April 2015
Visited with @Lavino and @woopashoopaa, there isn't much on this place there is the odd set of photos but nothing heavy. One thing I will mention is the amount of Pigeon shit that has collected on the floor over the last 20 years, my car now stinks of the stuff. We got out just in time too, as we were taking a few photos of the outside PC Plod turned up, not itching us as we legged it.
In October 1870, Father Henry J Lamon (see "St. Joseph's Clergy") was appointed head of the new mission that would soon become the Parish of St. Joseph, Wigan, and it was due to the untiring zeal and great energy of the new Rector that rapid progress was made.
The first service was held on 22nd January, 1871, in a small chapel that formerly belonged to the Primitive Methodist Body, in Caroline Street, but in a very short time the building was found to be too small for the increasing numbers of Catholics living in the surrounding Wallgate area.
Consequently, with the permission of the Right Reverend Doctor O'Reilly, Bishop of Liverpool, Father Lamon purchased some adjoining land to the chapel, at a cost of £500. The old Methodist chapel was then pulled down, and on the site was erected the first church of St. Joseph, which opened in April 1872. This new church was built to accommodate between 500 and 600 worshippers at a cost of £3,000 - a considerable sum at the time.
At a further cost of £5,000, through the support of his faithful parishioners, by 1874, Father Lamon had built the schools at St. Joseph's, which soon had an average attendance of over 800 scholars!
However, it soon became evident that the new church was totally inadequate for the requirements of the district, and steps were taken without delay for the erection of a more extensive building.
The Photos
You can see the Plod car in the distance in this photo.
You can see the Plod car in the distance in this photo.
its wasn't to bad a place as we only stopped off the on the way past.
