Brief history
Built in 1896 this was the first catholic church in the area and cost just over £20,200 which was a monumental amount at the time (around $3.3million in today's money) and would take 30 years to be paid off.
The church could seat around 800 people but would require the need for more space and so in 1905 a new gallery was installed.
The roof of the church was destroyed by fire in 1925 and would require reconstructing, following the priests death in 1933 the rails and gate to the chapel entry were erected in honor of his memory.
with post-war housing clearance and re-settlement, the population declined, and by the late 1970s the parish had become one of the smallest in the deanery.
Over the following years a scheme would roll out to simplify the churches interior which included removing the gallery and some statues, a fire would later break out in 1983 causing wide spread damage and later be repaired.
In 1994 the presbytery vacated and in the following years the church itself would shut for good, its has stood vacant now since 2010.
Explore
A cold winters evening saw me and @MotionlessMike fail at some surrounding derps, one of which included climbing a roof and getting soggy for no reward.
'why didn't we bring the ladder?!'
It seems every time we don't bring the f*king thing we get a harsh reminder of why we should.
Heading to the last spot of the day with moral low and clothes soggy i was half tempted to call it a day and only really managed the effort to have a look at the place as it was on the way back home.
At a glance the place looked pretty secure and only a boarded up front door gave away a clue of the building being derelict.
I always find it hard to know whether a church has been abandoned given its reliable gothic architecture without confirming via the webs.
After a dash over some slippery moss and intimidating razor wire we were in.
We first had a quick look around the west side of the building which showed signs of damage caused by the fire back in the 80's which wasn't helped by being partially open to the elements.
I decided to go have a look at the less damaged areas of the building and was stunned when turning a corner i was looking right at the ambulatory.
It was one of the most photogenic places iv'e seen, with the area looking good enough to welcome worshipers tomorrow but with just enough peeley paint chips coming off the walls to give it a nice dilapidated feel.
The altar was intact with a couple of chalices loose on the floor and the holy water stoup still opened and closed.
Sadly the pews had been stripped out at some point but this only made the nave seem more grande.
after singing some hymns and nibbling on the holy loaf Mike mentioned a set of ladders he found which could only mean one thing... a bell tower.
the thought of manually ringing a big old bronze church bell propelled me up the questionable ladders only to engage in a face off with a stubborn pigeon.
A battle ensued and the pigeon retreated back to the safety of its nest but victory was to be short lived when i came across the smallest church bell iv'e ever seen.
It couldn't have been much bigger than a football and what's the point in ringing the thing when it probably sounds as bad as it looks.
Carrying on the shonky ladders the last set seemed to be a bit looser than the others, completely exposed to the open at this point and head almost able to see over the brick ledge i realized this wobble was down to the mounts being drilled into rotting pieces of wood.
with a quick peek over the top retreat back down was fast.
all in all ide say a win.
Another trip back through the razor wire and slippery moss we headed out to get some external shots before calling it a day.
Built in 1896 this was the first catholic church in the area and cost just over £20,200 which was a monumental amount at the time (around $3.3million in today's money) and would take 30 years to be paid off.
The church could seat around 800 people but would require the need for more space and so in 1905 a new gallery was installed.
The roof of the church was destroyed by fire in 1925 and would require reconstructing, following the priests death in 1933 the rails and gate to the chapel entry were erected in honor of his memory.
with post-war housing clearance and re-settlement, the population declined, and by the late 1970s the parish had become one of the smallest in the deanery.
Over the following years a scheme would roll out to simplify the churches interior which included removing the gallery and some statues, a fire would later break out in 1983 causing wide spread damage and later be repaired.
In 1994 the presbytery vacated and in the following years the church itself would shut for good, its has stood vacant now since 2010.
Explore
A cold winters evening saw me and @MotionlessMike fail at some surrounding derps, one of which included climbing a roof and getting soggy for no reward.
'why didn't we bring the ladder?!'
It seems every time we don't bring the f*king thing we get a harsh reminder of why we should.
Heading to the last spot of the day with moral low and clothes soggy i was half tempted to call it a day and only really managed the effort to have a look at the place as it was on the way back home.
At a glance the place looked pretty secure and only a boarded up front door gave away a clue of the building being derelict.
I always find it hard to know whether a church has been abandoned given its reliable gothic architecture without confirming via the webs.
After a dash over some slippery moss and intimidating razor wire we were in.
We first had a quick look around the west side of the building which showed signs of damage caused by the fire back in the 80's which wasn't helped by being partially open to the elements.
I decided to go have a look at the less damaged areas of the building and was stunned when turning a corner i was looking right at the ambulatory.
It was one of the most photogenic places iv'e seen, with the area looking good enough to welcome worshipers tomorrow but with just enough peeley paint chips coming off the walls to give it a nice dilapidated feel.
The altar was intact with a couple of chalices loose on the floor and the holy water stoup still opened and closed.
Sadly the pews had been stripped out at some point but this only made the nave seem more grande.
after singing some hymns and nibbling on the holy loaf Mike mentioned a set of ladders he found which could only mean one thing... a bell tower.
the thought of manually ringing a big old bronze church bell propelled me up the questionable ladders only to engage in a face off with a stubborn pigeon.
A battle ensued and the pigeon retreated back to the safety of its nest but victory was to be short lived when i came across the smallest church bell iv'e ever seen.
It couldn't have been much bigger than a football and what's the point in ringing the thing when it probably sounds as bad as it looks.
Carrying on the shonky ladders the last set seemed to be a bit looser than the others, completely exposed to the open at this point and head almost able to see over the brick ledge i realized this wobble was down to the mounts being drilled into rotting pieces of wood.
with a quick peek over the top retreat back down was fast.
all in all ide say a win.
Another trip back through the razor wire and slippery moss we headed out to get some external shots before calling it a day.
such a shame all that tile work is going to be destroyed along with the war memorial, your photos are much better than mine though 
