St Mary's Church is a
Roman Catholic Parish church in the Standishgate area of
Wigan ,
Greater Manchester . It was built in 1818 and is a Grade II* listed building. It is in the Wigan deanery of the
Archdiocese of Liverpool . It is within 200 feet of another Catholic church,
St John's Church . They were built in a spirit of competition with each other.
History
Church with its convent on the right
Foundation
On 17 March 1818, its foundation stone was laid; less than a year later, on 27 January 1819, the church was opened.
Originally, the church also known as The Hidden Gem , was served by a priest from St Mary's Church, Manchester . It was only with the restoration of the English Catholic hierarchy in 1850 that the church became part of the archdiocese of Liverpool .
Extensions
With the Catholic population growing, the church was extended and reopened on 19 October 1851. Those present at the ceremony were the Bishop of Liverpool , George Brown and the Bishop of Southwark , Thomas Grant . A new Lady Chapel was opened two weeks later.
In 1859, a Fr Gerard O’Reilly became Rector of the church and, during his time, the organ was rebuilt in 1861, and new pews were installed in 1867.
In 1933, when the Society of Jesus handed over the nearby St John's church to the archdiocese, the two churches began to work in conjunction with each other.
Parish
The church has two Sundays Masses, one at 9:00am and the other at 4:30pm, so that its times do not conflict with St John's church next door. St Mary's Church and St John's Church were united for several years in a single parish. Following a reorganisation of the Wigan pastoral area in 2017 St Mary's again became a one-church parish, with St John's forming a new parish which also included St Patrick's Church.
See also
References
Buildings Places of worship
All Saints' Church, Wigan
Chowbent Chapel
Christ Church, Ince-in-Makerfield
Christ Church, Pennington
St David's Church, Haigh
St George's Church, Tyldesley
St James and St Thomas, Poolstock
St John's Church, Wigan
St John the Baptist's Church, Atherton
St John the Divine's Church, Pemberton
St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Leigh
St Jude's Church, Wigan
St Mary the Virgin's Church, Leigh
St Mary's Church, Wigan
St Matthew's Church, Wigan
St Michael and All Angels' Church, Howe Bridge
Catholic Church of St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith
St Peter's Church, Hindley
St Peter's Church, Westleigh
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Hindsford
St Stephen's Church, Astley
St Stephen's Church, Whelley
St Thomas' Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield
St Wifrid's Church, Standish
Tyldesley Top Chapel
Education Transportation Shopping complexes Sport and entertainment Others Demolished Lists Listed buildings in
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool
Churches
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral - Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King
Church of St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith, Ashton-in-Makerfield
St Mary's Church, Billinge
St Joseph's Church, Birkdale
Church of St Teresa of Avila, Birkdale
Church of St Monica, Bootle
St Michael's Church, Ditton
St Mary of the Isle Church, Douglas
St Anne's Church, Edge Hill
Sacred Heart Church, Hindsford
Church of the Holy Family, Ince Blundell
St John the Evangelist's Church, Kirkdale
St Joseph's Church, Leigh
St Mary's Church, Little Crosby
Our Lady of the Annunciation Church, Liverpool
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Liverpool
Church of Our Lady of Reconciliation, Liverpool
Sacred Heart Church, Liverpool
St Aloysius Church, Liverpool
St Anthony's Church, Scotland Road
St Anthony of Padua Church, Liverpool
St Clare's Church, Liverpool
St Francis Xavier Church, Liverpool
St Mary's Church, Woolton
St Oswald's Church, Liverpool
St Patrick's Church, Liverpool
St Philip Neri Church, Liverpool
Church of St Vincent de Paul, Liverpool
St Oswald's Church, Padgate
Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Portico
Our Lady Immaculate and St Joseph Church, Prescot
St Bartholomew's Church, Rainhill
Our Lady, Star of the Sea & St Maughold Church, Ramsey
Our Lady Star of the Sea, Seaforth
Church of St Mary, Lowe House
Holy Cross Church, St Helens
St Ambrose's Church, Speke
St Alban's Church, Warrington
St Benedict's Church, Warrington
St Mary's Church, Warrington
St Bede's Church, Widnes
St John's Church, Wigan
St Jude's Church, Wigan
St Mary's Church, Wigan
Schools
St Mary's College, Crosby
The Academy of St Francis of Assisi
The Academy of St Nicholas
All Hallows Catholic High School
All Saints Catholic High School, Kirkby
Archbishop Beck Catholic College
Bellerive FCJ Catholic College
Broughton Hall High School
Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School
Carmel College (St Helens)
Christ the King Catholic High School, Southport
De La Salle School, St Helens
Holy Cross Catholic High School, Chorley
Holy Family Catholic High School, Thornton
Hope Academy
Maricourt Catholic School
Notre Dame Catholic College, Liverpool
Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Engineering College
Sacred Heart Catholic College
St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy
St Bede's Catholic High School, Ormskirk
St Cuthbert's Catholic High School
St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Academy, Whiston
St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield
St Edward's College
St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool
St John Bosco Arts College
St John Fisher Catholic High School, Wigan
St Julie's Catholic High School
St Mary's Catholic High School, Astley
St Mary's Catholic High School, Leyland
St Peter's Catholic High School
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School
The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco