OS grid reference SJ5148795464 Country United Kingdom Website StMarysLoweHouse.co.uk Opened 1 May 1862 Province Liverpool | Location St Helens, Merseyside Denomination Roman Catholic Status Active Phone +44 1744 22077 Architect Joseph John Scoles | |
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Address Corporation St, Saint Helens WA10 1EF, UK Similar Church of St Mary - Lowe Ho, Our Lady Immaculate and St Jo, St John's Church - Wigan, Church of the Immacula, St Winefride Church - S | ||
Holy Cross and St Helen Church is a Roman Catholic church in St Helens, Merseyside. It was built in 1860 by the Society of Jesus. It was designed by Joseph John Scoles and is a Grade II listed building.
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History
The church was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1860. Fr Thomas Seed, the head of the Jesuits in Britain, who also founded Sacred Heart Church in Edinburgh laid the foundation stone of the church on 3 May 1860, what was then Feast of the Finding of the True Cross.
The church was designed by Joseph John Scoles who also designed St Ignatius Church, Preston in Lancashire, Immaculate Conception Church, Farm Street in London and the Church of Saint Francis Xavier, Liverpool. Construction of the church lasted for almost two years and the church was opened on 1 May 1862.
In the church there is a memorial stone dated 1933, showing when the Jesuits handed over the church to the Archdiocese of Liverpool, who have continued to administer it ever since.
Parish
In 2010, the parish was merged with the nearby Church of St Mary, Lowe House in the centre of St Helens to become the parish of Holy Cross and St Mary. However this was revised by the Archdiocese in 2014 when St. Mary's Lowe House was paired with St. Thomas of Canterbury, Dentons Green under one priest, with Holy Cross & St. Helen reverting to a single parish under a new Parish Priest.
Every week, the church has two Masses for Sunday, one at 6.45pm on Saturday and the other at 9:30am Sunday. Also, there are Masses at 12:15pm from Monday to Friday.
Entrance to the church is via Corporation Street (southern side) or Parade Street (northern side), where there is also an additional gate for level access. The original front entrance is no longer used.