St Mary's Church or St Mary of the Annunciation 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 ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

, Leicestershire, England. It was built in 1834 in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

and has been served by the

Rosminians The Rosminians, officially named the Institute of Charity (), abbreviated I.C., are a Catholic Church, Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded by Antonio Rosmini-Serbati, Antonio Rosmini and first organise ...

since 1841, it was their first church in the UK, and outside of Italy. It is located opposite the junction of Ashby Road and Radmoor Road to the west of the town centre. 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 ...

.Church of St Mary and House adjoining

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 ...

, retrieved 11 May 2022

History

Construction

In 1833, Fr Benjamin Hulme came to

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 * ...

there. He organised the purchasing of the site of the current church and commissioned an architect, William Flint from Leicester, to design the church. In 1834, the church and the presbytery next to it were built.

Loughborough – St Mary of the Annunciation
''Taking Stock'', retrieved 11 May 2022

Rosminians

In 1838, the

were ratified in Rome. In 1839, the first of Rosminian

vows A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise that is solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding ...

were made. The only country the Rosminians worked in, outside of Italy, was the UK. In 1841, led by Aloysius Gentili, they began serving the church. In 1845, from the church, they founded

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

.Pollard, William Henry
Rosminians
''

The Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'', retrieved 11 May 2022.

Extension

In 1920s, the church was enlarged. A new

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 ...

and

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

entrance were added facing on to the street. They were designed by a local architect A. M. Barrowcliffe. In 1933, a new

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

. In 1937, marble

altar rail The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...

s were added. The parts of the church from before the extensions were added became 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 ...

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 ...

and

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

Parish

St Mary's Church is its own parish. It has four Sunday Masses at 6:00pm on Saturday, 9:00am and 11:15am on Sunday and a Mass in Italian at 4:00pm on Sunday. Mass in the Traditional (1962) form in Latin is usually offered on Wednesday at 6.30pm

References

External links

*
Rosminians UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, Loughborough Loughborough Roman Catholic churches in Leicestershire Grade II listed churches in Leicestershire 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in 1834 Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England 1834 establishments in England Rosminian churches in the United Kingdom Neoclassical church buildings in England