Sacred Heart Church, Blackpool

Sacred Heart Church
Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary[1]

Sacred Heart Church, from Talbot Road
Sacred Heart Church
Location in Blackpool
Coordinates: 53°49′10″N 3°03′13″W / 53.8195°N 3.0537°W / 53.8195; -3.0537
OS grid reference SD 3072636433
Location Blackpool, Lancashire
Country England
Denomination Roman Catholic
Architecture
Functional status Active
Heritage designation Grade II*
Designated 20 October 1983
Architect(s) E. W. Pugin
Style English Gothic
Completed 1857
Administration
Diocese Lancaster

The Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, or Sacred Heart Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the seaside resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Located on Talbot Road close to the town centre, it was the first Roman Catholic church built in Blackpool. It has been designated a Grade II* listed building by English Heritage.

History

Sacred Heart Church was founded by the Jesuits as the town's first Roman Catholic church.[1][2] It was built in 1857 to a design by Edward Welby Pugin.[3] The church was enlarged, to the east, in 1894, to a design by Pugin & Pugin.[2] It was designated as a Grade II* listed building by English Heritage on 20 October 1983.[4][3] The Grade II* listing is for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest".[5] Sacred Heart is an active church in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster. The parish priest is Canon Robert Dewhurst.[6]

Architecture

The church is constructed of stone, with slate roofs, in the English Gothic style.[3] Its plan consists of a four-bay nave with an octagonal crossing, around which the aisles and transepts lie.[2][3] The lead roof over the crossing is pyramidal and has an octagonal wooden lantern with side tracery. The lantern itself has a pyramidal roof of copper.[2][3] The church tower is to the west; it has four stages with angled buttresses and corner pinnacles, and buttressed aisles with clerestories.[2][3] There are three-light windows in the aisles and four-light windows in the nave transepts. Stained glass in the nave windows was designed by Frances Barnett of Leith.[2] The windows of the 1894 extension are larger than elsewhere and have reticulated tracery. The large east window has stained glass, possibly by William Wailes.[2]

The nave arcades are supported by clustered marble piers with foliated tops and moulded lancet arches.[2][3] There is a two-bay gallery to the west.[2] The chancel is flanked by two lady chapels. The church fittings include a white marble octagonal pulpit that is carved and sits on red and black columns.[3]

There is a Neo-Georgian presbytery to the east of the building that was built c. 1950, and a former school to the west that dates from 1898.[2] The church has no graveyard.[7]

Photograph of the Nave in Sacred Heart Church
Photograph of the altar in Sacred Heart Church

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Farrer, William; Brownbill, J., eds. (1912), "Townships: Layton with Warbreck", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7, pp. 247–251, retrieved 14 April 2011
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hartwell & Pevsner (2009), pp. 137–38
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Church of the Sacred Heart", National Heritage List for England, English Heritage, retrieved 29 April 2011
  4. ↑ Pevsner (1969), p. 69
  5. ↑ Listed Buildings, English Heritage, 2010, retrieved 22 August 2011
  6. ↑ "Candlelit Carols in Resort's Hidden Gem", Blackpool Gazette, 20 December 2010, retrieved 14 April 2011
  7. ↑ "Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary, Blackpool — Roman Catholic", GENUKI, retrieved 14 April 2011

Bibliography

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