St. Mary's Catholic College (Blackpool)
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| Motto | Semper Fidelis |
|---|---|
| Established | 1856 1975 (merger) |
| Type | Academy |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Headteacher | Mr Simon Eccles |
| Location |
St Walburga's Road Blackpool Lancashire FY3 7EQ England Coordinates: 53°49′37″N 3°01′16″W / 53.8269°N 3.0210°W |
| Local authority | Blackpool |
| DfE number | 890/4601 |
| DfE URN | 141257 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports Pre-academy reports |
| Students | 1334 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Website | St Mary's Catholic Academy |
St Mary's Catholic Academy (formerly St Mary's Catholic College) is a school in Layton, Blackpool, Lancashire. The school was involved with the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme and, despite the scheme being cancelled, it was announced in August 2010 that for this school it would go ahead.
With more than 1800 pupils, it is the largest Roman Catholic secondary school in Lancashire. The school is on the site of the former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus (usually known as Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool), on St. Walburga's Road near to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
The Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ) is a Catholic religious order for women which was founded in England in 1846. It follows the rules of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit order for men). In 1856, Alexander Goss, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Liverpool (in which Diocese Blackpool then was) invited the sisters of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus to send out a branch from their house in Liverpool to teach in Father Bampton's Poor School on Talbot Road, Blackpool and they had arrived with 12 girl boarders. With accommodation in Queen's Square acquired for themselves and for the girls, the school flourished. It was run by a man.
After four years of such success, Bishop Goss agreed that the sisters could be rather more adventurous than their original mandate. So, in 1860, the original St Mary's was founded as a school for girls. This original school was located in a building called Raikes Hall in Raikes Parade, Blackpool. It is now a pub called the Raikes Hotel. Success was marked by rapid growth and in 1870 St Mary's moved to the site which the sisters already owned at Layton Hill where were located the original premises, much of which are still extant and form part of the modern school.
The school admitted boys by 1880 but in 1900 they were separated out and St Joseph's College, Blackpool was founded for them in Park Road where they were taught by lay teachers. There were several removals between Park Road and Whitegate Lane (now Whitegate Drive) and back until St Joseph's finally moved to Layton Mount on Newton Drive in 1918. Layton Mount had been built as a residence for Yorkshire mill owner William Lumb in 1895.
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