St Bartholomew's Church, Rainhill

Last updated

St Bartholomew's Church
St Bartholomew's Church, Rainhill.JPG
Front entrance
Merseyside UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
St Bartholomew's Church
Location in Merseyside
53°24′27″N2°45′03″W / 53.4076°N 2.7509°W / 53.4076; -2.7509
OS grid reference SJ5017890352
Location Rainhill, Merseyside
CountryUnited Kingdom
Denomination Roman Catholic
History
StatusActive
Founder(s)Bartholomew Bretherton
Dedication Saint Bartholomew
Consecrated 24 August 1840
Architecture
Functional status Parish church
Heritage designationGrade II listed
Designated28 January 1971 [1]
Architect(s) Joshua Dawson
Groundbreaking April 1838
Construction cost£8,000
Administration
Province Liverpool
Archdiocese Liverpool
Deanery St Helens (St Monica)

St Bartholomew's Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Rainhill, Merseyside. It was built in 1838-40 in the style of the Church of San Bartholomew on the Island in Rome. Grade II listed, it is situated on the A57 Warrington Road, opposite Rainhill Hall and was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as 'The noblest Catholic church in South Lancashire'. [2]

Contents

History

Origin

The church was founded by Bartholomew Bretherton (d. 1857) who was the owner of the family coaching business and main landowner in Rainhill. [3] He lived at Rainhill Hall (opposite the church and known as Loyola Hall from 1923 until 2014 when occupied by the Jesuits). As well as being a business and landowner, he was also uncle of Bartholomew Bretherton (1812-1866) a winner of the Grand National in 1840. [4]

Before it was built, the Catholics in Rainhill had to travel to the Jesuit church in Prescot, Our Lady Help of Christians Church or St Bede's Church in Widnes.

Construction

Bartholomew Bretherton chose the location where the church would be built, on the Warrington Road, in direct sight of anyone travelling down the main road through the village. He also chose the design for the church and wanted it to be dedicated to his own patron saint, Saint Bartholomew. The design he chose was by a local architect, Joshua Dawson. The architect went to Rome to look at the Church of San Bartolomeo all'Isola there. In 1838, building started and the stones were taken from a local quarry that the Bretherton family owned. The foundation stone was laid by Bartholomew Bretherton's daughter, Mrs Mary Gerard in April 1838.

The building was completed two years later. The total cost was £8,000 and it was formally opened and consecrated on 24 August by the Vicar Apostolic of the Lancashire District, George Hilary Brown.

Nine years later, in 1849, an Italian-style Bell tower was added to the side of the church. [2] Bartholomew's daughter, Mary, added a lady chapel or chantry in 1845 in memory of her first husband, William Gerard of New Hall, Ashton-in-Makerfield. Other additions were also made in later years, notably, the imposing sandstone gateway to the grounds and the surrounding walls. Mary, her parents and Mary's two husbands are all interred in the church. [5]

Parish

Surrounding the church is a cemetery. Buried there are the members of the Stapleton-Bretherton family who owned the surrounding land and Rainhill Hall. They include Evelyn, Princess Blücher (1876-1960) and her husband Prince Gebhard Blücher von Wahlstatt (1865-1931), a descendant of General-Field-Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742–1819) who commanded the Prussian Army at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. [6]

Also buried in the church cemetery is Kenneth Dewar (1879–1964) who was a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy and was in the Battle of Jutland. He was married to Gertrude Stapleton-Bretherton, Evelyn's sister.

The church shares a priest with the nearby St Theresa of the Child Jesus Church in Sutton Manor. St Bartholomew's has Sunday Mass at 5:15 pm on Saturday and at 9:30 am on Sunday. It also has Masses at 10:00 am on Tuesday and Thursday. Accordingly, St Theresa's Mass times do not conflict. They are on Sundays at 11:00 am and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12 pm.

The church featured episodes of Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks . There was a marriage ceremony and a funeral filmed there.[ citation needed ]

Exterior and grounds

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainhill</span> Village in England

Rainhill is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2011 census was 10,853.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donhead St Mary</span> Human settlement in England

Donhead St Mary is a village and civil parish in southwest Wiltshire, England, on the county border with Dorset. The village lies about 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) east of the Dorset town of Shaftesbury and stands on high ground above the River Nadder, which rises in the parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary on the Quay</span> Church in Bristol, United Kingdom

St Mary on the Quay is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Bristol, England. It is situated on Colston Avenue, next to Beacon Tower in the centre of the city. It is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Bristol; the first one built after the Reformation. it was formerly administered by the Society of Jesus and is currently served by the Divine Word Missionaries. It is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evelyn, Princess Blücher</span> English diarist and memoirist

Evelyn Fürstin Blücher von Wahlstatt was an English diarist and memoirist, who wrote a standard account of life as a civilian aristocrat in Germany during World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael's Church, Ditton</span> Church in Cheshire, England

St Michael's Church is in St Michael's Road, Ditton, Widnes, Halton, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active Roman Catholic church.

