St Anne's Church, Blackburn

St Anne's Church
St Anne's Church
	Front entrance (2005)
	St Anne's Church Location in Blackburn
	53°44′48″N 2°29′16″W / 53.746752°N 2.487730°W
OS grid reference	SD 67934 27933
Location	Blackburn, Lancashire
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	SacredHeartBlackburn.org.uk
History
Status	Active
Dedication	Saint Anne
Events	Rebuilt in 2004
Architecture
Functional status	Parish church
Architect(s)	Hill, Sandy & Norris
Style	Lombard Romanesque
Groundbreaking	1925
Completed	24 December 1926
Construction cost	£20,000
Administration
Province	Liverpool
Diocese	Salford
Deanery	Blackburn
Parish	Sacred Heart and St Anne

St Anne's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. It was founded in 1848, built in 1926 and designed by the architectural firm of Hill, Sandy & Norris of Manchester, who were also behind the construction of St John the Baptist Church in Rochdale.

It is situated on the corner of Prince's Street and Paradise Street, next to St Anne's Catholic Primary School and close to King Street in the centre of the town. It was built in the Lombard Romanesque style. In December 2000 the church suffered an arson attack which gutted the building; it was rebuilt in 2004.^[2]^[3]^[4]

History

St Alban's Church

St Alban's Church was the first Roman Catholic church to be built in Blackburn since the English Reformation. It was from St Alban's Church that St Anne's Church was founded. In 1773, a pair of cottages on Chapel Street were turned into a chapel. In 1781, a purpose-built chapel was constructed next to the converted cottages.

It was paid for by a Mrs Mary Hodgson and cost £400. In 1819, Fr James Sharples became priest of the Blackburn mission. In 1823, he bought a site for a larger church in the Larkhill part of Blackburn. From 1824 to 1826, a church was built on that site. It was a Georgian building with a Romanesque Revival tower.

In the 1880s and 1890s, plans were made to build a larger church on the site by the priests of the church, Dean John Newton (died 1896) and Canon Peter Lonsdale. The architect was Edward Goldie. On 13 October 1898, the foundation stone was laid by the Bishop of Salford, Herbert Vaughan. On 8 December 1901, the church was opened.

The firm behind the construction of the church was John Boland of Blackburn, and the building cost £20,000.^[5]

Foundation of St Anne's Church

From 1848, a mission was established in the centre of Blackburn from St Alban's Church. That year a building housing a church and school was built on Paradise Street. It was designed by Weightman and Hadfield. In August 1849, it opened. In 1852, the church was rebuilt, so that it could accommodate 500 people. In 1869, this church was extended by adding a new sanctuary, mortuary chapel, aisle and baptistry.^[6]

Construction

In 1925, the foundation stone of the present church was laid by Fr William Shine. It was constructed on the site of the building that housed the church and school in 1848. It cost an estimated £20,000, had a capacity of 800 people and was designed by the Hill, Sandy & Norris architectural firm. Fr Shine died a few days after laying the foundation stone.

The next priest for the church, Fr Thomas Henshaw, became the Bishop of Salford after a few months. His successor, Fr Thomas Singleton, oversaw the remaining construction. At midnight of 24 December 1926, the church was opened.

Over the course of the next two years, the interior was added to with the installation of side altars dedicated to the Sacred Heart and the Blessed Virgin Mary, altar rails, a sanctuary lamp, marble pulpit, organ and baptismal font.^[6] In 1932, the high altar was installed. In 1947, the church that was built in 1852 was turned into a parish hall. In 1966, the presbytery was replaced by the present one. It was designed by the firm, Desmond Williams & Associates from Manchester.^[6]

Rebuilding

In 2000, with the depopulation of the town, plans were drawn up for the church to be reduced in size. In December 2000, the church was damaged by an arson attack. A campaign was started with the aim of raising £600,000 to repair the church and reduce it in size, so that it could accommodate two hundred people. The west side of the church was rebuilt, and the area in front of the church was redesigned.^[6]

Parish

Sacred Heart Church

St Anne's Church is served from Sacred Heart Church in Blackburn. In 1900, Sacred Heart Church was founded as a mission from St Anne's Church, by Fr Edward Woods. On 5 May 1900, the foundation stone of Sacred Heart Church was laid by the Bishop of Salford, John Bilsborrow. The church was originally located on the corner of St Silas' Road and Leamington Road in the town.

