St Bede's Church, Widnes

St Bede's Church, Widnes
St Bede's Church, Widnes, from the south
St Bede's Church, Widnes Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°22′16″N 2°43′51″W / 53.3711°N 2.7308°W / 53.3711; -2.7308
OS grid reference	SJ 514 863
Location	Widnes, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Dedication	Saint Bede
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	31 October 1983
Architect(s)	Weightman and Hadfield
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1847
Specifications
Materials	Red sandstone, slate roof
Administration
Parish	St Wilfrid, Widnes
Diocese	Liverpool
Clergy
Dean	Fr Michael Fitzsimons

St Bede's Church is in Leigh Avenue, Appleton Village, Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is an active Roman Catholic parish church in the Archdiocese of Liverpool. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

The church was completed in 1847 and had been designed by Weightman and Hadfield. The land was donated by members of the local Dennett family, who also paid towards the cost of the building, which came to £3,000 (equivalent to £250,000 in 2015). The church was consecrated on 22 September 1847. In May 1856 the original church bell was consecrated by Revd Alexander Goss, bishop of Liverpool. This was replaced in 1879 by the present bell, which was blessed by the then bishop of Liverpool, Revd Bernard O'Reilly. In 1922 the church was renovated, and the roof was replaced.

St Bede's is built in red sandstone with a slate roof. Its plan consists of a west tower, a nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, a chancel and a south porch. The tower has angle buttresses and gargoyles, and is crenellated. The windows in the nave are paired lancets, those in the clerestory have trefoil heads, and the tracery in the chancel windows is curvilinear. The entrance to the church is in the tower, and is in Decorated style.