St John the Evangelist's Church, Kirkham

St John the Evangelist’s Church stands on Ribby Road in Kirkham, Lancashire. It is an active Roman Catholic parish church designed by A. W. N. Pugin in the early Decorated style. Built between 1842 and 1845, it replaced an earlier chapel known as ‘The Willows’. The church is made of Longridge sandstone with slate roofs and a broach spire rising to 100 feet. A vestry block sits to the northeast and a steeple at the west end, both designed by Pugin. The church is worth visiting for its historical significance and architectural quality. It was consecrated in 1845 by Bishop George Brown of Liverpool in a ceremony attended by four bishops and 200 guests. The opening included Mozart and Haydn music, a High Mass, and a sermon by Scottish Bishop Murdock. The six bells cast in 1844 by Whitechapel Bell Foundry were the first peal rung in an English Catholic church since the Reformation. Nikolaus Pevsner described it as a modest but important work by Pugin. Inside, visitors find a five-bay arcade on round piers, an organ gallery at the west end, and two side chapels. Pugin’s rood screen, moved to the west end in 1895, features painted figures of the Crucifixion. The high altar and pulpit date from 1906 and are made of Carrara marble and alabaster. Stained glass windows from the mid-19th century add colour, and the 1846 pipe organ was repaired in 1976. The churchyard walls and gateway, also by Pugin, complete the ensemble.