St. Anne

Introduction

Saint Anne's Church in the Diocese of Lancaster was built in 1861 and designed by Edward Welby Pugin.

History

The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Goss of Liverpool on 31 May 1859. The church was consecrated by Bishop Whiteside on 8 November 1900. The cemetery was approved for burials on 18 April 1864.

The church has a south gallery with a Gothic-style pierced front. The church contains stained glass windows of various dates of good quality.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of red brick with sandstone and blue brick dressings and a steeply pitched slate roof. The interior has an unusual open timber roof with slim iron columns and scissor trusses. The church is in Eclectic Gothic style, with a nave and full-height aisles forming one vessel on a north-south axis, an apsidal sanctuary end, and an east porch. The nave has six buttressed bays, each with a very large multi-foil circular sandstone window set under a shallow depressed arch, with a blue band and small corbel table under the eaves.

The apse is semi-circular, broken in the centre by a shallow bay with a gable above the eaves, and has four cuspid lancets on each side. Around the church walls, set well above head height, are eleven large circular windows; two feature the Eucharist and eight depict various saints, including Blessed William Harcourt. Ten of the circular windows date between 1897 and 1933. The 'Saint George' and 'Saint Gerard Majella' windows are designed by Franz Xavier Zentler of Munich.

Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians, is depicted seated at the organ in one window. The three earliest windows were installed in 1860 and 1867 at the apse end of the church. The chasuble displayed at the back of the church is a composite garment probably originating in the sixteenth century.

Parish life

The parish collects used stamps in aid of the Kidney Dialysis Charity. The parish supports the Fylde Foodbank, which helps people in need. The parish is linked with the Holy Family R.C. Church, Lytham Road, Warton, sharing a Priest in Charge.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Parents who wish to have their child baptised are asked to make an appointment with the parish priest. Children in Year 3 and above are eligible for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and First Holy Communion.