Roman Catholic Church Of St Mary

The Roman Catholic Church of St Mary, built between 1864 and 1865 by Edward Welby Pugin, is constructed from rock-faced red sandstone and features a slate roof with some fishscale patterning. The church has a nave with high aisles, but no clerestory, and includes gabled porches at each end of the south side, transepts, and a three-sided apse. It consists of five bays, with gabled angle-buttresses that rise above the eaves at each end, as well as buttresses for the aisles, transepts, and porches. A moulded sill band runs along the structure, and most openings, except for those in the porches, have hoodmoulds with figured stops. The aisles contain 2-light lancet windows, while the east gable features a row of six trefoil-headed lancets at ground level, with two windows above that have reticulated tracery. Between these windows is a pedestal for a niche that contains a statue of the Madonna and child. The porches have moulded arched doorways on the outer side walls and elongated ogee-headed trefoil windows in the gables. The west end of the apse has nine small cusped lancets, three on each side, set beneath the eaves. A modern single-storey brick extension now encompasses the apse and incorporates the original foundation stone.

Inside, the nave arcade consists of alternating round and octagonal polished columns, each with simply moulded octagonal caps that support moulded two-centred arches. The aisles feature moulded pointed lateral arches that spring from the capitals of the nave arcade, and the church has a wagon roof. An east gallery is supported on three two-centred arches resting on small columns. Beneath the floor at the west end is the family vault of the Andertons of Euxton Hall, which is now sealed. Historical drawings by Canon John Worthy, the parish priest who founded the church, show that he contributed to the initial design.