Wigan Album

was this the same godfrey jones who made things with wood for the church? if so i used to serve him in the market wiht cd's and dv's very nice gentleman

Yes, that's the man. He worked as a shopfitter, and it was probably the varnishes and dust particles which brought him to an early death, sadly. He was always making things in his spare time - St Mary's has quite a few items he made for use in church. He was also a gadget fiend - and was copying tapes and videos to CD and DVD long before it became commonplace. Thanks to him we have audio recordings of the organ which was in the old St Mary's - thankfully, the organ was saved for further use, and is now in St Bridget's Church Wavertree. He was quite a character, and is greatly missed.

I cannot but help think it is a damned shame... a shame they pulled it down. There are Cathedrals in the UK that where not that big. Even if the numbers fell as regards the congregation, you would have hoped something would have been done to keep it standing. It dominated the Ince area, Higher or Lower... it was there.

I know you would not term the architecture as Victorian Gothic, but is was Victorian 'something', and it was a damned fine example of that 'something'.

Dennis, I know what you mean, it was a terrible shame that the building had to come down. I was seven years old when that happened but can still remember going into it on school services etc. I'm lucky enough to have some copies of the architects plan and they clearly show the foundations relying on the metal rail from railway tracks! I guess with the mining works all over Ince and Wigan there was only one way that it would end up! The architects are now getting the recognition they deserve (English Heritage are about to publish a landmark book about the practice of Sharpe, Paley & Austin), but undoubtedly a great loss to our landscape even though it was absoloutely the right decision for the parish at the time.