St Oswald's Church, Padgate

History

The parish was established from St Mary's Church, Warrington by Fr.Thomas Austin Hind O.S.B, a Warringtonian by birth, who is credited with conceiving the idea to build the church and to have chosen the dedication to St Oswald of Northumbria. On 1 July 1924, Archbishop Keating of Liverpool give permission for the formation of this, the fourth Benedictine parish in Warrington: the others being St.Albans (1755); St.Mary's (1877) and St.Benedict's (1902). The parish was served by the clergy of St Mary's Church, Warrington until it became an independent parish on 24 July 1929..

The last Benedictine Parish Priest was Fr Harold Cyprian Broomfield O.S.B as the Abbot of Ampleforth Abbey surrendered the parish to the Archbishop of Liverpool on 10 September 1962 From 2013, following the death of Canon William Redmond, the parish was served by the parish priest of St Benedict's Church, Warrington

Architecture

There have been two churches on this site. The first was opened on 17 June 1928 and was designed by Hamlyn and Wright of Winmarleigh Street, Warrington. It was built in rustic brick by Joseph Dolan and Sons, Warrington, at a cost of £3,428 and had now become part of the school. The current church, designed by L.A.G Pritchard, Son & Partners of Liverpool, and built, at a cost of £60,000, by Harper & Finch of Church Street, Warrington was opened by Archbishop Beck on 16 June 1965.

The church has a cruciform plan with gable ends and a campanile to the northwest corner. Large in size, it is built of brick around a steel frame and has pitched roofs of grey pantiles. The gables and walls are edged with concrete slabs; the steel members are expressed in brick and topped with concrete blocks. The nave has four bays to each side before the crossing, three have round-headed windows which each feature a cross. The north, west and south facades have high and large round windows, with cross-shaped intersections. The west front entrance is framed with a curved protruding brick course. Set inside is concrete textured panel and below, a triple set of round-headed windows. Five mosaic panels are located above the main door, which is reached by three steps.

The interior is lofty and unobstructed. The ceiling is covered with narrow wooden panelling. The walls are plainly plastered and painted in pale yellow or white. The lower level of the church is covered with vertical wood panels around the south, west and north walls. There is a simple wooded gallery at the west end, enclosed with glass partitions beneath to form the narthex. The south bay contains the confessional and vestry. The floor is grey-green linoleum. The glass is clear, except for that of the north chapel which has three panels of various shades of blue and the round windows, which are filled with contemporary multi-coloured glass. The east wall of the sanctuary is blind, the altar set on raised steps and within a recessed rectangular niche, which is painted orange. A grey marble communion rail and step crosses the width of the sanctuary and links the two side altars; to the left is a matching font. The sanctuary has some early-20th century furniture taken from the previous church. The remainder of the furniture is contemporary.

School and Convent

In 1929 the Sisters of the Cross and Passion, part of the Passionist family, moved from Buttermarket Street in Warrington to Bruche Hall close to the church. A school, with a capacity for 200 children, was opened on 1 September 1931 which was staffed by the sisters and lay teachers. In 1971 a purpose built Convent was built and the old house demolished.