

History

Foundation

Prior to the

Catholic Emancipation Act 1829 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 ( 10 Geo. 4. c. 7), also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that removed the sacramental tests that barred Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom f ...

the first legal Roman Catholic churches were built in a simple style similar to that used for Non-Conformist

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 ...

s and often incorporated the priest's house. from englishmartyrspreston.org.uk Retrieved 28 February 2013 The church was originally a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

foundation.

Building

St Ignatius is one of the earliest examples of a

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

in the city of Preston. Work on the church started in 1833. The architect was

Joseph John Scoles Joseph John Scoles (1798–1863) was an English Gothic Revival architect, who designed many Roman Catholic churches. Early life and education Scoles was born in London on 27 June 1798, the son of Roman Catholic parents Matthew Scoles, a joiner, ...

, who also designed the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, in London and the

Church of Saint Francis Xavier, Liverpool St Francis Xavier's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Salisbury Street, Everton, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active ...

for the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. St Ignatius is one of the oldest surviving Roman Catholic church buildings in the city, and the architectural historian Sir Nicholas Pevsner declared it to be of national interest along with the sister Preston church of St Walburge. He said that it was an unusually planned Roman Catholic complex for this date. Originally the church was much smaller, but in 1858 five new

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

s were added, including a new chancel and side chapels. The architect was

Joseph Hansom Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal ''Building (magazine), The Builder'' i ...

who designed St Walburge's in 1847. The church still possesses original designs for stained glass by John Hardman of Hardman & Co., but the windows were not made. Further alterations were made to the church in 1885–6 by

Matthew Ellison Hadfield Matthew Ellison Hadfield (8 September 1812 – 9 March 1885) was an English architect of the Victorian Gothic revival. He is chiefly known for his work on Roman Catholic churches, including the cathedral churches of Salford and Sheffield. Trai ...

and George Webster. The

confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall where the priest from some Christian denominations sits to hear the confessions of a penitent's sins. It is the traditional venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Luther ...

s were removed providing space for two new chapels, and the remodelling of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

. The altar was raised and a new super altar made from

Hopton Wood stone Hopton Wood stone (sometimes Hopton-Wood stone or Hoptonwood stone) is a type of limestone quarried west of Middleton-by-Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England. Described as "very fine, almost like marble" and as "England’s premier decorative stone" ...

placed on it. New confessionals were built outside the walls and a third chapel, of the Sacred Heart, was added at the north end.

Alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

figures and much wood and stone carving were added by Frank Tory of Sheffield.''"150 Years Of Architectural Drawings"'', Hadfield, Cawkwell, Davidson, Brampton Print and Design, , page 75, Details 1886 re-order. The Tablet
1886 re-order. In 1912 a side chapel and

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

were added.

Developments

The church had a relationship with St Ignatius Catholic Primary School next door. The school was built in 1863 and extended in 2000. Masses were regularly held in the church for the school. Outside the church is St Ignatius Square. In 1982 the square was declared to be a local conservation area, preventing any development that would significantly change the character of the historic part of Preston.St Ignatius Square
from preston.gov.uk, retrieved 28 February 2013 In 2001, the church saw the departure of its last resident parish priest, and it was merged with the parish of English Martyrs Church. Mass was celebrated in the church once a week, at 9:30 am every Sunday. On 11 October 2014, the parish was amalgamated to include the

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

s of St Teresa's, St Joseph's and St Augustine's and was renamed the Parish of St John XXIII.

Syro-Malabar Church

On 2 December 2014, the church was closed. On 31 December 2014,

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 ...

, Roman Catholic Bishop of Lancaster, was asked by

George Alencherry George Alencherry (; born 19 April 1945) is the Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church after serving in the position from 2011 to 2023. He is also a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was elected by the Holy Synod of the ...

Major archbishop In the Eastern Catholic Churches, major archbishop (sometimes also styled as major archeparch) is a title for the chief hierarch ("Father and Head") of an autonomous ('' sui juris'') particular Church that has not been "endowed with the patriarc ...

of the

Syro-Malabar Catholic Church The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a '' sui iuris'' (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Cathol ...

, for exclusive use of a church in Preston by the local Syro-Malabar community. The bishop offered St Ignatius church, which was accepted. The church will remain open for private prayer and have liturgies in the Syro-Malabar rite.

People

The 19th century mystic poet

Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...

was baptised at the church in 1859, and the poet Fr Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ was a curate there during the late 1880s.

Gallery

File:St Ignatius' Roman Catholic Church, Preston - geograph.org.uk - 614958.jpg, View of the west side, along St Ignatius Square File:St Ignatius' Roman Catholic Church, Preston - geograph.org.uk - 614949.jpg, South side, along Meadow Street File:St Ignatius' Roman Catholic Church, Preston, Doorway - geograph.org.uk - 614951.jpg, Main western doorway File:War Memorial outside St Ignatius' Church, Preston.jpg, War Memorial outside

References

External links

St John XXIII Parish site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Saint Alphonsa Saint Alphonsa Churches in Lancashire Grade II* listed churches in Lancashire Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster Grade II* listed Roman Catholic churches in England Churches completed in 1886 Gothic Revival architecture in Lancashire 1833 establishments in England Gothic Revival church buildings in England Syro-Malabar Catholic church buildings Eastern Catholic cathedrals in the United Kingdom Syro-Malabar Catholic cathedrals 19th-century churches in the United Kingdom 19th-century Eastern Catholic church buildings