St Mary's Church, Grimsby

St Mary’s Church stands in the centre of Grimsby on the corner of Heneage Road and Wellington Street. Built between 1880 and 1883, it is a Roman Catholic parish church designed by Hadfield and Son. The architects also worked on cathedrals in Salford and Sheffield. Thomas Young of Kingerby Hall paid most of the cost, while Sir John Sutton had bought the site thirty years earlier. The church was opened by the Bishop of Nottingham, Edward Bagshawe, on 19 August 1883. Inside, the Sacred Heart altar was designed by Pugin & Pugin and donated by Georgina Fraser. Stained-glass windows come from Hardman & Co. Wall paintings by Nathaniel Westlake were added in 1908 and 1930s fish friezes ran round the interior. In the 1960s the paintings were painted over, but uncovered again in the 2000s. The organ from the 1920s was also restored at that time. A narthex was created at the back of the church in 1983. Mass is celebrated in Polish on Saturday evenings and in English on Sunday mornings. Weekday Masses take place on Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings. The church is a Grade II listed building and sits among the town’s streets.