St Mary and St John Church, Wolverhampton

St Mary and St John Church
Ss. Mary & John Parish Church
52°34′54″N2°07′31″W / 52.5816°N 2.1253°W / 52.5816; -2.1253
OS grid reference	SO9160698206
Location	Wolverhampton, West Midlands
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	SsMaryandJohn.co.uk
History
Status	Active
Dedication	Our Lady and St John
Consecrated	1905
Architecture
Functional status	Parish church
Heritage designation	Grade II* listed
Designated	16 July 1949 [1]
Architect(s)	Charles Hansom
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1851
Completed	1880
Administration
Province	Birmingham
Archdiocese	Birmingham
Deanery	Wolverhampton [2]

St Mary and St John Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It was opened in 1855 and designed by Charles Hansom. It is situated on the corner of Snow Hill and Ring Road St Georges. It is Grade II* listed building and has been served by the Pauline Fathers since 2002. ^[1]

History

Construction

It was built from 1851 in the Gothic Revival style. It was opened in 1855 and the architect was Charles Hansom. ^[1] He also designed St Osburg's Church, Coventry in 1845 and Erdington Abbey in 1848. After St Mary and St John Church he went on to be behind the construction of St Gregory's Church, Cheltenham in 1854, Plymouth Cathedral in 1856 and Our Lady of the Angels and St Peter in Chains Church, Stoke-on-Trent in 1857.

Developments

From 1879 to 1880, the church was enlarged. Charles Hansom was also responsible for the extension. Twenty-five years later, in 1905, the church was consecrated. The glass in the east end of the church was made by Hardman & Co. In 2002, the administration of the church was handed over to the Pauline Fathers, who have served the parish ever since. ^{[1] [3] [4]}

Parish

St Teresa's Church, also served by the Pauline Fathers

The Pauline Fathers of the parish also staff two other surrounding parishes. They serve St Teresa of the Infant Jesus Church in Wednesfield and St Patrick's Church in the east of Wolverhampton. St Teresa's Church was originally built in 1933. With the increasing congregation, a new larger church building had to be constructed. On 26 March 1967, the foundation stone was laid and on 7 December 1969, the new church was opened on the corner of Birmingham New Road and Dimmock Street. The old church building became a church hall. ^[5]

St Patrick's Parish was founded in 1865. The foundation stone of the original church was laid in 1866 and the architect was E. W. Pugin. In the 1960s, with the building of the ring road, the church was demolished and the current site on the corner of Wolverhampton Road and Coronation Road, next to New Cross Hospital was provided by the local council for construction of a new church building. The church was opened in 1972. ^[6]

St Mary and St Church has three Sunday Masses, they are at 5 pm on Saturday and 10:00am and 12 noon on Sunday. St Teresa's Church is closed down and St Patrick's have two Sunday Masses. St Patrick's Church has its Sunday Masses at 9:30am and 6 pm. ^[2]

Exterior

• 
  East side of church
• 
  Entrance

Media

1984 BBC One's Midnight Mass was televised from the Church on Monday, 24 December. The then parish priest, The Rt Rev Joseph Cleary and curate Fr Brian McGinley celebrated the mass. The music for the mass included 0 little town of Bethlehem, Once in Royal David's city, In the bleak mid-winter and Hark' the herald-angels sing. ^[7]

See also

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham

References

1. Catholic Church of St Mary and St John, Wolverhampton from British Listed Buildings, retrieved 2 February 2016
2. Deaneries Archived 9 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine from Archdiocese of Birmingham, retrieved 2 February 2016
3. Our Church from SsMaryandJohn.co.uk, retrieved 2 February 2016
4. SsMaryandJohn.co.uk, retrieved 2 February 2016
5. Our Church from STeresa.co.uk, retrieved 2 February 2016
6. Our Church from StPatrickWV.co.uk, retrieved 2 February 2016
7. BBC One Schedule Archive - retrieved December 9 2024

External links

• St Mary and St John Parish site
• St Teresa of the Infant Jesus Parish site
• St Patrick's Parish site