Our Lady and St Wilfrid

Introduction

Our Lady and St Wilfrid in Carlisle was built in 1841 by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin for Henry Howard of Corby Castle. The church retains all of its original decorations, much to Pugin's designs.

History

The designs were originally commissioned by Henry Howard of nearby Corby Castle, and included plans for a presbytery and grounds. The stained-glass windows were completed by John Hardman and presented by Philip Howard between 1860–1867. In 2016 the external fabric of the church was completely renovated with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Organ was reconditioned at the same time by Harrison & Harrison of Durham.

Architecture and furnishings

The church has red sandstone snecked ashlar walls, slate roof with coped gables, a nave of 4 bays, single bay chancel, gabled south porch, and added sacristy to south wall of chancel. The west gable has 3 lancets with trefoil heads and hood moulds, surmounted by hexagonal bellcote. The interior has an open timber roof, all painted and decorated with gold. The church contains a stone font beside the south entrance and a cut-stone pulpit on the south wall of the nave, decorated with figurative painted panels.

The chancel has a screen of carved and painted wood with central crucifix, flanked by Virgin Mary and St Wilfred. The stepped altar is heavily gilded with metal work to Pugin's designs, flanked by 2 small coronas by Pugin.

The church contains a reliquary containing the relics of Saint Petronia which came to the parish from a cardinal via the Maxwell-Stuart family and the Benedictine nuns of Holme Eden Abbey. The church contains statues of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as well as a mounted Infant of Prague.

The nave has buttressed walls and angles, with alternating large and small lancets, larger windows of Y-shaped tracery and cusped heads. The church contains a tomb of Henry Howard, who died in 1842, in an Easter-Sepulchre-like recess to the north wall. The church has a corresponding niche on the north wall with a figure of the Virgin. The church has sedilia and piscina in the south wall.

Parish life

The parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was formed on 1 November 2020, bringing together the former parishes of Our Lady of Eden, Cumbrian Martyrs, Sacred Heart of Jesus and St Augustine. The parish comprises six churches: Our Lady & St Wilfrid, Our Lady & St Joseph, St Bede, St Margaret Mary, Christ the King and St Augustine. The parish has three Catholic Primary Schools: St Bede, St Cuthbert and St Margaret Mary, and a Catholic High School, St John Henry Newman.