St Joseph

Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph, Woodlands Road

The foundation stone for this church, designed by Pugin, Pugin and Pugin, was laid on August 22nd 1909. The completion of the building in 1911 is commemorated by the date on the north gable wall. It was opened in 1914 by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool. The church cost £12,000 to build and the money came from the estate of the brothers Monsignor James Taylor and Father Roger Taylor, who were in charge of St Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Lytham from 1873 to 1908. The construction is in the Gothic Decorated style, built in brick faced Yorkshire sandstone and Runcorn dressings with a Cumbrian slate roof. The church is 120 feet long and 96 feet wide. It consists of a nave and aisle with two chapels, with the sacristy placed in the south‑west. The three‑staged tower is 80 feet high with angle buttresses carried up to octagonal pinnacles and crowned by an elaborate parapet. The full peal of six bells was presented by the congregation of St Peter’s Church. The bells are considered by keen bell‑ringers to be among the finest in Lancashire.

Inside, the chancel is divided from the body of the church by a moulded arch, within which there is a second arch to mark the sanctuary. Constructed in white Bath stone the lofty, graceful pillars give a light interior. The stained glass windows in the sanctuary represent Jesus as the King of Kings, and the side panels show the four canonised kings of England: Edwin, Oswald, Ethelbert and Edward. There is also an oak dado of the fourteen Stations of the Cross. The fine organ was built in 1912 by Henry Willis, and is almost identical to that in Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral.

from "The listed buildings of Lytham St. Annes" - Lytham St. Annes Civic Society 2003