Why landmark Preston church St. Walburge's is going back to the early 1970s

St. Walburge’s Church, in Ashton-on-Ribble, is planning to restore its sanctuary area to a layout its parish priest believes is more suited to the traditional Latin Masses still celebrated there.

The landmark Pedder Street building - famed for having the tallest spire of any parish church in England - was ‘reordered’ back in 1972 as part of moves to modernise the Catholic Church.

The changes - which followed the Second Vatican Council that took place in the early-mid ‘60s - saw the introduction of a raised platform on which a second altar was installed.

It was a shift designed to better connect the congregation and the priest, who had previously had his back to those assembled so that he could face the ‘high altar’.

However, the Grade I-listed place of worship - which opened in 1854 and is open for heritage tours every Saturday - now plans to revert to a configuration last seen more than half a century ago.

In a so-called ‘ecclesiastical exemption notification’ to Preston City Council in relation to the proposed works, St. Walburge’s rector, Canon Gwenael Cristofoli, says: “This project aims to restore the architectural harmony of the church by reinstating the sanctuary as originally designed by architect Joseph Aloysius Hamson, while also enriching the faithful’s participation in the liturgy.

“By returning to the original layout, we highlight the splendour of the high altar, the centre of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

“A key element of this restoration is the reinstallation of the communion rail, a liturgical and spiritual feature of great significance. It allows the faithful to approach the altar in an attitude of reverence and recollection, fostering the reception of the Holy Eucharist in a spirit of deep adoration.”

The restoration will see the dismantling of the second ‘nave’ altar, which incorporated some aspects of the sanctuary rail that was removed in 1972, the rest of which has been kept in storage. That will now be reconstructed and put back in its previous place, along with eight pews - four on each side of the church - which were also taken out as part of the previous revamp.

It is believed the installation of the platform - which is now set to go - will have either required the removal of the tiles that would have lain beneath it or significantly damaged them. The plan is to replicate the decorative flooring so it matches that still in situ in front of the platform.

Planning permission is not required for any of the changes, which will not involve alterations to the exterior of the building.