Borough church is set to be demolished

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool has submitted an application to Wigan Council to have the now redundant Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Leigh demolished.

In August last year, the church closed its doors for good, along with the Twelve Apostles Church, in what the Archdiocese described as a “difficult decision” to make.

It followed an extensive consultation with the churches, which lay within the parish of St Edmund Arrowsmith.

For more than 15 years, the Archdiocese had been discussing how to best to meet the pastoral needs of Catholics in the different parts of Leigh. This led to the creation of two new parishes: St Edmund Arrowsmith and St Margaret Clitherow in 2011.

A decision was then made to have three priests to serve these two parishes, with two of the seven churches having to close because of this.

Documents submitted as part of the application to demolish Our Lady of the Rosary state: “This application seeks the demolition of a redundant church and presbytery.

“The redundant buildings, if left unoccupied, are at risk from potential vandalism and fire.”

Works are expected to start on January 11 and are due to be completed on February 26.

Twelve Apostles was built in 1929 and the building, which is red brick with a slate roof, has a rose window and a wood-framed and covered corridor linking the church and parish house, thought to date back to the early 1900s.

The two churches have shared a priest since 1995.

Borough churches have been struggling to keep their doors open in recent years, with dwindling congregations and a shortage of clergy often given as reasons.