Origin From the
English Reformation until 1857, the Catholic population of
Prescot had to travel to an area of the town called Portico, two miles from the town centre. From 1790, there was
Our Lady Help of Christians Church. The Catholics were so numerous, that in 1583 the
Bishop of Chester,
William Chaderton, wrote to the
Privy Council: Truly the Papists in these parts are lately growing so stubborn and contemptuous that in my opinion it were very requisite that their Lordships did write a very earnest letter to my good Lord the Earl of Derby, myself, and the rest of
Her Majesty's Commissioners ... to deal seriously and roundly with them (the Papists of Prescot) otherwise there can be no reformation.
Construction In 1856, six years after the
restoration of the English Catholic hierarchy and the creation of the
Archdiocese of Liverpool, the
Jesuits founded a church in the centre of Prescot and asked
Joseph Aloysius Hansom to design it for them. He also designed
Church of St. Walburge in
Preston,
St Joseph's Church in
Leigh,
St Beuno's Ignatian Spirituality Centre in
Tremeirchion and the
Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in
Manchester for the Jesuits. The building was opened for worship a year later.
Handover On 28 September 1932, the church was taken into the care of the
Archdiocese of Liverpool. At the time, many churches served by the Jesuits were being given to their respective dioceses. Within the same year both
Holy Cross Church in
St Helens, Merseyside and
St John's Church in
Wigan were handed over to the archdiocese. ==Parish==