St Joseph Stockport

Introduction

St Joseph Stockport, in the Diocese of Shrewsbury, was built in 1861-2 by architect Matthew Ellison Hadfield of Sheffield, with Messrs J Robinson of Hyde as builders. The church was opened on 25 June 1862.

History

The Catholic Mission in Stockport was central to the lives of the Catholic community during the influx of Irish immigrants and the Stockport riots of 1852. The design was heavily influenced by Hadfield's former partner George Goldie and by the mid-century reaction against A W N Pugin's planning and liturgical principles.

Architecture and furnishings

The church has a basilican plan with nave and clerestory, three-sided apse, aisles, south side base of tower, and 2-storey sacristy. The church is built of hammer-dressed Yorkshire grit-stone with Hollington stone dressings and slate roofs. The interior has 5-bay nave arcades with Derbyshire marble bases, Yorkshire stone shafts and capitals, and simplified chamfered arches. The high altar and chancel furniture were made as a memorial to the 1914-1918 war dead.

The east window is stained glass, dated 1882. The church has a west gallery and original built-in confessionals extended through aisle walls under traceried windows. The liturgical west front has two lancets flanking an ogee headed door under a pitched gable with crockets. The nave and apse are under one roof pitch.

The interior has an arched braced panelled nave roof. The aisle roofs are exposed raftered. The church has two 3-light geometric tracery windows above the door and a cinquefoil roundel in the gable. The clerestory and apse windows are 3-light tracery, and the aisle liturgical east windows are segmental tracery. The Saturday Vigil Mass includes traditional organ music.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish offers a Baptism Preparation Course led by Baptism Catechists for families preparing for the sacrament. The children's liturgy guides children through the Liturgy of the Word for Children, presenting the Sunday Gospel and Readings at a level they can understand.

Visiting

The parish has an annual pilgrimage to Walsingham. Mass is livestreamed through Church Services TV. The church has a Children's Page with useful resources.