Historic marble altar set to be removed from closed church and used by congregation 20 miles away
The Archdiocese of Liverpool has submitted plans to Wigan Council to relocate the historic marble altar from Sacred Heart Church in Tyldesley to the church of St Bede in Widnes, citing the need to ensure the continued use of the altar for Catholic worship.
A huge marble altar is set to be moved from a closed church in Wigan borough to be used by worshippers in Widnes.
The Archdiocese of Liverpool said removing the “sacred religious artefact” from Sacred Heart Church in Tyldesley would “ensure the continued use of this most sacred element of the Mass.”
Sacred Heart, on Tyldesley Road, is a Grade II listed building.
In a heritage impact report in support of the plans, the archdiocese said the “church has not been used for worship for some time and has suffered from benign neglect as a consequence.”
The plans request listed building permission from Wigan council for the altar’s relocation and installation at the church of St Bede, Widnes.
The report said: “Given that the existing church is redundant and we understand that the archdiocese have no plans to reopen it for worship, the removal of the altar and its relocation to another catholic place of worship of a similar age extends its liturgical use and significance, safeguards the altar from further loss or inappropriate use and respects its meaning and provenance as a sacred religious artefact in its own right which may otherwise be lost.
“The proposal to relocate the altar to another contemporaneous Victorian catholic church building and extremely active, engaged and outward looking congregation, ensures the continued use of this most sacred element of the Mass for Catholic worship in Widnes.”
Sacred Heart was completed in 1869 from designs of Edmund Kirby of Birkenhead, in the early English style.
The report said that the work would only concern the removal and relocation of the marble altar, with no plans in place to make-good the surfaces, as the church is shut for worship and not in use.
The altar is described as being ‘of generous size with a strong horizontal emphasis in the design’.
It is made from white marble with contrasting horizontal bands of light brown marble below the mensa and above the plinth.
It has ‘slender carved columns and a carved cross in the centre set on a gold mosaic tile background framed by a red tile margin’.
Wigan council will consider the plans in the coming weeks.