St Mary’s, Horwich

St Mary's in Horwich was built in 1905-1906 to designs by Randolph & Holt and opened on 7 May 1906. It replaced an earlier church-school that had become too small as the town grew around its railway works. The mission had been established in 1884, with the first church-school opening in 1886.

Architecture
The stone church is set back from Chorley New Road. Its cruciform plan, pointed lancet windows and steep roofs draw on Early English Gothic forms. The presbytery was designed as part of the same group and partly screens the sanctuary from the road.

Details inside
Taking Stock records a ribbed timber wagon roof and carved altars and reredos made by Ferdinand Stuflesser in the mid-1930s. The carvings include the Annunciation, Nativity and Last Supper. The building illustrates the expansion of Catholic provision in an industrial railway town.

Map position: church point or building centre from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photograph: St Mary's Roman Catholic Church and Presbytery, Horwich - geograph.org.uk - 5782372.jpg by Gerald England, via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0. Shown at reduced size; no other alterations.