Catholic Shrines & Sites of Interest in the United Kingdom:

England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, plus the British Overseas Territories & Dependencies.

Christianity arrived in the British Isles during the 1st or 2nd century AD via trade routes within the Roman Empire and spread throughout the country over the ensuing centuries.

The Church and the Crown became closely inter-related, so much so that Pope Leo X bestowed the title Fidei Defensor (Defender of The Faith) upon Henry VIII on October 11, 1521. This honor was awarded after Henry published “Assertio Septem Sacramentorum” (Defense of the Seven Sacraments), a book written with help from Thomas More that defended Catholic doctrine against Martin Luther’s early Protestant criticisms. However,  by 1527, when Henry desperately wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, who had failed to produce a male heir, to marry Anne Boleyn. Pope Clement VII, refused to grant the annulment. Frustrated by the refusal, Henry defied Rome and began severing England’s ties to the Papacy. The English Parliament, pushed by Thomas Cromwell, passed a series of acts, culminating in the Act of Supremacy (1534), which declared Henry the “Supreme Head of the Church of England”.  Henry and his advisors initiated the dissolution of the monasteries, seizing vast amounts of church wealth and land to fill the royal treasury.

As a result, he Faith was brutally repressed for over 250 years, severely punishing and executing Catholics and resulting in many martyrs, but the faithful did persevere.  In some cases, manor houses had “priest holes”….specially concealed rooms that allowed priests not only to hide, but also to celebrate Mass. You can find many of them listed here on the National Trust Website (link will open in new window, this page will stay open).

While he broke with Rome, Henry maintained many traditional Catholic beliefs throughout his reign, though his actions facilitated the rise of the Protestant Reformation in England. Pope Paul III stripped Henry of the “Defender of the Faith” title in 1530 (Parliament re-awarded it to him in 1544, and it has been used by British monarchs…except for the Catholic Mary…ever since.

The terms are not always understood, but Great Britain is not a country, but rather a geographic and political term for the largest island in the British Isles. The United Kingdom includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales plus one Crown Dependency and two British Overseas Territories.

England

Aylesford: The Brown Scapular & Shrine of Saint Simon Stock

Bedford (Turvey):  Turvey Abbey

Birmingham:  The Birmingham Oratory (Saint John Henry Newman)

Canterbury: the Shrine of Saint Thomas BecketView Page

Cheadle (Staffordshire): Saint Giles Catholic Church..gothic design by Augustus Pugin

Consett:Minsteracres Retreat Centre

Cornwall: Saint Michael’s Mount

Faversham: National Shrine of Saint Jude

Glastonbury (coming soon)

Hereford:  Shrine of Saint Thomas Cantilupe

Isle of Wight: Quarr Abbey, Saint Cecilia’s Abbey

Leicestershire:  Mount Saint Bernard Abbey

London: Westminster Abbey; Westminster Cathedral; Saint Dominic’s Parish & Our Lady of the Rosary Shrine; Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane

Malton, North Yorkshire: Saint Leonard and Mary Catholic Church

Oxford: Carmelite Priory at Chilswell House

Pinner (London):  SPEC Residential Catholic retreat centre

Ramsgate: Shrine of Saint Augustine

Walsingham: Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham & the Slipper Chapel

West Grinstead:  Shrine to Our Lady of Consolation

York: The Bar Convent Heritage Center

Yorkminster: Cathedral and Tomb of Saint William of York

Northern Ireland

Belfast:  Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church; Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Downpatrick:  Down Cathedral, tomb of St. Patrick and St. Brigid of Ireland

Scotland

Dalmally (Argyll): Craig Lodge Family House of Prayer

Dunfermline: Dunfermline Abbey (tomb of Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland)

Glasgow: Glasgow Cathedral (tomb of St. John Ogilvie)

Isle of Iona: Roman Catholic House of Prayer; Saint Oran’s Chapel

Motherwell: The Carfin Grotto (Our Lady of Lourdes)

Shetland:Catholic church, Lerwick Cruise port, tourist destination

Wales

Cardigan: Our Lady of the Taper

Holywell: Shrine of St. Winifried ( “The Lourdes of Wales”)

Crown Dependencies

There are three island territories within the British Isles that are known as Crown Dependencies; these include the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey which make up Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. The Crown Dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom, but are self-governing possessions of the British Crown.  

The Isle of Man: Saint Mary of the Isle Co-Cathedral plus other Catholic places of interest

British Overseas Territories

British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are 14 distinct territories under the sovereignty of the British Crown, located outside the UK, with their own constitutions, governments, and laws. They are not part of the United Kingdom, but the United Kingdom is responsible for their defense, international relations, and security, with the King as Head of State. Yes, we know….it is a bit confusing!

Bermuda:  Self-governing overseas territory

The Falkland Isalnds:  Self-governing overseas territory.

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