St Mary's Church

St Mary’s Church stands beside Ladyewell House in Fulwood, Lancashire. Built in red brick with sandstone dressings and a slate roof, the church was completed in 1794 to serve the growing number of pilgrims. A presbytery is attached to its east end, and a school built in 1836 stands nearby. Ladyewell House contains a 16th-century altar and a holy well in its garden. The site has been a place of Christian devotion since the 11th century. The church is worth visiting for its fine interior decoration. In about 1844–47 Andrew Carter of Preston painted, stencilled and gilded the walls and ceiling, and installed stained glass windows. The reredos features a painted dome with gold stars and a dove, while the altar rail is in alabaster. Statues by Mayer of Munich stand in the church, and a relic of Thomas Becket is kept in Ladyewell House. The church and house remain in active use for services and pilgrimages. Inside, the church has a west gallery on Doric columns and a flat ceiling with an elliptical sanctuary arch. The transept arcades have round-headed arches with painted soffits. The school’s symmetrical sandstone building, with its H-shaped plan and dated pediment, adds to the site’s character. Outside, the Stations of the Cross wind through the woods, and the English Martyrs Chapel overlooks the holy well.