The Catholic church is represented in Bollington[1] by St
Gregory's church in Wellington
Road, St
Gregory's primary school in Albert
Road, and the Salesian mission at Ingersley Hall which they
refer to as Savio House.
The church was established here by Father John Hall, from Macclesfield,
in 1830. This was a time when the local Catholic population was
expanding rapidly as a result of the influx of Irish families to
work both in the mills and on the construction of the Macclesfield
Canal. The first church was two rented cottages which served both
as church and school.
In 1834 Sir William Turner of
Shrigley Hall gave land to both the Anglicans and the Catholics
for the construction of new churches. While the Anglicans built
St John's[2] in Church
Street the Catholic St Gregory's church was
constructed off the end of nearby Chapel
Street. Fr Hall continued
to minister to Bollington from Macclesfield until the first resident
priest came in 1845.
In 1866 the church converted a row of cottages in Chapel Street
to become their first school in Bollington.
In 1952 Fr Thomas Osbyrne came to the town. He is described as
'perhaps the most dynamic of all Bollington's parish priests'. In
1957 he demolished the original buildings and built the present
church and presbytery in Wellington Road. The cemetery remained
in Chapel Street. In 1962 he built the new school in Albert Road
and converted the Chapel Street premises back to cottages. He constructed
an ex-army hut behind the church to serve as a church hall.
In 1981 the Salesians became responsible for the parish. At about
this time the Salesians vacated Shrigley Hall, which then became
a hotel, and took Ingersley Hall (Savio House) where they remain
today.
References
Clicking the reference description takes
you back to the text
1 St
Gregory's RC church history. Web
page
2 Bollington
Through the Centuries, Betts. Books
page
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