Our Lady Good Council And Guardian Angels Catholic Church

The Catholic parish of Elton, in the Diocese of Salford. The present church on Harvey Street is the congregation's third home in seventy years.

From temperance hall to tin church

Mass was said in Elton for the first time on 30 January 1887, in a temporary chapel set up in the old Temperance Hall at Woolfold. Fr Pozzi was appointed the first rector, and it was he who gave the mission its double dedication to Our Lady of Good Counsel and the Guardian Angels.

A school-chapel opened later that same year but was quickly outgrown. A church was built alongside it and opened in 1892; having a wooden interior under an iron covering, it was known locally as the "iron" or "tin" church.

The present church

Land on Harvey Street was bought in 1930, though building had to wait a quarter of a century. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Beck on 3 March 1956 and the church opened in the spring of 1957. The architect was Richard Byrom of Bury, who designed a great many churches for the diocese between the wars and after.

Sources: Taking Stock — Catholic churches of England and Wales.