A nice piece of Gothic Victoriana on an otherwise mixed street on the edge of Toxteth. Our Lady of Lourdes and St Bernard was designed by Pugin & Pugin (sons of Augustus P.) who were responsible for a number of churches in Liverpool. Built in 1901 the church closed in 2012 after the parish was combined with St Anne in Edge Hill, not far away. The church was subsequently donated to a housing charity who plan to convert it into residential units.
The views were rather spoilt by a whacking great suspended ceiling added in the 80’s, maybe to keep the heat in when it was being used as a hall.
The ground floor was full of chopped-up pews and general junk, including a cement mixer.
The main altar and the one in the side chapel have been removed - with a chain saw by the look of it - apparently to the USA.
What the original main altar looked like.
Attached to church at the rear is what turned out to be a parish hall/social club type place - I was hoping it might be something more exciting like a mini-ecclesiastical warehouse. Rather grim both inside and out it has two large function rooms one above the other, each with bars and loos etc.. Although a sign on an inside door indicated it closed in 2009, some of the lights were on. The ground floor contained a creche and a lot of parish bric-a-brac.
Heading upstairs things got more sordid. Dead pigeons started to appear and soon I was crunching over a carpet of skeletons - the smell was dreadful. Not a lot to see up here - I normally make a point of poking around in the attic, but listening to the seething hordes of pigeons up there I gave this one a miss and headed out down another flight of stairs to fresh air.
Looking at the plans for redevelopment of this church, it seems they intend to keep as many of the features as possible, including the stained glass, doorways and little spiral staircase. The adjoining hall will be demolished and replaced with a block of flats.
The views were rather spoilt by a whacking great suspended ceiling added in the 80’s, maybe to keep the heat in when it was being used as a hall.
The ground floor was full of chopped-up pews and general junk, including a cement mixer.
The main altar and the one in the side chapel have been removed - with a chain saw by the look of it - apparently to the USA.
What the original main altar looked like.
Attached to church at the rear is what turned out to be a parish hall/social club type place - I was hoping it might be something more exciting like a mini-ecclesiastical warehouse. Rather grim both inside and out it has two large function rooms one above the other, each with bars and loos etc.. Although a sign on an inside door indicated it closed in 2009, some of the lights were on. The ground floor contained a creche and a lot of parish bric-a-brac.
Heading upstairs things got more sordid. Dead pigeons started to appear and soon I was crunching over a carpet of skeletons - the smell was dreadful. Not a lot to see up here - I normally make a point of poking around in the attic, but listening to the seething hordes of pigeons up there I gave this one a miss and headed out down another flight of stairs to fresh air.
Looking at the plans for redevelopment of this church, it seems they intend to keep as many of the features as possible, including the stained glass, doorways and little spiral staircase. The adjoining hall will be demolished and replaced with a block of flats.
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