Saint Walburge's Church, Preston, Saved. Wonderful News. Deo Gratias.

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Saint Walburge's Catholic Church, Preston, England,

is a magnificent Catholic Church with a

307-foot Spire (third tallest Spire in Britain).

Photo: 26 March 2008.

Source: From geograph.org.uk;

transferred by User:Belovedfreak

using geograph_org2commons.

Author: Alexander P Kapp.

Derivative works of this file:

Saint Walburg's Catholic Church, Preston.jpg

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Walburge's is a Roman Catholic Church located in Preston, Lancashire, England. The Church was built in the Mid-19th-Century by the Gothic Revival architect, Joseph Hansom, designer of the Hansom Cab, and is famous as having the tallest Spire of any Parish Church in England. Saint Walburge's is designated by English Heritage as a Grade I Listed Building.

Saint Walburge's, with several other Churches in Preston, has been threatened with closure by the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster since 2007. This has aroused much interest because of the quality of its architecture, its significance to the Parish and its landmark status in Preston. The closure has been given a stay of seven years from August 2008 and local fund-raising drives are underway to supplement grants towards the restoration of this important building. David Garrard, the Historic Churches Adviser of The Victorian Society said:

An outstanding building by an ingenious and imaginative architect, Saint Walburge’s is one of Preston’s greatest historic buildings. It was built to express the pride and confidence of the Roman Catholic community, after legal restrictions on religious observance were lifted in the 19th-Century. To close it now would cost local people access to some of Lancashire’s richest heritage.

Saint Walburge's is dedicated to Saint Walpurga, an English Saint, born 710 A.D., daughter of Saint Richard, a Saxon King. With her two brothers, Saint. Willibald and Saint Winebald, she went to Germany as a Missionary. She was renowned for her miraculous healing of illnesses. The Church is part of the Catholic Revival that transpired during the time of England's Catholic Emancipation.

The Nave,

looking East towards the High Altar.

Saint Walburge's Catholic Church,

Preston, England.

Photo: 25 May 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mdbeckwith.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Walburge's Church is situated in the Maudlands district of Preston, so called because of its association with Saint Mary Magdalene, of which name the word "Maudlands" is a corruption. Saint Walburge's is located near the site of a 12th-Century leprosy hospital dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene.

In 1847, at a time of great Roman Catholic Revival in England, and prosperity brought by the textile mills of Lancashire, the architect, Joseph Hansom, was commissioned to build a large Church. Work began on the construction of the Church in May 1850, and it was ready for an opening ceremony on 3 August 1854. The Church was further extended, with its polygonal Sanctuary, with central window 35 feet (11 m) high, being added in 1873.

Externally, Saint Walburge's Spire, rising to 309 feet (94 m) is the dominant landmark in Preston and is one of the tallest structures of any sort in Lancashire. After Salisbury Cathedral and Norwich Cathedral, it is the third tallest Spire in the United Kingdom, and is the tallest on a Parish Church. The Steeple is constructed from Limestone Sleepers, which originally carried the nearby Preston and Longridge Railway, giving the Spire a red tint during sunset.

The Nave,

looking West towards the Rose Window.

Saint Walburge's Catholic Church,

Preston, England.

Photo: 25 May 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mdbeckwith.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Spire was the last to be worked upon by steeplejack and TV personality Fred Dibnah. Dibnah installed his red ladders to inspect the Steeple, but television filming commitments then meant he was unable to complete the job. The ladders were left at the Church for several years and were donated to the tradesman who eventually took the job.

The Tower contains a single Bell of 31 cwt (1.5 tonnes), cast by Mears and Stainbank of Whitechapel, which is the heaviest Swinging Bell in Lancashire. The use of the Bell is restricted, due to protected birds nesting in the Belfry, meaning it can only be rung in Winter months.

Saint Walburge's is renowned not just for its height but also for the inventive quality of its architecture, in which the architect has looked to Gothic models, employing the traditional features in a creative and harmonious way. The Open Churches Trust says of Saint Walburge's that it is "undoubtedly, an architectural gem of the North-West of England."

Saint Walburge's Catholic Church,

Preston, England.

Photo: 18 August 2007.

Source: Geograph project.

Author: Betty Longbottom.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The New Red Sandstone facade presents as an non-Aisled Church with a very steep Gable. A strongly-horizontal Arcade divides the facade into two zones, balanced by strongly-projecting Buttresses and Corner Pinnacles, typical of many English Gothic Cathedrals. The upper zone is dominated by a Rose Window, 22 feet (7 m) in diameter, occupying almost the full width of the Nave.

The Interior, which seats about 1,000 people, is 165 feet (50 m) long and 55 feet (17 m) wide. The open wooden Roof of 83 feet (25 m) is supported of fourteen Hammer Beams, on the ends of which stand life-sized carved figures of Saints. The Church contains an Organ, by William Hill of London, 1855.

Other significant features include a wooden Triptych, and a Crucifix with the Shield of Preston, and the motto "Princeps Pacis". Saint Ignatius of Loyola is also prominently represented to the right in the Sanctuary, echoing the influence of the Jesuit Priests, still active in the City. The Patron Saints of Great Britain are also represented.

On Sunday, 6 April 2014, RORATE CAELI carried the following Article on Saint Walburge's Church, Preston, England:

New Foundation of the Institute of Christ the King in England:

Saint Walburge, Preston, Diocese of Lancaster.

The well-loved and iconic Catholic Church of Saint Walburge, Preston, has been given a promise of a sustainable future and a new lease-of-life following an announcement on Sunday 6 April 2014 by the Bishop of Lancaster, the Rt Rev Michael G Campbell OSA.

The announcement (in a Pastoral Message) was that Bishop Michael Campbell and Monsignor Gilles Wach, General Prior of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, together with Parish Priest, Father Simon Hawksworth, have agreed to establish a Foundation of the Institute at the Church of Saint Walburge, Preston, in the early Autumn.

The arrival and presence of the Institute – a Society of Apostolic life of Pontifical Right – will, according to Bishop Campbell, enable the Church to be open each day (which it is not at present), so as to become a Shrine or Centre for Eucharistic Devotion and Adoration. The Shrine will specifically provide for the Celebration of Holy Mass, and the Sacraments, in the Extraordinary Form.