On 14 July 1901, the church was opened by Bishop Bilsborrow. On 29 October 1905, Sacred Heart Church became its own parish. On 15 October 1937, the foundation stone of the present Sacred Heart Church was laid by Bishop Henshaw. On 30 September 1938, the church was opened and the first Mass there was said.^[4]

Times

St Anne's Church has one Sunday Mass, at 12:30 pm. Sacred Heart Church has two Sunday Masses at 6:15 pm on Saturday and at 10:30 am on Sunday.^[7]

St Alban's Church is part of the St Alban and Good Shepherd Parish together with Good Shepherd Church on Earl Street, Blackburn, and Holy Souls Church on Whalley New Road in Brownhill. St Alban's Church has three Sunday Masses at 6:30 pm on Saturday, and 9:00 am and 11:15 am on Sunday. Good Shepherd Church has one Sunday Mass at 10:15 am. Holy Souls Church has two Sunday Masses at 10:00 am and 5:00 pm.^[7]

References

^ SacredHeartBlackburn.org.uk retrieved 14 February 2016
^ Emma Cruces, Blackburn church boosted by Polish services from Lancashire Telegraph, 12 October 2008, retrieved 14 February 2016
^ St Anne's Church from Blackburn Heritage, retrieved 14 February 2016
^ ^a ^b History from SacredHeartBlackburn.org.uk, retrieved 14 February 2016
^ Blackburn - St Alban from English Heritage, retrieved 15 February 2016
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Blackburn - St Anne from English Heritage, retrieved 14 February 2016
^ ^a ^b Directory from Diocese of Salford, retrieved 14 February 2016

External links

Media related to St Anne's Church, Blackburn at Wikimedia Commons
Sacred Heart and St Anne Parish site
St Alban and Good Shepherd Parish site

[1] SacredHeartBlackburn.org.uk retrieved 14 February 2016

[2] Emma Cruces, Blackburn church boosted by Polish services from Lancashire Telegraph, 12 October 2008, retrieved 14 February 2016

[3] St Anne's Church from Blackburn Heritage, retrieved 14 February 2016

[hist-4] History from SacredHeartBlackburn.org.uk, retrieved 14 February 2016

[5] Blackburn - St Alban from English Heritage, retrieved 15 February 2016

[stock-6] Blackburn - St Anne from English Heritage, retrieved 14 February 2016

[dir-7] Directory from Diocese of Salford, retrieved 14 February 2016

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v t e Diocese of Salford
Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford
Bishops of Salford I: William Turner II: Herbert Vaughan III: John Bilsborrow IV: Louis Casartelli V: Thomas Henshaw VI: Henry Marshall VII: George Beck VIII: Thomas Holland IX: Patrick Kelly X: Terence Brain (Bishop Emeritus) XI: John Arnold
Churches Salford Cathedral - Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist St Anne's Church, Blackburn Pleasington Priory St Patrick's Church, Bolton Church of St Mary of the Assumption, Burnley St Marie's Church, Bury St Michael and St John Church, Clitheroe St Mary's Church, Manchester (Hidden Gem) Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, Manchester Manchester Oratory Gorton Monastery St Wilfrid's Church, Hulme Corpus Christi Priory Christ Church, Nelson Our Lady and St Joseph Church, Heywood Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Patrick Church, Oldham St John the Baptist Church, Rochdale St Peter's Church, Stonyhurst St Ann's, Stretford All Saints' Church, Urmston
Patronal Feasts of the Diocese Saint Joseph (19 March) Our Lady of Mount Carmel (16 July)
Schools Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Accrington St Damian's Roman Catholic Science College, Ashton-under-Lyne Brownedge St Mary's Catholic High School, Bamber Bridge Our Lady and St John Catholic College, Blackburn St Mary's College, Blackburn Thornleigh Salesian College, Bolton Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic College, Burnley Holy Cross College, Bury St Gabriel's Roman Catholic High School, Bury Ss John Fisher and Thomas More Roman Catholic High School, Colne St Thomas More Roman Catholic College, Denton The Barlow Roman Catholic High School, Didsbury St Patrick's Roman Catholic High School, Eccles Mount St Joseph School, Farnworth Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College, Heywood St Joseph's Roman Catholic High School, Horwich St Cecilia's Roman Catholic High School, Longridge Loreto College, Manchester Our Lady's Roman Catholic High School, Manchester St Bede's College, Manchester St Matthew's Roman Catholic High School, Manchester St Peter's Roman Catholic High School, Manchester Xaverian College, Manchester Blessed John Henry Newman Roman Catholic College, Oldham St Monica's High School, Prestwich All Saints' Catholic High School, Rawtenstall All Hallows Roman Catholic High School, Salford St Anne's RC Voluntary Academy, Stockport Stella Maris School, Stockport Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall St Antony's Roman Catholic School, Urmston St Ambrose Barlow Roman Catholic High School, Wardley
See also Apostolic Vicariate of the Lancashire District Wardley Hall St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery (Wardley) John Vaughan Geoffrey Burke
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