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St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church - Ansdell | ![]() |
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A Brief History |
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The foundation stone for St Joseph's church was laid on 22nd August 1909 by Dr Whiteside, Bishop of Liverpool, in which diocese the parish was at that time. The church was erected by trustees in memory of Mgr. James Taylor and his brother, Fr Roger Taylor. They had been in charge of the adjacent parish, St Peter's, Lytham, from 1873 until1908 and saw the need for a new parish in the neighbourhood. They generously paid for the new church, which cost £12,000 including furnishings Before work started on the main church, a small mission church, now the parish hall, was erected and the first Mass was said on 16th August 1908. The magnificent church was designed in the style of the architect Pugin, and stone quarried from Yorkshire was used to build the mission church, the present church and the presbytery. The church was officially opened by (now) Archbishop Whiteside on 20th September 1914. The first parish priest was Fr. Robert Formby who was in charge of the parish for 31 years until his death on 21st July 1945. It was he who was responsible for the installation of the stained glass window above the high altar and the statues which line both sides of the body of the church. The church was registered for solemnising marriages on 5th December 1917. Fr. Fred Gillett was the second parish priest until his retirement in either 1952 or 1953, when he was succeeded by Canon Arthur Gracey. Because the Canon suffered from ill-health, the parish had its only official curates during this time. He was assisted for a short time by Fr. Timon, and then for several years by Fr. Leo Cafferty |
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Canon Gracey died in 1957, to be succeeded by Fr. (later Canon) Arthur Fleming who, like Fr. Formby, was parish priest for over 31 years until his retirement in 1989. It was Canon Fleming who was responsible for the restoration of the magnificent Willis organ. He also arranged for the underpinning of the bell tower, thus enabling the bells to be rung again. Almost exactly fifty years after the opening of the church, St Joseph's was consecrated on 8th September 1964 in a ceremony performed by the Bishop of Lancaster, Bishop Foley. The parish hall was a place of frequent use by many organisations within the parish, but perhaps its most unusual use was when for many years Canon Fleming allowed the boys from St Vincent's orphanage in Preston to use it as a dormitory during their annual summer holiday at the seaside. The 'Butterfly' nuns who accompanied the boys, slept in the attic rooms in the presbytery. Fr. Michael Turner was appointed parish priest on 14th February 1989 and one of his first acts was to organise a Parish Mission to reinforce the ethos of a caring community within the parish. It was Fr Michael who re-ordered the sanctuary to allow for the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, which until then had largely 'passed by' the parish. He also moved the baptismal font to its present prominent position near the high altar, where there is a large painting of the remains of St Cuthbert being carried around the country. The painting was formerly displayed at Upholland College. The other significant change Fr Michael made to the running of the parish was to 'open up' the ground floor of the presbytery to the parishioners for meetings, etc. |
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In August 1992, there was the unusual sight of fire engines in the church
grounds, with their ladders extended to the top of the bell tower; it
had been abruptly discovered that the pinnacles at the top of the tower
were unsafe when pieces fell to the ground. The upper parts of the pinnacles
were removed, and this resulted in a small, but significant, change to
the skyline of the area. |
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It was in 1958, during Aidan Turner's last year at Ushaw college, a letter
arrived from the Bishop saying that he was being sent for six years to
the English College in Valladoid, Spain, to study philosophy and theology.
He had no idea where Valladolid was and had to look it up on the map.
Spain at that time was still recovering from the civil war, and the poverty
the war had left. General Franco was in charge, and whilst the cost of
living was cheap the standard of life was quite primitive. The climate
was 6 month bitterly cold winter 6 months hellish hot, so they roasted
in summer and froze in winter. There were only three stoves in the college,
no central heating, no running water in their rooms. The only hot water
available was a quarter of a bathful every two weeks. But cigarettes were
cheap, wine plentiful and the company of 40 fellow students excellent.
Lectures were at the diocesan Spanish seminary, 10 minutes walk away,
and they were in Latin, till the second Vatican Council introduced the
vernacular - Spanish. Fr Harry Holden moved from Morecambe to become parish priest of Ansdell
in September 2005. |
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