St. Francis Hill Chapel, Goosnargh

Introduction

A chapel was built at White Hill in 1687 and served by Franciscans. In 1715 the chapel was destroyed and a second chapel was built.

History

The church is also known as Hill Chapel. In 1715 a mob tore the roof off the building and levelled the walls to the ground. Hill Chapel was built in 1755. Father Charles Willcock took up residence at The Hill in 1770.

Father Willcock undertook the building of another new church at The Hill, completed in 1802, the year of his death. In 1834 the parish began to be served by Benedictines. Father Martin died in 1834, bringing to an end 148 years of Franciscan ministry. Father Dinmore opened the cemetery and enlarged the church by adding the present frontage and balcony in 1835.

The school was opened in 1880. The Parish Hall was built in 1932 and was used as a church in 1934 when Hill Chapel was restored to mark the Centenary of Benedictine Ministry. In 1936, the first Bishop of Lancaster, Bishop Wulstan Pearson, O.S.B. consecrated the church. In 1983, after 149 years of dedicated service, the Benedictines passed the care of the parish to the secular priests of the Lancaster Diocese.

In 1991 the fourth centenary of the martyrdom of George Beesley was celebrated. George Beesley was executed at Fleet Street, London in 1591.

Architecture and furnishings

The church was wired for electricity and renovated with a new stone and mosaic altar, marble altar-rails, and oak benches, floor and door and statues of Saint Francis and Saint Benedict.

Visiting

The priests provided chaplaincy services at Whittingham Hospital, which opened in 1873. A catalogue of historical artifacts and documents at Hill Chapel is available as a Word document. A history of parishioner war involvement and the memorial can be accessed. The meeting place for Mass on winter weekdays is the house that serves as the Hill Chapel Presbytery.