St Teresa, Upholland

Introduction

St Teresa, Upholland, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, is a Grade II listed church, first listed on 09-Dec-1999. The church features sculpture carved by Herbert Tyson Smith.

The parish runs a Youth Group. The parish has a Baptism Catechist team. The parish has a Readers group.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of brown brick with ashlar dressings and plain tile roofs. The church has a nave with Galilee porch and single east aisle, a detached north-east tower, and a chancel. The tower has an ashlar top stage with three rows of two round arched bell openings to each face, topped by a large pyramidal copper roof with a gilded cross. The interior has a five-arched nave arcade to the east with circular gold mosaic piers with painted capitals and black mosaic bases.

The church has contemporary wooden pews and a pulpit. The chancel has three steps to a raised chancel with a metal altar rail and a stone altar table with carved and gilded circular piers, and a painted reredos with opening doors. The baptistry at the base of the tower has a stone carved cubic font with a carved front. The south or ritual west front is blank, with a single-storey Galilee porch and a single circular window above, while the east aisle has a pair of round-headed windows with a carved stone mullion between.

The nave east front has a doorway to the left with double doors and a cusped head with ashlar tympanum, beyond a blank aisle wall with plain projecting buttresses topped with carved figures. Above the nave east front are pairs of round-headed clerestory windows with carved mullions. To the right, a short passage links to the square tower, which has a further doorway with double doors, a cusped head, and a carved tympanum. The tower has a single circular window on the south face and an east face with a stone-carved pieta under a curved hood.

All faces of the tower have small diamond-shaped windows to the stairs. The chancel has a triple-arched window with carved mullions to the aisle, and above it two pairs of similar round-arched windows with carved mullions. The ritual east end has a blank shallow curved wall. The parish room and vestry are attached to the north-west corner, with four arched windows to each floor on the south side, all with carved mullions, and a tall square chimney stack in the corner.

The arcade has round brick arches. The chancel has two plain brick arches. The nave and aisle have wooden roofs with gilded diamond patterning. A glazed screen stands in the former Galilee porch, which has been converted into a side chapel.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish's RCIA programme is called ASK. The parish's ASK group has started preparation for Baptism and Confirmation at Easter 2025.

Baptism can be arranged upon request through the parish's baptism team. Confirmation of adults is normally performed at the Easter Vigil or on demand.

Weddings are available by appointment, arranged through the Secretary. Funerals can be arranged by appointment.

The parish offers Eucharistic adoration on the first two Saturdays and the last two Wednesdays of the month. Those unable to attend mass can arrange to receive communion at home.