About The Catholic Shrine Church of St. Walburge in Preston, Lancashire, England:
Named after St Walburge (Walpurga), an 8th-century English missionary saint known for healing miracles…. a local story links the dedication to a reported miraculous cure involving St Walburge’s oil. It is renowned for having the tallest spire of any parish church in England (309 feet / 94 meters), making it the third-tallest spire in the UK after those of Salisbury and Norwich Cathedrals. It is also the largest non-cathedral Catholic church in England (capacity around 1,000).
The site has medieval associations with a 12th/13th-century leper hospital dedicated to St Mary Magdalene (the name “Maudlands” derives from this). In the mid-19th century, during the Catholic revival and industrial prosperity of Lancashire’s textile mills, the Jesuits commissioned architect Joseph Aloysius Hansom (also inventor of the hansom cab) to design a large church. The corner stone was laid in May 1850 and the church opened on August 3, 1854. The tower was added around 1857 and the spire completed 1867 (using limestone sleepers (Limestone sleepers are rectangular stone blocks made from natural limestone) from the nearby Preston and Longridge Railway, which can give it a reddish tint at sunset).
It was threatened with closure around 2007 but granted a stay. In 2014, Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster entrusted it to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) as a Shrine Church focused on Eucharistic devotion and the Traditional Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form). It officially opened as a shrine on September 27, 2014. The church remains linked to the local parish (with Sacred Heart) but primarily serves the traditional liturgy.
Ongoing restoration work addresses roof issues and other fabric needs, supported by grants (including from the National Lottery Heritage Fund) and fundraising. Plans have included restoring the original sanctuary layout for better suitability to traditional Mass. Designed in a revived 13th-century French Gothic style (nave and apse), with the steeple drawing on later English Gothic influences. The body is brown sandstone with a contrasting white limestone spire; the interior features a vast single-span hammerbeam roof (among the largest of the 19th century, rising to about 83 feet) supported by 14 hammerbeams topped with life-sized carved and polychrome statues of saints.
It has been described as one of the most extraordinary churches in Britain. The spire is occasionally open for guided climbs (around 170–173 steps) offering panoramic views over Preston, Blackpool, and the Irish Sea coast; tickets are typically booked online and support church funds.
Notable elements include:A large rose/wheel window (about 22 feet wide) with original Victorian stained glass and finely carved altars and rich detailing.
A heavy swinging bell weighing 3,306 pounds (about 1.5 tonnes) is the heaviest in Lancashire. Ringing has been restricted due to nesting birds.
William Hill organ (1855).
Interior length roughly 165 feet, width 55 feet.
The church is served by Canons of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. Daily Traditional Latin Mass and Divine Office (Gregorian chant) are offered.
Traveling to The Catholic Shrine Church of St. Walburge in Preston, Lancashire, England:
Address:
Weston Street, Preston
Lancashire
PR2 2QE
Email: preston@icksp.org.uk
Telephone: (+44) 07927 965696
Visit the Facebook page for The Catholic Shrine Church of Saint Walburge in Preston, England.