St Wilfrid's Church, Preston
| St. Wilfrid's Preston | |
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| Catholic Church of Saint Wilfrid, Preston | |
North end of St Wilfrid's Church, Chapel Street, Preston
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 St. Wilfrid's Preston
Location in Preston
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| Coordinates: 53°45′27″N 2°42′10″W / 53.757478°N 2.702855°W | |
| OS grid reference | SD5376529221 |
| Location | Preston, Lancashire |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | http://www.stwilfrids.info/ |
| History | |
| Founded | April 1792 |
| Founder(s) | Fr Joseph 'Daddy' Dunn |
| Dedication | St Wilfrid |
| Events |
Remodelled 1879-80 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Active |
| Functional status | Parish church |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 27 September 1979 |
| Architect(s) | Ignatius Scoles and S.J.Nichols |
| Style | Neo-classical |
| Completed | June 1794 |
| Construction cost | £4000 |
| Administration | |
| Deanery | Preston |
| Diocese | Lancaster |
| Province | Liverpool |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Bishop Michael Campbell OSA |
| Priest(s) | Fr Stephen Patterson SJ |
Remodelled 1879-80
Saint Wilfrid's is a Roman Catholic church run by the Society of Jesus, in the city centre of Preston, Lancashire, England. It was built in 1793 and is situated between Fishergate and Winckley Square on Chapel Street.
The church is dedicated to Wilfrid (c.633-c.709), an English bishop and saint. He founded a monastic community in Ripon and was Bishop of Northumbria from 664-668 and 714-732.
Saint Wilfrid must have had a particular devotion in Preston, because the original parish church of Preston, what is now St. John's Minster was originally called St Wilfrid's. However, after it changed its dedication to St. John the Baptist in 1581, and again to St. John the Evangelist in 1770, it meant that when St. Wilfrid's church was built in 1793, there not be any confusion between the two.
The first post-reformation Catholic church in Preston was established by Jesuits in 1761, St Mary's in Friargate.
This church, now demolished, soon became too small and was replaced by St Wilfrid's which was begun in April 1792 and finished 14 months later and cost £4000.
The church was built before the Restoration of the English Catholic hierarchy, which probably explains why such a large church is relatively indiscreet in the landscape of Preston city centre. Instead of being at right-angles to the street, it is parallel and does not have a surrounding green space or a spire to make it more distinctive.
The driving force behind the building of the church was Father Joseph 'Daddy' Dunn, a Jesuit who continued ministering as a Catholic priest during the suppression of the Society of Jesus.
The first stage of building the church was to have plain brick edifice with a balcony around the three sides facing the altar inside. However, soon the congregation outgrew the church and it was decided not only that the church needed expanding, but it needed to be grander.
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Wikipedia