Ss. Mary and Romuald

Introduction

The church was opened on 3 May 1860. The church was a gift from Thomas Meynell to his wife and dedicated to Our Lady of York, Mother of Mercy, as well as to St Romuald of Ravenna.

History

In 1695 Mass is said to have taken place in the Friary, home of John Mayes; the wooden altar panel housed in the side chapel at the present church is said to date to this time. In 1795 the Meynell family fitted out a chapel in the roof space of the Friary, served by Jesuit chaplains.

The parish was officially established in 1840, when the first parish registers were opened, and the first parish priest was the Reverend James Bradley. The church is probably one of the last designed by Goldie and Hadfield before Goldie set up an independent architectural practice in 1860.

The church was transferred to the Diocese of Middlesbrough in 1937. Vatican II alterations included the removal of altar rails, a pulpit and a wooden screen across the side chapel. The nave benches were replaced in 1952 and the side chapel was repaired at the same time; refurbishment in the 1980s restored the side chapel to its original configuration.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of red brick with buff sandstone dressings and a welsh slate roof with iron crest and ornamental tiles. A later C20 brick buttress supports the west end of the nave. The interior has a panelled seven-sided roof covering the whole, with no structural division between nave and sanctuary. The ornate reredos with integral stone altar is of Caen stone and considered to be original; it has a central tabernacle with painted decoration to the door.

The west window has stained glass to the memory of Thomas Meynell who died in 1863. The stained glass of the west window inserted in 1863 was probably by John Hardman Powell. Stations of the Cross were given in memory of a First World War soldier Robert Wilford. Hadfield and Goldie designed the church in High Victorian Gothic style, built 1859-60. The church is oriented north-south with a three-sided chancel, an aisleless nave with a north porch, a large tiered bellcote, and a vestry and side chapel at the south east corner.