St Joseph'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 ...

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

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It was built from 1861 to 1862 and designed by Matthew Ellison Hadfield. It is situated on St Petersgate, south west of the High Street. It is the only church in England administered by the Priests of the Sacred Heart and is a Grade II listed building.England
from Priests of the Sacred Heart, UK, retrieved 4 February 2016Stockport - St Joseph
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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, retrieved 4 February 2016

History

Foundation

During the late 18th century, the local Catholic population in Stockport were served by priests from Manchester. In 1798, a Fr James Blundell was saying

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 ...

in a house on Windmill Street. In 1803, a permanent chapel was built on Chapel Street and called St Philip and St James. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Catholic congregation increased with the influx of workers at Stockport’s mills. In 1845, a priest would come from the chapel (which in 1905 would be replaced by Our Lady and the Apostles Church in Edgeley) to the centre of Stockport to say Mass in a temporary school in Parson’s Yard. In 1858, the schools on Tatton Street were built. They were designed by Matthew Ellison Hadfield and George Goldie.

Construction

In 1861, the foundation stone for the church was laid by the Bishop of Salford, William Turner. In 1862, a watercolour was made by M. E. Hadfield showing the west end interior of the church. It now hangs in the west end of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

. In 1888, an industrial school, linked to the church, was built to the south of the school. It was part-funded by the Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk.

Parish

The church has two Sunday Masses, they are at 5:00pm on Saturday and 11:30am on Sunday.Directory
from Diocese of Shrewsbury, retrieved 4 February 2016

Interior

File:Recent image 2018.jpg, Interior File:Gallery View.jpg, Organ File:The confessional is shown here.jpg, Confessional File:Altar viewed from the galler.jpg, Altar

References

External links

St Joseph's Church, Stockport

Sacred Heart Fathers British-Irish Province
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's Church, Stockport Roman Catholic churches in Greater Manchester Grade II listed churches in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Grade II listed buildings in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Greater Manchester Roman Catholic churches completed in 1862 1861 establishments in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury Matthew Ellison Hadfield buildings