A 240-year-old village church will close its doors to worshippers when its priest leaves later this year (2025).
Brindle St Joseph’s, in Hoghton, will continue until the summer but then parishioners will be advised to attend alternative churches such as St Bede’s. Clayton Green and St Chad’s.
The grade-II listed catholic church dates back to 1786 and, after two centuries of hosting weddings, funerals and other services, its future use is now unclear but is to be decided by the trustees of the abbot and Ampleforth Abbey. As well as the main church, the other buildings are currently used for a wide range of community activities including scouts, music, dancing, sports and parenting groups.
The church of St Joseph and its associated buildings are of high historical and architectural importance. The church is a good example of an early nineteenth-century Catholic chapel, with later alterations and furnishings of architectural interest. The attached presbytery and cottage are buildings of architectural and historic interest in their own right, retaining a range of contemporary interior features.A late-seventeenth or early eighteenth-century cottage where Mass is said to have been celebrated survives on the site, attached to the presbytery.
The site is associated with St Edmund Arrowsmith, who was active in the area and was apprehended in Brindle in 1628. A chapel was built in 1786, and a graveyard seems to have been established at that time. The presbytery appears to be of later eighteenth-century date. The chapel was subsequently rebuilt and extended. A report by the Archdiocesan Liturgy Commission of 1985 attributes the church to Fr Laurence Hadley, but it is unclear which phase of building is referred to and the source is not given.
Paul.
Brindle St Joseph’s, in Hoghton, will continue until the summer but then parishioners will be advised to attend alternative churches such as St Bede’s. Clayton Green and St Chad’s.
The grade-II listed catholic church dates back to 1786 and, after two centuries of hosting weddings, funerals and other services, its future use is now unclear but is to be decided by the trustees of the abbot and Ampleforth Abbey. As well as the main church, the other buildings are currently used for a wide range of community activities including scouts, music, dancing, sports and parenting groups.
The church of St Joseph and its associated buildings are of high historical and architectural importance. The church is a good example of an early nineteenth-century Catholic chapel, with later alterations and furnishings of architectural interest. The attached presbytery and cottage are buildings of architectural and historic interest in their own right, retaining a range of contemporary interior features.A late-seventeenth or early eighteenth-century cottage where Mass is said to have been celebrated survives on the site, attached to the presbytery.
The site is associated with St Edmund Arrowsmith, who was active in the area and was apprehended in Brindle in 1628. A chapel was built in 1786, and a graveyard seems to have been established at that time. The presbytery appears to be of later eighteenth-century date. The chapel was subsequently rebuilt and extended. A report by the Archdiocesan Liturgy Commission of 1985 attributes the church to Fr Laurence Hadley, but it is unclear which phase of building is referred to and the source is not given.
Paul.
