St Antony of Padua, Trafford Park - Roman Catholic

Photograph supplied by & Copyright of Mike Berrell. St Antony of Padua,
Eleventh Street,
Trafford Park
Lancashire

Cemeteries

The church does not have a graveyard.

Church History

It was founded in 1904. The current church opened in 1995.

Situated in the very heart of Manchester's most concentrated industrial area amid a great mass of towering warehouses and factories is the humble chapel of St. Anthony, founded in 1904. There are a few rows of houses, which are all the resident population of the parish, and which will never grow in view of the price of industrial land round here. In these days of planning, the St. Anthony mission would never have been started, but in that way the industrial workers would have lost an opportunity to find an oasis of spiritual refreshment in the churning mass of trade and manufacture that paves the streets with gold. The services on Holy-days of Obligation are useful to workers who might otherwise be unable to attend church. It is an edifying sight to see the workmen arrive for Mass in their overalls, and it is inspiring to think that St. Anthony's tries to spread sanctifying grace among the overall-clad population of Trafford Park engineers. On Holydays of Obligation there is an early Mass at 6-30 and a late Mass at ten past mid-day. There is no doubt that St. Anthony's is not just another parish, but that it is inter-parochial in its ministry, even interdiocesan and international.

The mission was served by Fr. J. W. Thomson from 1904 to 1908. Fr. Cornelius Hughes was then Rector for a great number of years until his death in 1938. In spite of opposition, Fr. Hughes succeeded in building a fine school, which will remain as his memorial.

Fr. James J. Kelly was the next parish priest and found that when war broke out he was in the midst of the war effort. After some of the heavy air attacks in the region of the Park, Fr. Kelly's health broke down and he was replaced by Fr. Stephen Delany, who cheerfully came forward to take whatever " Blitzes" and " Strafings" might fall upon the Park. Fortunately, both he and the buildings of St. Anthony's were spared to continue their good work in the years of peace.

Taken from "Salford Diocese and its Catholic past", a survey by Charles A. Bolton, a Priest of the above Diocese. Published 1950 on the First Centenary for the Diocese of Salford.

Church Records

Whilst every effort has been made to record exact details of record office and library holdings you are recommended to check with them before visiting to ensure that they do hold the records and years you wish to examine. Similarly check with transcript publishers to ensure they cover the records and years you require before making a purchase.

Copies of Original Registers

Baptisms

• 1947-1962 held by Lancashire Record Office RCSF 2

Marriages

• 1947-1952 held by Lancashire Record Office RCSF 2
• 1961-1962 held by Lancashire Record Office RCSF 2

Maps

The church is located at OS grid reference SJ7946596690. 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 pegman to centre of map to show picture)
• OldMaps
• StreetMap
• Open StreetMap
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Magic (Click + on map to view it)
• 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 etc. themselves. For current information you should contact them directly.