St Marie, Lydiate - Roman Catholic
Southport Rd,
Lydiate
Lancashire
Cemeteries
The church has a graveyard.Church History
It was founded in 1856.The first Catholic Church in Lydiate was built in 1480 and dedicated to St Katherine, the patron saint of the wife of Lawrence Ireland. who lived in Lydiate Hall. The church is now a ruin and simply known locally as 'The Abbey'.
There has always been a Catholic community in Lydiate. Whenever possible Mass was celebrated in Lydiate Hall. Over the centuries the community was served by priests from the Society of Jesus, known as Jesuits.
There is a stained glass window in Our Lady's Church, which is a reminder of less tolerant times. It is dedicated to the memory of Margorie Rimmer, who in 1680 was a 'recusant'- in other words, a Catholic who refused to swear allegiance to the Church of England when such an oath was deemed compulsory by law.
The church also contains relics rescued from St Katherine's Chapel, including several fine carvings, one of which adorns the pulpit.
St Mary's Church, now known as Our Lady's, was built in 1854. The architect was J.J. Scoles, who also designed the church of St Francis Xavier in Liverpool.
A school was set up in the chapel in Lydiate Hall in 1842. A permanent building dedicated to St Joseph was built in 1862 and enlarged in 1886, thanks to the generosity of the Weld Blundell family. Secular clergy of Liverpool Diocese took over the care of Our Lady's parish from the Society of Jesus in 1860.
Our Lady's Parish was divided in 1958 when St Gregory the Great parish was formed. The Parish School was closed in 1989 due to a decline in numbers.
Maps
The church is located at OS grid reference SD3649505210. You can see this on maps provided by:
- this church marked on a Google map. (Use this to report a corrected location)
- Google Streetview (Drag
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- OldMaps
- StreetMap
- Open StreetMap
- Bing (was Multimap)
- Magic
- Vision of Britain
- English Jurisdictions in 1851
- Google maps showing nearby churches with satellite image option.
This site provides historical information about churches, other places of worship and cemeteries. It has no connection with the churches themselves. For current information you should contact them directly.
Help required
The information provided has been obtained from a number of sources and although every effort is made to avoid errors, just a few may be present. So if there are any please let us know. [Use the link at the bottom of this page].We do not currently have the following information, and if you can provide it then please do so:
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- Have the Monumentals Inscriptions on the gravestones
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- Who holds the records of baptisms, marriages or burials? Have any transcripts of the registers been published?
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