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St Mary's Church, or St.Mary's Priory, is in the town centre of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, and is an active Roman Catholic church. The parish was established and served by Benedictine monks from Ampleforth Abbey, but following the withdrawal of Ampleforth Abbey from the parish in 2012, it was served by the priest from St Benedict's Church, Warrington. From November 2015, the church has been owned and served by priests from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter as a shrine church. It is well known for the beauty and reverence of its liturgy and the ambition and excellence of the church choir and music.

History
The parish was established from St Alban's Church, Warrington by the Benedictine priests from Ampleforth Abbey who served there. Fr.John Placid Hall OSB is credited with conceiving the idea to build the church and to have chosen the site. The site had been occupied by a cotton mill. The site was bought on 5 May 1870 for £4,000.

The church was designed by E. W. Pugin and its construction started in 1875, just before Pugin's death. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop O'Reilly of Liverpool on Sunday 9 May 1875. It was completed by Peter Paul Pugin in 1877. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner considered it to be one of their best churches.

The church was opened on Thursday 30 August 1877. The splendid reredos and rose window were blessed on 1 November 1885. The tower, a departure from the original design, was designed by Pugin & Pugin and built by Travis & Wevill of Liverpool in 1907. A northeast chapel, the First World War Memorial Chapel, designed by Frederick Walters was added in 1923.

St Mary's parish had a school and parish hall, known as Ashton Hall, both of which have been closed and demolished. From 1934 a programme of slum clearances reduced the population of the parish by half within four years.

St Oswald's Church, Padgate was established from St Mary's by Fr Thomas Austin Hind OSB in 1929, who became its first priest.

Fr. Paul William Wright OSB announced on Sunday 15 January 2012 that Ampleforth Abbey could no longer provide a priest for the parish due to a lack of manpower and that he would be the last monk-priest to serve in the parish. Thus ending a Benedictine presence in Warrington lasting 250 years. Fr. William Wright's last Mass was on Sunday 9 September 2012.

Discussions about the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter taking over the parish were had in 2012, but were inconclusive. The Archdiocese of Liverpool then took over the pastoral care of the people of the parish. The pastoral needs of the congregation were then met by Monsignor John Devine OBE,of St Benedict's Church, Warrington, who was later given charge of the parish of St Oswald's Church, Padgate as well.

On the of 4 July 2015 Deacon Matthew Jolley was ordained to be priest by the Archbishop of Liverpool, Malcolm McMahon, OP .” Also on Saturday 4 July 2015, the Archbishop of Liverpool, Malcolm McMahon, OP announced:

“I have invited the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter to come to the Archdiocese and to have responsibility for St Mary’s Church, Warrington. In due course this will become a centre for the celebration of the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and the sacraments. The priests of this fraternity will not, however, assume pastoral responsibility for St Mary’s parish, which will be the responsibility of Fr David Heywood from September.”

The first public Mass by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in the church was celebrated by Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP on Sunday 15 November 2015. However, the formal Inaugural Mass, attended by the Archbishop of Liverpool Malcolm McMahon and Abbot Cuthbert Madden OSB of Ampleforth Abbey was held on the 21st November 2015.”

Following the transition to the FSSP the church is not technically a parish church, but a shrine within a parish, as the parish itself was merged with two others, St Benedict's Church, Warrington, St Oswald's Church, Padgate.

Architecture


It is built in pale yellow Pierpoint stone and red Runcorn sandstone. The church is in Decorated style. Its plan consists of a southwest tower, a six-bay nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, a short chancel, and short transepts. The tower is slender and the parapet spells out "AVE MARIA". There is a west porch. To the north of the chancel is the Sacred Heart Chapel (1890) and to the south is the English Martyrs (formerly Lady) Chapel. The interior is "airy and spacious". The fenestration is idiosyncratic, especially on the north side where the window tracery is completely without moulding and flush with the walls.

The confessionals are integrated into the north wall. The arcade spandrels contain carvings of angels supporting busts of English saints. These are St Augustine of Canterbury, St Hilda, St Thomas of Canterbury, St Walpurga, St Bede on one side and St Gregory the Great, St Winefride, St Cuthbert, Saint Mildred and St Wilfrid on the other. The fittings were all designed by Peter Paul Pugin and the carving was executed by Boulton of Cheltenham. The High Altar (1877) is in Portland and Bath stone. The reredos (1885) is of great quality and features the adoration of the kings and the adoration of the shepherds, as well as flowers and symbols that maintain the marian theme. It is topped by four statues of saints renowned for their devotion to Mary: St Anselm, St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Dominic and St Alphonsus Liguori.

The pulpit and communion rail are in marble were installed in 1883-4, the stone parclose screens are of 1890 and choir stalls, in oak, of a similar date. The pews are benches with cast iron frames. The Stations of the Cross (1894) are recessed, and are in Caen stone. The sculptures are of St Benedict and St Scholastica (1891) against the chancel arch, of Our Lady of Lourdes by Philip Lindsey Clark, in the north aisle, of St Joseph designed by Geoffrey Webb and sculpted by Harold Youngman, in the north transept and of the Holy Family by Josefina de Vasconcellos in the south transept. On the South wall is a reliquary which contains relics of Dominic Barberi and was installed in 1965. In the chancel are Minton tiles with a lily design by C. W. Pugin. Above the reredos is a rose window. Within the church there are a number of stained glass windows by Hardman & Co. and also Harry Clarke featuring a number of saints including Warrington's own martyr Blessed James Bell (priest)

Sacred music
St Mary's is recognised as having one of the leading choirs in the North West. The Church prides itself in continuing this ancient tradition that is part of our nation's cultural heritage. The Church is fortunate to have had a choral tradition, since its opening, and today has 3 choirs, as well as a choral outreach project into local Catholic schools. The church is known for hosting high quality sacred music concerts, and also has a weekly series of Wednesday lunchtime organ recitals.

The church contains two organs. The west-end organ was built in 1887 by Franklin Lloyd, and has been restored by Gray and Davidson, and Rushworth and Dreaper. Built with 3 manuals and pedals it was last restored in 1963 by Henry Willis The choir organ was built in 1995 by A. Hypher, and rebuilt in 2009 by Peter Hindmarsh.

There is an ongoing campaign to move the Cavaillé-Coll organ from the Parr Hall in Warrington to St. Mary's Church.

Bells
The church possesses a chime of eight bells that were cast by Gillett & Johnston, Croydon, in 1906. The bells were baptised on 7 October 1906 by Abbot Smith of Ampleforth. They were totally restored in 1962 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, with further work done in 2005. The tenor bell is hung for ringing.