St Wilfrid's 1

Saint Wilfrid's is a Roman Catholic church run by the Society of Jesus in the city of Preston, Lancashire. It was built in 1793 at a cost of £4,000.

According to Wikipedia, the church was built before the Restoration of the English Catholic hierarchy, which could explain why such a large church is relatively indiscreet in the landscape of Preston city centre. Instead of being at right-angles to the street, it is parallel and does not have a surrounding green space or a spire to make it more distinctive.

The first stage of building the chuch was to have plain brick edifice with a balcony around the three sides facing the altar inside. As soon as the congregation outgrew the church, it was decided that not only did the church need to be expanded, but it needed to be grander.

Between 1878 and 1880, the inside of the church was remodelled. Ten years later, stone cladding and terracotta and stone carvings were added to the exterior and elaborate marbles from all over Europe were fixed to the interior walls and columns.

The result was amazing and if you are a fan of angels and cherubs, you must visit this church. It is remarkable. Over this, and the next few posts, I will publish images of the many works of art. First a look at part of the exterior Note the representations of cherubs and the extension use of the swastika which was, among other things, as symbol of long life, good health and good luck.