St Alban's Church, Warrington

St Alban's Church, Warrington
St Alban's Church, Warrington, west end
St Alban's Church, Warrington Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°23′35″N 2°35′49″W / 53.3930°N 2.5970°W / 53.3930; -2.5970
OS grid reference	SJ 603 886
Location	Bewsey Street, Warrington, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	St Alban's Warrington
History
Dedication	Saint Alban
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	4 April 1975
Architect(s)	Edward Alcock, Peter Paul Pugin
Architectural type	Church
Groundbreaking	1823
Completed	1909
Specifications
Materials	Brick
Administration
Diocese	Liverpool
Clergy
Priest(s)	Fr Christopher Cunningham

St Alban's Church, Warrington is in Bewsey Street near to the centre of the town of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building,^[1] and is an active Roman Catholic parish church.^[2]

History

The parish was founded in 1772 by the Benedictine monks of Ampleforth Abbey.^[2] The present building dates from 1823 and was designed by Edward Alcock.^[3] In 1893 the sanctuary, designed by Peter Paul Pugin, was added to the church.^[4] The west façade was refashioned in 1909.^[3]

Description

The church is built in brick.^[3] Its plan consists of a nave with a shallow apsidal sanctuary, a west porch and a five-sided baptistry at the northwest corner. The porch is pedimented and has a round-headed archway with two orders.^[1] Above this are three round-arched windows and the roof is gabled.^[3] The altar, reredos and sanctuary area were designed by Peter Paul Pugin. The stone and alabaster free-standing and canopied altar was made by Boulton's of Cheltenham. On the north side of the sanctuary is the Lady Altar, also by Pugin. The paintings, which depict saints, were executed by Joseph Pippett of Birmingham. The reredos depicts the legend of St Alban. The stained glass in the west windows and in the windows in the north and south walls also depict saints.^[4] The parish registers go back to 1774.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Roman Catholic Church of St Alban, Warrington", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1161260, retrieved 7 May 2011 
2. ^ ^{a b c} St Alban's, Warrington, St Alban's, Warrington, http://www.communigate.co.uk/chesh/stalban/, retrieved 5 May 2008 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Pollard, Richard; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006), Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 608, ISBN 0-300-10910-5 
4. ^ ^{a b} The Church of St Alban, St Alban's, Warrington, http://www.communigate.co.uk/chesh/stalban/page1.phtml, retrieved 5 May 2008