BACK in the July 14 column issue, I wrote about the two listed buildings in Blackbrook, the church of St Mary Immaculate, and the Old Double Locks.

This triggered a letter from local historian and North Road resident, Kevin Heneghan, about the first.

The properties discussed below are just to the west of the nearby Ship Inn on the main road to Haydock.

Kevin wrote: "I was intrigued by your column this week in which you refer to the Catholic Mission in Blackbrook. The first chapel was built in 1754, not in 1752, as Catholics were forbidden to have public chapels until the Relief Act of 1791."

Kevin sent me a photocopy of a page from the book 'Old Catholic Lancashire'. To get around the restrictions of 1754, it is described as '"the newly erected building, room or apartment, and the two rooms or chambers over the same on payment of the yearly rental

of 1/-.", secured from James Orrell of Blackbrook.

Kevin continues: "Many will be surprised to learn that the chapel still exists. It's the back part of of the house marked on a detailed map as 'Rose Cottage' alongside the Convent of Mercy, and was my home from 1925 until my marriage in 1950.

"My widowed sister still lives there. Its postal address is 'Rose Villa'.

"Oddly enough, few people have even seen it, as the front part of the house, which was added by Father Abraham in the 1840s, obscures the view from people going up to the church.

"In those days most priests, like Fathers Butler and Abraham, had private means.

"There were no seminaries in Britain, and only the well-to-do could afford to send their sons to train for the priesthood abroad.

"The deeds of the former chapel are held by the owners, the Archdiocese of Liverpool. My late father and then my brother, also now decease

d? tried to buy it, but their offers were declined. The same applies to the nearby Convent of Mercy, which is now occupied by a young couple and their son. They too may rent but are not allowed to buy.

"Father James Abraham left Blackbrook for St Marie's in Southport in 1850, but remained sole trustee of the Orrell Estate. It was in 1849 that Blessed Dominic Barberi and the Venerable Ignatius Spencer were his guests when they came to choose a site for St

Anne's Retreat at Sutton, as they could only stay in a religious house or a presbytery. They would certainly have celebrated Mass in the newly-built church.

"Blackbrook House, which was built of dark blue and not red brick, was demolished some years ago. In 1899, with other accommodation added, it had been opened as an Industrial//Approved school for 30 Roman Catholic Girls, later extended to house 120 girls.

"It was first run by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and later by the Sisters of Charity.

"The Sisters of Mercy, a teaching order, arrived in Blackbrook on 8th May 1893, living in the newly-built redbrick convent, which had accommodation for nine nuns. 

"As well as teaching in the Blackbrook schools, the Sisters, also from 1903 onwards, had charge of the schools at St. Vincent's, Derbyshire Hill."

"Why hasn't the former chapel been declared a Listed Building? You might well ask. It's because it belongs to, like the Convent of Mercy, to the Liverpool Archdiocese, and listed buildings can incur some heavy financial obligations, such as maintenance of the

fabric or restrictions on making any structural alterations"

Email chrispcoffey@gmail.com or phone 817130 or write to 37 Holbrook Close, WA9 3XH.

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Chris Coffey