(Courtesy: Red Rose Collection)
St Mary’s Church, located on Main Road in Bolton-le-Sands, is a Grade II listed building. It is recognised for its architectural and historical significance and is included on the National Heritage List for England. The church is protected legally under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended. The church’s list entry number is 1163533.
Key details of St Mary’s Church:
- Original Name: Formerly listed as the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary of the Angels.
- Construction: Built in 1880 by E. Simpson of Bradford.
- Materials: Constructed using snecked sandstone rubble with sandstone dressings and a slate roof.
- Location: The National Grid Reference for the church is SD 48408 67768.
- Architectural Features:
- Tall nave and chancel with a continuous ridge line.
- Low lean-to aisles with slightly higher pitched roofs to the chancel aisles.
- Small lancet windows in the aisles and clearstorey.
- Tall lancets, hood, and vesica at the west end.
- Steeply-arched 5-light decorated east window.
- Slim south-west tower, heavily buttressed and square, broached to a louvred octagon above with a pyramidal roof.
- Interior Details:
- Five-bay arcade with marble columns and heavy sculptural detail.
- Chancel arch with ringed shafts on heavily carved corbels.
- Short two-bay chancel with a tall stone reredos and stencilled wall decoration.
- Timber gallery on marble columns at the west end.
- Open timber roof in the nave with high collars, king posts, and arcaded ashlaring.
- Some stained glass of late 19th-century date.
(Courtesy: Red Rose Collections)
History: St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church was officially opened in 1884, replacing a smaller chapel that had been in use since 1868 at The Nook. The new church was built within two years and consecrated by the Bishop of Leeds.
The legal protection applies to the structure and any object fixed to it, whether inside or outside. It also extends to any structure within the curtilage of the building that has been part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
(Courtesy: Geography.org.uk)
According to Taking Stock, the church was built at the expense of the Clarksons and the Coulstons, two wealthy Catholic families. Henry Clarkson provided a converted stone barn for worship, and he and Anne Coulston acquired the site for the church. The foundation stone was laid in September 1882 by Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of Westminster, and the building was completed and consecrated in 1884. The cemetery was consecrated in 1886.
(Courtesy: Flower Design Events)
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