Foundation After the
Reformation, from the early 1700s the nearest place for Catholics to celebrate
Mass was at
Chesterton Hall, the house of the Macclesfield family. Later, in the early 1800s, Catholics went to a room in the Shakespeare Hotel, Brunswick Street, to celebrate Mass. The priest serving the local
mission was Fr Louis Gerard. Around 1826, Fr Edward Daniel replaced Fr Gerard. In 1831, Fr James Egan took over the mission in Newcastle-under-Lyme. He had come from
Ashley where he built the Chapel of Our Blessed Lady and St John the Baptist.
Construction Fr James Egan would go on to design the church after being offered all the necessary bricks to build a permanent Catholic church by a local brick manufacturer. In 1833, construction work started. The front of the church is made of
blue vitrified Staffordshire brick. On 13 May 1834,
Bishop Thomas Walsh, the
Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District opened the church. After the church's opening, it was described as "the finest modern specimen of ornamental brickwork in the kingdom"; however according to
Historic England, "two Protestant preachers held a public meeting at Newcastle to denounce the Church of Rome". Until 1849, the north aisle was separate from the church, as it was the
presbytery. Until 1864, the south aisle was also separate and was a school. In 1886, restoration work on the church was carried out and a
sacristy was built. ==Parish==