Sacred Heart, Blackpool

Introduction

Sacred Heart in Blackpool, within the Diocese of Lancaster, was built in 1857 by Edward Welby Pugin and enlarged in 1894 by Pugin and Pugin. The church is dedicated to the Sacred Heart, originally to 'The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary'.

History

In 1854 Miss Monica Tempest of Broughton Hall offered to pay for the church, on condition it be served by the Society of Jesus. On 7 June 1856 the foundation stone was solemnly laid. Edward Pugin, son of Augustus Welby Pugin, designed the original chapel, which formed the western part of the present church. By 1914 the original stonework was badly corroded, and Fr Robert Moss S.J. ordered a thorough renovation, funded partly by a Grand Bazaar that raised £2,130.

The baptistry, the last substantial addition, was dedicated as a memorial to those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918. On April 18 2004 the Jesuits left and the church is served by Lancaster Diocese. The renovation was completed in December 1930 after suspension during the First World War.

Architecture and furnishings

The church has a west tower of 4 stages with battlemented coping and tall corner pinnacles, and an octagonal crossing with an octagonal lantern. The interior has a nave arcade of moulded lancet arches on clustered marble columns, and an octagonal arcade forming the crossing. The chancel has an arched ceiling with painted and carved panels, large skylights, and a coved cornice with carvings of angels. The octagonal pulpit is of elaborately carved white marble on a pedestal of short columns, alternately black and red.

The baptistry was re-opened in 1996 as a Chapel of Peace, and in 2005 a new baptistry was opened, with the chapel becoming the St Ignatius of Loyola Chapel. In 1935, the Waterloo cinema organ was bought for £150, installed by Messrs Jardine and Co of Manchester, with an inaugural recital on 26 April 1936 by Dr Reginald Dixon. A ramp and a fully fitted disabled toilet make the church accessible to disabled visitors. The lantern was renovated in 2011.

Music and liturgy

On 26 April 1936, Dr Reginald Dixon, organist of Lancaster Cathedral, gave the inaugural recital on the organ, attended by about 650 people. The Catholic Stage Guild held their Annual Mass at the church, which has a cinema organ in the west gallery.