William Bernard, 12th Baron Petre "a pattern of charity and piety", was an enthusiastic builder of churches. To a greater or lesser extent, he was responsible for new churches in Brentwood, Chipping Ongar, Barking, Romford and Chelmsford and a mortuary chapel in the grounds of Thorndon Hall, as well as twice extending the chapel at Ingatestone Hall, which then served as the parish church for the locality.

Bartholomew Bretherton (1812–1866) was a jockey from Maghull, north of Liverpool who rode many times in the Grand National as an amateur rider, winning the race in 1840 in the colours of Henry Villebois on his horse Jerry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainhill Hall</span> Building in Merseyside, United Kingdom

Rainhill Hall or Loyola Hall is a Grade II listed country house built in the 19th century in Rainhill, Merseyside, England, by Bartholomew Bretherton. It is situated on the Warrington Road, next to St Bartholomew's Church. From 1923 to 2014, it was a retreat house run by the Society of Jesus. From 2017, it has been a hotel and wedding venue owned by Signature Living.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Great Yarmouth</span> Church in Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom

St Mary's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. It is situated on Regent Road in the centre of the town. It was originally built by the Society of Jesus in the late 1840s and it is now administered by the Diocese of East Anglia. The architect was Joseph John Scoles who also designed the Anglican St Mary's church in the Southtown area of Great Yarmouth and it is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Joseph and St Francis Xavier Church</span> Church in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

St Joseph and St Francis Xavier Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Richmond, North Yorkshire. It is situated between Newbiggin and Victoria Road to the south of Richmondshire Cricket Club. The church was built in 1868 and was designed by George Goldie. It was founded by the Society of Jesus and it is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Austin's Church, Wakefield</span> Church in Wakefield, England

St Austin's Church is a Roman Catholic Church building in Wakefield, England. It is situated near where Northgate meets Marsh Way close to the city centre. It was founded in 1827 by the Society of Jesus and is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Rhyl</span> Church in Denbighshire, United Kingdom

Our Lady of the Assumption Church, also known as St Mary's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Rhyl, Denbighshire. It was founded in 1851 by the Society of Jesus and was rebuilt in 1973. The original foundation was the first church the Jesuits built in Wales after establishing St Beuno's College in 1848.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annunciation Church, Chesterfield</span> Church in Chesterfield, United Kingdom

Annunciation Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1854. Located in Spencer Street, near Saltergate and off-Newbold Road, it was designed by the architect Joseph Hansom and is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Winefride Church, South Wimbledon</span> Church in South Wimbledon, United Kingdom

St Winefride Church is Roman Catholic Parish church in South Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. It was founded as a chapel of ease of Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon by the Society of Jesus in 1905. It is Grade II listed building and was designed by Frederick Walters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bartholomew Bretherton</span>

Bartholomew Bretherton (c.1775–1857) was a coach proprietor and landowner who lived in Rainhill, near Liverpool. He founded St Bartholomew's Church, Rainhill and owned Rainhill House, which became Loyola Hall.

Rainhill is a civil parish in St Helens, Merseyside, England. It contains 20 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, two are listed at Grade II*, the middle of the three grades, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish was originally rural, and within it was a coaching stop on the turnpike road between Liverpool and Warrington. Following the arrival of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in the 1830s, the settlements of Rainhill and Rainhill Stoops grew, and merged to become a dormitory residential area. The listed buildings include farmhouses and farm buildings, and large houses that have been converted for later uses. Associated with the railway are its skew bridge and the station. The other listed buildings include churches, a school, an ancient cross, and a water tower.

Mary Stapleton-Bretherton (1809-1883) was a Papal Marchesa and landowner who lived in Ditton and Rainhill near Liverpool. She founded many Roman Catholic churches and owned The Hall, Rainhill, Lancashire, and Lackham Manor, Wiltshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Peter's Church, Stonyhurst</span> Church in Stonyhurst, England

St Peter's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish Church in Stonyhurst. It is the parish church for Hurst Green, Lancashire and a chapel for Stonyhurst College. It was built from 1832 to 1835 and designed by Joseph John Scoles in the Gothic Revival style. It was founded by the Society of Jesus and has been served by Jesuit priests since. It is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Worksop</span> Church in Worksop, England

St Marys Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England. It was built from 1838 to 1840 by Weightman and Hadfield in the Gothic Revival style. It is located on Park Street to the south of the town centre. It was paid for by Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk after the sale of Worksop Manor and was once visited by Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It is a Grade II listed building.

References

  1. ↑ British Listed Buildings retrieved 1 September 2013
  2. 1 2 Historic England, "Monument No. 518317", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 1 September 2013
  3. ↑ British History Online retrieved 1 September 2013
  4. ↑ 1840 Grand National
  5. ↑ O'Neill, John A. (1990). The Church and Parish of St. Bartholomew, Rainhill 1840-1990. Parish of St. Bartholomew, Rainhill. pp. 16, 19 & Appendix E.
  6. ↑ Dyckhoff SJ, Christopher (1994). A Quiet Place: A History of Loyola Hall St. Helens, p.7
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.